The quality inspection of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) performance parameters is an important means to ensure the image quality and the reliability of diagnosis results. There are some problems in the manual calculation and eye recognition of the quality inspection parameters, such as strong subjectivity and low efficiency. In view of these facts, an automatic analysis system for MRI quality detection based on QT is proposed and implemented in C++ language. The image processing algorithm is introduced to automatically measure and calculate the quality inspection parameters. The software with comprehensive functions is designed to systematically manage the quality inspection information of MRI. The experimental results show that the automatically calculated parameters are consistent with the manually calculated ones. Accordingly, the accuracy and reliability of the algorithm is verified. The whole system is efficient, convenient and easy to operate, and it can meet the actual needs of MRI quality inspection.
Algorithms ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; standards ; Reproducibility of Results

Objective Toexploretheclinicalvalueofiterativedecompositionofwaterandfatwithechoasymmetryandleast-squaresestimationquantitationsequence(IDEAL-IQ)foraccurateandquantitativeevaluationofvertebraebodyfatfraction(FF)of lumbar.Methods Accordingtotheresultsofbonemineraldensity(BMD),60healthycheckers/patientsmatchingthestudycriteria weredividedintothenormalBMDgroup(groupA,n=17),thelowBMDgroup(groupB,n=18)andtheosteoporosis(OP)group (OP,groupC,n=25).Theageofthreegroupswasanalyzed.T1WI,T2WI,andIDEAL-IQsequenceswerescannedwithsagittallumbar.Rectangular ROIwereoutlinedonFatFracmaps,FFsweremeasuredthreetimesonvertebraebodyoflumbar1(L1),L2,L3,L4,L5,andtheFF ofeachlumbarwasrespectivelyaveragedtoanalyzethedifferencewithinandbetweengroups.Results Theageamongthethree groups(F=13.414,P=0.000)werestatisticallysignificantdifference.Inbothcomparisons,theagewassignificantdifferencebetweengroupA andB,aswellasbetweengroupAandC,butnotbetweengroupBandC.TheFFofL1-L5withineachgroupwerenotstatistically significantdifference(F=0.680,0.863,0.539,P=0.608,0.490,0.707),whilealldifferencesbetweeneachgroupwithFFofL1-L5 werestatisticalsignificance(F=12.758,9.646,5.195,8.048,8.849,P=0.000,0.000,0.008,0.001,0.000).Comparisonbetweenthe groups,theFFofL3andL5inthegroupAandBwerenotstatisticallydifferent,aswellastheL2,L3,L4inthegroupBandC, whiletheothersbetweentwogroupswerestatisticallysignificantdifference.Conclusion Astheageincreases,BMDgraduallydecreases,whilethe FFofL1-L5graduallyincreases.ItisofaccuratelyevaluatelumbarvertebraeFFbyIDEAL-IQ,whichmayhelppredictOP.

Objective To summarize the clinical and imaging characteristics of Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD) in order to improve the diagnosis of the disease.Methods The clinical and imaging features of 10 patients with RDD proved by pathology were retrospectively analyzed and the related literatures were reviewed.Results Ten patients including 7 males and 3 females,aged 8 to 54 years old,with average of 32 years old.White blood cells (BCA) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) in 8 cases were normal.Eight cases manifested as painless enlarged lymph node or mass,of which 4 cases were accompanied with multisystem involvement.Three lesions involved lymph nodes,5 lesions were located in extranodal sites,while 2 lesions involved both lymph node and extranodal sites.RDD occurred in lymph nodes (n=3) manifested as multiple enlarged lymph nodes on CT imaging,showing mild or moderate the enhancement,or a heterogeneous ring-enhancement.Of 5 extranodal RDD lesions,3 cases underwent MR exmination.2 lesions manifested as subcutaneous soft tissue mass on left shoulder and anterior abdominal wall,1 lesion manifested as intracranial mass accompany with localised cranial bone destruction.Lesions in all 3 cases had poor margins and showed scatted areas of high signal on diffusion weighted images.Lesions exhibited remarkable heterogeneous enhancement on Gd-DTPA enhanced MR imaging,dural/fascia tail sign and dilated blood vessels could be found around the lesions.Intrahepatic RDD lesion showed fast washing out phenomenon on CT enhanced imaging.In 2 cases involved both lymph node and extranodal sites,1 case manifested as swelling pharyngeal lymph chain and nasopharynx,enlargement of lymph nodes in bilateral submandibular and cervical region abdominal cavity on CT imaging,the enhancement is mild and moderate,accompany with osteolytic lesions in right proximal humerus on X-ray.For the other case,CT images manifested as bilateral neck lymphadenopathy,accompanied with soft tissue mass in nasal cavity,the lesion showed mild/moderate enhancement.Conclusions RDD mostly appears in young and middle-aged men,and is rarely preoperatively diagnosed.RDD mainly manifests as painless enlarged lymph node or mass.RDD has a broad spectrum of radiographic appearance,varied according to different location of lesion.Scatted higher signal areas on diffusion weighted images in the masses and significantly heterogeneity enhancement with dilated blood vessels around the lesion could be helpful in diagnosing of extranodal RDD.

