@phdthesis{Neuberger2008,
  author    = {Neuberger, Thomas},
  title     = {Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy at ultra high fields},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-36670},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2008},
  abstract  = {The goal of the work presented in this thesis was to explore the possibilities and limitations of MRI / MRS using an ultra high field of 17.6 tesla. A broad range of specific applications and MR methods, from MRI to MRSI and MRS were investigated. The main foci were on sodium magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging of rodents, magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the mouse brain, and the detection of small amounts of iron labeled stem cells in the rat brain using MRI Sodium spectroscopic imaging was explored since it benefits tremendously from the high magnetic field. Due to the intrinsically low signal in vivo, originating from the low concentrations and short transverse relaxation times, only limited results have been achieved by other researchers until now. Results in the literature include studies conducted on large animals such as dogs to animals as small as rats. No studies performed on mice have been reported, despite the fact that the mouse is the most important laboratory animal due to the ready availability of transgenic strains. Hence, this study concentrated on sodium MRSI of small rodents, mostly mice (brain, heart, and kidney), and in the case of the brain on young rats. The second part of this work concentrated on proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the rodent brain. Due to the high magnetic field strength not only the increasing signal but also the extended spectral resolution was advantageous for such kind of studies. The difficulties/limitations of ultra high field MRS were also investigated. In the last part of the presented work detection limits of iron labeled stem cells in vivo using magnetic resonance imaging were explored. The studies provided very useful benchmarks for future researchers in terms of the number of labeled stem cells that are required for high-field MRI studies. Overall this work has shown many of the benefits and the areas that need special attention of ultra high fields in MR. Three topics in MRI, MRS and MRSI were presented in detail. Although there are significant additional difficulties that have to be overcome compared to lower frequencies, none of the work presented here would have been possible at lower field strengths.},
  subject      = {NMR-Tomographie},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Brackertz2008,
  author    = {Brackertz, Anita},
  title     = {Absolutquantifizierung der myokardialen Perfusion in Ruhe und unter Adenosin-induziertem Stress mittels First-Pass MR-Bildgebung},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-34921},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2008},
  abstract  = {In der Diagnostik und Therapie der KHK sind das fr{\"u}hzeitige Erkennen und die Beurteilung funktioneller Folgen atherosklerotischer Ver{\"a}nderungen von großer Bedeutung. Die First-Pass MR-Bildgebung erm{\"o}glicht Aussagen {\"u}ber die myokardiale Perfusion und damit die h{\"a}modynamische Relevanz einer Koronarstenose. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden quantitative Werte f{\"u}r die myokardiale Durchblutung gesunder Probanden unter Adenosin-induziertem Stress und in Ruhe unter Einsatz der Pr{\"a}bolustechnik bestimmt. Eine exakte Darstellung der arteriellen Inputfunktion wurde durch einen Kontrastmittelbolus in niedriger Dosierung erreicht, die Verwendung h{\"o}herer Kontrastmitteldosen f{\"u}hrte dagegen zu einem verbesserten Signal-zu-Rausch-Verh{\"a}ltnis im Myokard. Die Absolutwerte der myokardialen Perfusion unter Stressbedingungen und in Ruhe wie auch die myokardiale Perfusionsreserve zeigten vergleichbare Mittelwerte, wiesen aber eine geringere Streubreite im Vergleich zu fr{\"u}heren MR Studien auf und waren vergleichbar mit in PET-Studien erzielten Ergebnissen. Weiterhin wurden unter Verwendung dieser Methode Werte f{\"u}r das myokardiale Verteilungsvolumen des Kontrastmittels als wichtiger Parameter in der Differenzierung von gesundem und infarziertem Herzmuskelgewebe ermittelt und die Laufzeit der Boluspassage nach Injektion in Ruhe und unter Stress bestimmt, die zur Unterscheidung von antegrad perfundiertem und von {\"u}ber Kollateralen versorgtem Myokard dienen kann. Mit Hilfe der MRT war es auch m{\"o}glich, Unterschiede zwischen subendo- und subepimyokardialer Perfusion zu quantifizieren. Die erzielten Ergebnisse entsprechen bisher publizierten Werten, die mit anderen Modalit{\"a}ten gewonnen wurden. Der Vergleich der absoluten Perfusion bei verminderter zeitlicher Aufl{\"o}sung mit den bei hoher zeitlicher Aufl{\"o}sung gemessenen Werten ergab nur geringf{\"u}gige Abweichungen der Ergebnisse voneinander. Dadurch er{\"o}ffnet sich die M{\"o}glichkeit, durch die Zeitersparnis mehrere Schichten abwechselnd bei verschiedenen Herzschl{\"a}gen zu messen und damit eine erweiterte Abdeckung des linksventrikul{\"a}ren Myokards zu erreichen. Durch die quantitative Auswertung der First-Pass MR-Perfusionsmessung stellt die beschriebene Methode eine vielversprechende Option im Bereich der nichtinvasiven Diagnostik verschiedener myokardialer Erkrankungen dar.},
