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Ye K, Chin SY, Xi NL, Sharma B, Lu Y, Xue K. Characterizing the Behavior of Water Interacting with a Nano-Pore Material: A Structural Investigation in Native Environment Using Magnetic Resonance Approaches. Chemphyschem 2024; 25:e202400053. [PMID: 38706399 DOI: 10.1002/cphc.202400053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2024] [Revised: 04/28/2024] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 05/07/2024]
Abstract
The study of fluid absorption, particularly that of water, into nanoporous materials has garnered increasing attention in the last decades across a broad range of disciplines. However, most investigation approaches to probe such behaviors are limited by characterization conditions and may lead to misinterpretations. In this study, a combined MRI and MAS NMR method was used to study a nanoporous silica glass to acquire information about its structural framework and interactions with confined water in a native humid environment. Specifically, MRI was used for a quantitative analysis of water extent. While MAS NMR techniques provided structural information of silicate materials, including interactive surface area and framework packing. Analysis of water spin-spin relaxation times (T2) suggested differences in water confinement within the characterized framework. Subsequent unsuccessful delivery of paramagnetic molecule into the pores enabled a quantitative assessment of the dimensions that "bottleneck" the pores. Finally, pore sizes were derived from the paramagnetic molecular size, density function theory (DFT) simulation and characterizations on standard samples. Our result matches with Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis that the pore size is less than 1.3 nm. The use of a paramagnetic probe for pore size determination introduces a new approach of characterization in the liquid phase, offering an alternative to the conventional BET analysis that uses gas molecule as probes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kai Ye
- Center of High Field NMR Spectroscopy and Imaging, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, Singapore, 637371, Singapore
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 639789, Singapore
| | - Sze Yuet Chin
- Center of High Field NMR Spectroscopy and Imaging, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, Singapore, 637371, Singapore
| | - Nicole Lin Xi
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 639789, Singapore
| | - Bhargy Sharma
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 639789, Singapore
| | - Yunpeng Lu
- School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 639789, Singapore
| | - Kai Xue
- Center of High Field NMR Spectroscopy and Imaging, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, Singapore, 637371, Singapore
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Nikiforaki K, Marias K. MRI Methods to Visualize and Quantify Adipose Tissue in Health and Disease. Biomedicines 2023; 11:3179. [PMID: 38137400 PMCID: PMC10740979 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines11123179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2023] [Revised: 11/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
MRI is the modality of choice for a vast range of pathologies but also a sensitive probe into human physiology and tissue function. For this reason, several methodologies have been developed and continuously evolve in order to non-invasively monitor underlying phenomena in human adipose tissue that were difficult to assess in the past through visual inspection of standard imaging modalities. To this end, this work describes the imaging methodologies used in medical practice and lists the most important quantitative markers related to adipose tissue physiology and pathology that are currently supporting diagnosis, longitudinal evaluation and patient management decisions. The underlying physical principles and the resulting markers are presented and associated with frequently encountered pathologies in radiology in order to set the frame of the ability of MRI to reveal the complex role of adipose tissue, not as an inert tissue but as an active endocrine organ.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katerina Nikiforaki
- Computational BioMedicine Laboratory, Institute of Computer Science, Foundation for Research and Technology—Hellas, 70013 Heraklion, Greece;
| | - Kostas Marias
- Computational BioMedicine Laboratory, Institute of Computer Science, Foundation for Research and Technology—Hellas, 70013 Heraklion, Greece;
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Hellenic Mediterranean University, 71410 Heraklion, Greece
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3
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Dovrou A, Nikiforaki K, Zaridis D, Manikis GC, Mylona E, Tachos N, Tsiknakis M, Fotiadis DI, Marias K. A segmentation-based method improving the performance of N4 bias field correction on T2weighted MR imaging data of the prostate. Magn Reson Imaging 2023; 101:1-12. [PMID: 37004467 DOI: 10.1016/j.mri.2023.03.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2022] [Revised: 03/15/2023] [Accepted: 03/21/2023] [Indexed: 04/03/2023]
Abstract
Magnetic Resonance (MR) images suffer from spatial inhomogeneity, known as bias field corruption. The N4ITK filter is a state-of-the-art method used for correcting the bias field to optimize MR-based quantification. In this study, a novel approach is presented to quantitatively evaluate the performance of N4 bias field correction for pelvic prostate imaging. An exploratory analysis, regarding the different values of convergence threshold, shrink factor, fitting level, number of iterations and use of mask, is performed to quantify the performance of N4 filter in pelvic MR images. The performance of a total of 240 different N4 configurations is examined using the Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) of the segmented periprostatic fat distribution as evaluation metric. Phantom T2weighted images were used to assess the performance of N4 for a uniform test tissue mimicking material, excluding factors such as patient related susceptibility and anatomy heterogeneity. Moreover, 89 and 204 T2weighted patient images from two public datasets acquired by scanners with a combined surface and endorectal coil at 1.5 T and a surface coil at 3 T, respectively, were utilized and corrected with a variable set of N4 parameters. Furthermore, two external public datasets were used to validate the performance of the N4 filter in T2weighted patient images acquired by various scanning conditions with different magnetic field strengths and coils. The results show that the set of N4 parameters, converging to optimal representations of fat in the image, were: convergence threshold 0.001, shrink factor 2, fitting level 6, number of iterations 100 and the use of default mask for prostate images acquired by a combined surface and endorectal coil at both 1.5 T and 3 T. The corresponding optimal N4 configuration for MR prostate images acquired by a surface coil at 1.5 T or 3 T was: convergence threshold 0.001, shrink factor 2, fitting level 5, number of iterations 25 and the use of default mask. Hence, periprostatic fat segmentation can be used to define the optimal settings for achieving T2weighted prostate images free from bias field corruption to provide robust input for further analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aikaterini Dovrou
- Computational BioMedicine Laboratory (CBML), Institute of Computer Science, Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Greece.