Objective To analyze the changes of susceptibility in acute cerebral ischemia (ACI) using quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM).Methods Twenty-three patients with ACI who met the criteria underwent conventional brain MR and QSM scan,and the susceptibility maps were obtained with QSM post-processing software in image processing workstation.According to DWI images,ROIs were manually drawn on lesions of ACI to obtain magnetic susceptibility on susceptibility map,including cortical gray matter (CGM),subcortical white matter (SWM),caudate (CA),globus pallidus (GP),putamen (PU),thalamus (TH),substantia nigra (SN),dentate nucleus (DN) and pons (PO).Then magnetic susceptibility of contralateral position was obtained.According to whether cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) were observed,the ACI patients were divided into CMBs group and non-CMBs group.The magnetic susceptibility of groups and different ROIs of ACI and the contralateral area were compared statistically.Results There was significant difference in magnetic susceptibility between CMBs group [(79.04 ± 52.25) × 10-9 ppd] and non-CMBs group ([-4.01 ± 44.57] × 10 9 ppd;Z=-3.297,P =0.001).The difference of magnetic susceptibility between the lesion side and the contralateral side ([-12.10±16.75]× 10-9 ppd) was statistically significant in CMBs group (Z=-3.296,P=0.001),but not in non-CMBs group (contralateral side [1.61 ±32.77] × 10-9 ppd;Z=-0.157,P=0.875).According to the location of ROIs,magnetic susceptibility had statistical differences only in PO,CGM and contralateral side (Z=-2.023,--3.130,P=0.043,0.002).Conclusion QSM can be used to quantitatively analyze magnetic susceptibility of ACI lesions and find CMBs,therefore is helpful to guiding treatment.

Objective To explore the changes of susceptibility of different sides and gender in healthy young adults with quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM).Methods Totally 41 healthy young right-handed adults underwent conventional brain MRI and QSM scan,and the susceptibility maps were obtained by the image post-processing software.Then the ROI of the bilateral frontal grey matter (FGM),frontal white matter (FWM),caudate (CA),globus pallidus (GP),putamen (PU),thalamus (TH),substantia nigra (SN),red nucleus (RN),dentate nucleus (DN),pons (PO),corpus callosum (CC) were manually drawn to obtain magnetic susceptibility on the susceptibility map.The magnetic susceptibility of each ROI was compare between both sides,as well as gender by Mann-Whitney test.Results The magnetic susceptibility of the bilateral ROI of GP was the highest,and SN was followed,FWM was minimum.The susceptibility of bilateral FGM,FWM,CA,GP,PU,TH,SN,RN,DN,PO,CC had no statistically significant differences (all P＞0.05).The magnetic susceptibility in CA of different gender had statistically significant difference (P＜0.05).Conclusion The brain magnetic susceptibility.can be measured by QSM,and it can assess brain iron content quantitatively.