  subject      = {NMR-Tomographie},
  language  = {de}
}
@phdthesis{ReissZimmermann2008,
  author    = {Reiß-Zimmermann, Martin},
  title     = {Entwicklung und Erprobung eines standardisierten Auswerteverfahrens f{\"u}r die Bestimmung der Myokardperfusion mit der MRT},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-34560},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2008},
  abstract  = {Mit dem hier vorgestellten Untersuchungs- und Auswertealgorithmus konnte die Myokardperfusion weitgehend automatisiert semiquantitativ und quantitativ bestimmt werden. Daf{\"u}r wurden zun{\"a}chst die Bilddaten segmentiert und in Signalintensit{\"a}ts-Zeit-Kurven transferiert. Durch eine Basislinien- und Kontaminationskorrektur wurden Artefakte minimiert. Mit Anwendung des Parallel-Bildgebungs-Verfahrens Auto-SENSE konnte zus{\"a}tzlich eine Erh{\"o}hung der Schichtanzahl erreicht werden. Durch die angewendete Basislinienkorrektur konnten Inhomogenit{\"a}ten verringert werden, welche durch Verwendung einer Oberfl{\"a}chenspule methodenbedingt auftreten. Partialvolumeneffekte, die durch die Morphologie des Herzens insbesondere basis- und spitzennah auftraten, f{\"u}hrten durch eine Mischung aus KM-Anflutung im Myokard und Kontamination aus dem Ventrikellumen zu einer Beeinflussung der Perfusionsergebnisse. Durch die Verwendung der vorgestellten Kontaminationskorrektur konnten diese Artefakte erheblich minimiert werden. Die so errechneten Perfusionswerte korrelierten gut mit den in der Literatur angegebenen Daten, welche sowohl in tierexperimentellen als auch Probanden- und auch Patientenstudien mit unterschiedlichen Modalit{\"a}ten ermittelt wurden. Eine regionale Heterogenit{\"a}t konnte nicht signifikant nachgewiesen werden. Molekular-physiologische Untersuchungen legen zwar nahe, dass es diese Heterogenit{\"a}t gibt, die regionale Verteilung der Perfusion wird jedoch kontrovers und noch keinesfalls abschließend in der Literatur diskutiert. Durch Anwendung von Auto-SENSE konnte mit einer Erh{\"o}hung der Schichtanzahl bei gleichbleibender Schichtdicke das gesamte linksventrikul{\"a}re Myokard untersucht werden. Trotz verringertem SNR waren die Ergebnisse vergleichbar mit der konventionellen Turbo-FLASH-Technik. Ob das Potential der Parallelbildgebung f{\"u}r eine Abdeckung des gesamten Herzens oder f{\"u}r eine h{\"o}here Aufl{\"o}sung von 3-4 Schichten pro Untersuchungen genutzt werden soll, ist in der aktuellen Literatur noch Gegenstand der Diskussion. Die hochaufgel{\"o}sten Untersuchungen scheinen jedoch derzeit vorteilhafter aufgrund geringerer Partialvolumeneffekte sowie der besseren Beurteilbarkeit einer subendokardialen Zone und eines transmuralen Perfusionsgradienten. Die MR-Perfusionsbildgebung ist ein aktives und rasch wachsendes Gebiet innerhalb der kardialen Bildgebung mit großem Entwicklungspotential. Durch Einbindung in ein umfassendes Herz-MR-Untersuchungsprotokoll (z.B. Morphologie, Kinetik, evtl. MR-Koronarangiographie) ist in einem Untersuchungsgang eine umfassende Diagnostik bei Patienten mit Verdacht auf KHK m{\"o}glich.},
  subject      = {NMR-Tomographie},
  language  = {de}
}
@phdthesis{Seiberlich2008,
  author    = {Seiberlich, Nicole},
  title     = {Advances in Non-Cartesian Parallel Magnetic Resonance Imaging using the GRAPPA Operator},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-28321},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2008},
  abstract  = {Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is an imaging modality which provides anatomical or functional images of the human body with variable contrasts in an arbitrarily positioned slice without the need for ionizing radiation. In MRI, data are not acquired directly, but in the reciprocal image space (otherwise known as k-space) through the application of spatially variable magnetic field gradients. The k-space is made up of a grid of data points which are generally acquired in a line-by-line fashion (Cartesian imaging). After the acquisition, the k-space data are transformed into the image domain using the Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT). However, the acquisition of data is not limited to the rectilinear Cartesian sampling scheme described above. Non-Cartesian acquisitions, where the data are collected along exotic trajectories, such as radial and spiral, have been shown to be beneficial in a number of applications. However, despite their additional properties and potential advantages, working with non-Cartesian data can be complicated. The primary difficulty is that non-Cartesian trajectories are made up of points which do not fall on a Cartesian grid, and a simple and fast FFT algorithm cannot be employed to reconstruct images from non-Cartesian data. In order to create an image, the non-Cartesian data are generally resampled on a Cartesian grid, an operation known as gridding, before the FFT is performed. Another challenge for non-Cartesian imaging is the combination of unusual trajectories with parallel imaging. This thesis has presented several new non-Cartesian parallel imaging methods which simplify both gridding and the reconstruction of images from undersampled data. In Chapter 4, a novel approach which uses the concepts of parallel imaging to grid data sampled along a non-Cartesian trajectory called GRAPPA Operator Gridding (GROG) is described. GROG shifts any acquired k-space data point to its nearest Cartesian location, thereby converting non-Cartesian to Cartesian data. The only requirements for GROG are a multi-channel acquisition and a calibration dataset for the determination of the GROG weights. Chapter 5 discusses an extension of GRAPPA Operator Gridding, namely Self-Calibrating GRAPPA Operator Gridding (SC-GROG). SC-GROG is a method by which non-Cartesian data can be gridded using spatial information from a multi-channel coil array without the need for an additional calibration dataset, as required in standard GROG. Although GROG can be used to grid undersampled datasets, it is important to note that this method uses parallel imaging only for gridding, and not to reconstruct artifact-free images from undersampled data. Chapter 6 introduces a simple, novel method for performing modified Cartesian GRAPPA reconstructions on undersampled non-Cartesian k-space data gridded using GROG to arrive at a non-aliased image. Because the undersampled non-Cartesian data cannot be reconstructed using a single GRAPPA kernel, several Cartesian patterns are selected for the reconstruction. Finally, Chapter 7 discusses a novel method of using GROG to mimic the bunched phase encoding acquisition (BPE) scheme. In MRI, it is generally assumed that an artifact-free image can be reconstructed only from sampled points which fulfill the Nyquist criterion. However, the BPE reconstruction is based on the Generalized Sampling Theorem of Papoulis, which states that a continuous signal can be reconstructed from sampled points as long as the points are on average sampled at the Nyquist frequency. A novel method of generating the "bunched" data using GRAPPA Operator Gridding (GROG), which shifts datapoints by small distances in k-space using the GRAPPA Operator instead of employing zig-zag shaped gradients, is presented in this chapter. With the conjugate gradient reconstruction method, these additional "bunched" points can then be used to reconstruct an artifact-free image from undersampled data. This method is referred to as GROG-facilitated Bunched Phase Encoding, or GROG-BPE.},
  subject      = {NMR-Tomographie},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Behr2008,
  author    = {Behr, Volker Christian},
  title     = {Entwicklung und Optimierung von Resonatoren und Detektionsverfahren in der magnetischen Kernspinresonanz},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-28635},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2008},
  abstract  = {No abstract available},
  subject      = {Kernspintomograph},
  language  = {de}
}
@phdthesis{Machann2008,
  author    = {Machann, Wolfram},
  title     = {MRT nach Myokardinfarkt - Wandfunktionsanalyse und metabolische Bildgebung},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-28457},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2008},
  abstract  = {Die kardiale MRT konnte in dieser Arbeit f{\"u}r die Infarktdiagnostik und Therapiekontrolle erfolgreich eingesetzt werden. Auf Grund einer Vielzahl von Sequenztechniken, dem Vorteil der Nichtinvasivit{\"a}t und dem Fehlen von ionisierenden Strahlen hat sich die MRT zu einem wichtigen Diagnostikwerkzeug zur Bestimmung von Prognoseparametern bei kardialen Erkrankungen entwickelt.},
  subject      = {NMR-Tomographie},
  language  = {de}
}
@phdthesis{Heidemann2008,
  author    = {Heidemann, Robin},