Objective To explore the clinical,CT and MRI features of ovarian adenofibroma(OAF)and improve the diagnostic level. Methods Ninety-two cases of OAFs were analyzed retrospectively and summarized the features including clinical manifestations ,CT and MRI images. Results The probability of unilateral ,serous and benign OAFs were 91.3%,89.1%and 97.8%. OAFs associated with uterine or/and ovarian lesions was 40.2%. The clinical manifestations of OAF was not typical. These OAFs were divided into 2 groups according to whether or not accompanied with uterus or/ and ovarian lesions. The clinical manifestations and laboratory indexes were only found abnormal menstruation rate(P<0.05),but there were no significant difference between other indexes. The performance of CT plain scan and CT/MRI enhanced scan had not characteristic.The percentage of the"black sponge"on T2WI image and hyperintensity on DWI image of OAFs were 40.0% and 65.0%. Conclusion The"black sponge"on T2WI image and hyperintensity on DWI image may be helpful to diagnose OAF.

Objective:To evaluate the diagnosis, surgical treatment, and neurological function recovery after surgery of patients with intraspinal tumors. Methods:The clinical data of 69 patients who suffered from intraspinal tumors and underwent surgery from Janu-ary 2008 to December 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. Neuroimaging and ASIA scoring were performed to examine the pathologi-cal characteristics of tumors and the neurological function of these patients before and after treatment. The major factors affecting prognosis were also probed, and the average follow-up period was 12.2 months. Results:Of the total cases, 62.3%showed intradural extramedullary intraspinal tumors located in the thoracic vertebra. Neurilemoma (Schwannoma) and meningioma were the most com-mon pathological types (53.5%). Posterior approaches with hemi-and complete-laminectomy were conducted to expose the intraspi-nal tumors, and the separation and removal of the tumors located at the cervical and thoracic levels were aided with surgical microsco-py. The main clinical symptoms, including back pain, radicular neuralgia, sensory disturbance, and motor dysfunction, were significant-ly improved after surgery, and this observation was supported by the follow-up ASIA scores before and after treatment. Of the in-volved cases, 91%were successfully treated, and their tumors were totally resected. Conclusion:Total or subtotal intraspinal tumor re-section enhanced with surgical microscopy could achieve satisfactory clinical results through posterior hemi-or complete-laminectomy.

BACKGROUND:Recently, non-fusion technology representing as artificial cervical disc replacement continues to improve. On the basis of reconstruction of disc structure and function of involved segments, cervical spine structure of surgery area segment is significantly close to dynamic and static load stress distribution required by natural physiological systems. It effects are apparent in protecting intervertebral facet joints of degenerated segment and structure and function of the cervical spine of adjacent segments and in maintaining cervical dynamic stability, which presented obvious methodological strengths compared with segmental fusion technology.
OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the clinical outcomes of anterior cervical discectomy and fusion and Bryan artificial cervical disc replacement in the treatment of single-level cervical spondylotic myelopathy or radiculopathy.
METHODS:A total of 43 middle and old age patients with single-level cervical spondylotic myelopathy or radiculopathy, who were treated from March 2010 to March 2012, were enrol ed in this study. They were randomly assigned to anterior cervical discectomy and fusion group (fusion group) and Bryan artificial cervical disc replacement group. Range-of-motion of cervical overal and adjacent intervertebral area near the intervertebral space was observed with radiography. During fol ow-up, postoperative recovery of neurological function was evaluated using Japanese Orthopaedic Association scale, visual analog scale and neck disability index.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:None patients experienced complications of neurovascular injury during and after the surgery. Range-of-motion of postoperative overal cervical vertebra and adjacent joint was improved in the Bryan artificial cervical disc replacement group compared with the fusion group. Neurological function was apparently improved after surgery in each group. At 3 months after surgery, scores of Japanese Orthopaedic Association, visual analog scale and neck disability index were significantly improved in the Bryan artificial cervical disc replacement group compared with the fusion group (P<0.05). During final fol ow-up, there were significant differences in visual analog scale scores between the two groups. Japanese Orthopaedic Association scale score and neck disability index score were similar between the two groups. During fol ow-up, no prosthesis sinking, displacement or heterotopic ossification were detected. These data indicated that artificial cervical disc replacement could effectively keep the range of motion of cervical segments and protect disc degeneration of adjacent segment. Mid-term fol ow up obtained similar improvement of neurological function of fusion surgery. The moderate-term and short-term efficacies of non-fusion technology were better than fusion technology in the treatment of single-level cervical spondylopathy.

Objective In vitro model with three dimensional cell culture provides the appealing biomimetic platform to probe the biological characteristics of multiple stem cells,which serves as an important in vitro tools to investigate regulating factors controlling the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs).The present study aims to reconstruct an integrated poly-peptide hydrogel made extracellular matrix (ECM) enhanced with cyclo-RGD molecular [c(RGDfK)] for the exploration of NSCs bio-characteristics.Methods Spinal cords from one-d-old SD rats were collected and spinal-derived NSCs were induced in the complete medium; immunofluorescence staining was employed to observe the NSCs morphology and identify NSCs.Three hydrogel including type Ⅰ collagen,self-assembly poly-peptide nanofiber hydrogel (SAPNH) of RADA16 and RADA16-c(RGDfK) were employed to serve as culturing ECM of spinal-derived NSCs to mimic the ex vivo 3-D culturing.With the theological analysis,cyto-morphological observation was performed,NSCs proliferation was observed by MTT assay,and cell immunochemistty and confocal microscopy were employed to detect the NSCs differentiation.Results SAPNH born appropriate elastic module conducive to the cellular adhesion and proliferation of neural cells (RADA16 and RADA16-c (RGDfK)=(0.42±0.07) kPa and (0.47 ±0.09) kPa,without significant difference (P＞0.05); however,the elastic module in the type Ⅰ collagen group was (0.87±0.12) kPa,which was significantly stronger than the two groups (P＜0.05).Uniform distribution of neuron-shape cells was noted in the extracellular matrix ofRADA16-c (RGDfK) cells,with almost the diameter of cell sphere (200-300 μm); cells in the RADA16 and RADA16-c (RGDfK) had better growth characteristics than the other two groups; RADA16-c(RGDfK) had significantly better cellular adhesion and proliferation of neural cells as compared with RADA16 and collagen groups (P＜0.05).A large number of neural precursor cells differentiated into neurogliocytes was noted in the RADA16 group and RADA16-c (RGDfK) group,with low proportion of neuronal differentiation (17.6％ ±3.1％ and 19.0％±3.6％,respectively); this proportion of neuronal differentiation was significantly higher than that in the type Ⅰ collagen group (10.6％±2.3％,P＜0.05).Conclusions The functionalized SAPNH enhanced with c(RGDfK) presents the excellent biocompatibility and promotes the adhesion and proliferation of spinal NSCs.Serving as the engineered cellular vector,functionalized SAPNH has laid a solid foundation for the studies of neural regeneration and repair with novel neuro-engineering techniques in the subsequent researches.

To study the effects of major components of Maijunan tablets, puerarin (Pue) and rhynchophylline (Rhy) on the transport of hydrochlorothiazide (Hct) Caco-2 cell monolayer model, the transport parameters of Hct, such as apparent permeability coefficient (P(app) (B --> A) and P(app) (A --> B)) and the ratio of P(app) (B --> A) versus P(app) (A --> B), were studied and compared when Hct was used solely and co-used with Pue and/or Rhy. The effects of drug concentrations, conveying times, P-glyprotein (P-gp) inhibitor verapamil and conveying Liq pH values on the transport of Hct in the above conditions were also investigated. The results indicated that the absorption of Hct in Caco-2 cell monolayer model could be a carrier-mediated active transport, along with the excretion action mediated by P-gp. Pue can decrease the excretion action of Hct mediated by P-gp, and Rhy had no significant effect on the transport of Hct. The co-use of Hct, Pue and Rhy enhanced the absorption of Hct. Meanwhile, conveying Liq pH value had significant influence on the transport of Hct. The absorption of Hct at pH 6.0 was higher than that at pH 7.4.