  title     = {Non-Cartesian Parallel Magnetic Resonance Imaging},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-26893},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2008},
  abstract  = {Besides image contrast, imaging speed is probably the most important consideration in clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MR scanners currently operate at the limits of potential imaging speed, due to technical and physiological problems associated with rapidly switched gradient systems. Parallel imaging (parallel MRI or pMRI) is a method which allows one to significantly shorten the acquisition time of MR images without changing the contrast behavior of the underlying MR sequence. The accelerated image acquisition in pMRI is accomplished without relying on more powerful technical equipment or exceeding physiological boundaries. Because of these properties, pMRI is currently employed in many clinical routines, and the number of applications where pMRI can be used to accelerate imaging is increasing. However, there is also growing criticism of parallel imaging in certain applications. The primary reason for this is the intrinsic loss in the SNR due to the accelerated acquisition. In addition, other effects can also lead to a reduced image quality. Due to unavoidable inaccuracies in the pMRI reconstruction process, local and global errors may appear in the final reconstructed image. The local errors are visible as noise enhancement, while the global errors result in the so-called fold-over artifacts. The appearance and strength of these negative effects, and thus the image quality, depend upon different factors, such as the parallel imaging method chosen, specific parameters in the method, the sequence chosen, as well as specific sequence parameters. In general, it is not possible to optimize all of these parameters simultaneously for all applications. The application of parallel imaging in can lead to very pronounced image artifacts, i.e. parallel imaging can amplify errors. On the other hand, there are applications such as abdominal MR or MR angiography, in which parallel imaging does not reconstruct images robustly. Thus, the application of parallel imaging leads to errors. In general, the original euphoria surrounding parallel imaging in the clinic has been dampened by these problems. The reliability of the pMRI methods currently implemented is the main criticism. Furthermore, it has not been possible to significantly increase the maximum achievable acceleration with parallel imaging despite major technical advances. An acceleration factor of two is still standard in clinical routine, although the number of independent receiver channels available on most MR systems (which are a basic requirement for the application of pMRI) has increased by a factor of 3-6 in recent years. In this work, a novel and elegant method to address this problem has been demonstrated. The idea behind the work is to combine two methods in a synergistic way, namely non-Cartesian acquisition schemes and parallel imaging. The so-called non-Cartesian acquisition schemes have several advantages over standard Cartesian acquisitions, in that they are often faster and less sensitive to physiological noise. In addition, such acquisition schemes are very robust against fold-over artifacts even in the case of vast undersampling of k-space. Despite the advantages described above, non-Cartesian acquisition schemes are not commonly employed in clinical routines. A reason for that is the complicated reconstruction techniques which are required to convert the non-Cartesian data to a Cartesian grid before the fast Fourier transformation can be employed to arrive at the final MR image. Another reason is that Cartesian acquisitions are routinely accelerated with parallel imaging, which is not applicable for non-Cartesian MR acquisitions due to the long reconstruction times. This negates the speed advantage of non-Cartesian acquisition methods. Through the development of the methods presented in this thesis, reconstruction times for accelerated non-Cartesian acquisitions using parallel imaging now approach those of Cartesian images. In this work, the reliability of such methods has been demonstrated. In addition, it has been shown that higher acceleration factors can be achieved with such techniques than possible with Cartesian imaging. These properties of the techniques presented here lead the way for an implementation of such methods on MR scanners, and thus also offer the possibility for their use in clinical routine. This will lead to shorter examination times for patients as well as more reliable diagnoses.},
  subject      = {NMR-Bildgebung},
  language  = {en}
}