| | - Katerina Nikiforaki
- Computational BioMedicine Laboratory (CBML), Institute of Computer Science, Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Greece
| | - Dimitris Zaridis
- Unit of Medical Technology and Intelligent Information Systems, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece; Biomedical Research Institute, Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Ioannina, Greece; Biomedical Engineering Laboratory, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Georgios C Manikis
- Computational BioMedicine Laboratory (CBML), Institute of Computer Science, Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Greece
| | - Eugenia Mylona
- Unit of Medical Technology and Intelligent Information Systems, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece; Biomedical Research Institute, Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Ioannina, Greece
| | - Nikolaos Tachos
- Unit of Medical Technology and Intelligent Information Systems, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece; Biomedical Research Institute, Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Ioannina, Greece
| | - Manolis Tsiknakis
- Computational BioMedicine Laboratory (CBML), Institute of Computer Science, Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Greece; Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Heraklion, Greece
| | - Dimitrios I Fotiadis
- Unit of Medical Technology and Intelligent Information Systems, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece; Biomedical Research Institute, Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Ioannina, Greece
| | - Kostas Marias
- Computational BioMedicine Laboratory (CBML), Institute of Computer Science, Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Greece; Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Heraklion, Greece
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Katrine Laursen A, Bue Dyrnø S, Steven Mikkelsen K, Pawel Czaja T, Albert Maria Rovers T, Ipsen R, Ahrné L. Effect of coagulation temperature on cooking integrity of heat and acid-induced milk gels. Food Res Int 2023; 169:112846. [PMID: 37254420 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2023.112846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2022] [Revised: 04/03/2023] [Accepted: 04/14/2023] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Heat and acid-induced milk gels do not melt or flow upon heating and thus show great potential as a dairy-based protein source for cooking, e.g. for stews. Understanding how processing, e.g. acidification, affects the cooking behavior of these gels is therefore of great industrial interest. The cooking integrity of gels produced by rapidly acidifying milk using citric acid at temperatures of 60, 75, and 90 °C, was determined by analyzing composition, texture, and spatial water distribution before and after cooking. Increasing the acidification temperature from 60 to75 °C resulted in a significant reduction of yield, due to decreased moisture content of the gels. With increasing content of solids, the gels grew harder and denser, as observed by texture profile analysis and low-field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. Upon cooking the 60 °C gel lost a significant amount of moisture, due to the contraction of the porous protein network. The more compact gels, prepared at 75 and 90 °C, did not lose mass indicating good cooking integrity, i.e. a gel that keeps its structure during cooking. Acidification temperature thus greatly influenced cooking integrity. The effect was mainly ascribed to the density of the gel texture, a result of the speed of protein aggregation and calcium recovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Katrine Laursen
- Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 30, DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
| | - Steffan Bue Dyrnø
- Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 30, DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
| | - Kim Steven Mikkelsen
- Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 30, DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
| | - Tomasz Pawel Czaja
- Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 30, DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
| | | | - Richard Ipsen
- Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 30, DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
| | - Lilia Ahrné
- Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 30, DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark.
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Mas Garcia S, Roger JM, Ferbus R, Lourdin D, Rondeau-Mouro C. Monitoring of water sorption and swelling of potato starch-glycerol extruded blend by magnetic resonance imaging and multivariate curve resolution. Talanta 2023; 259:124464. [PMID: 36996661 DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2023.124464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2023] [Revised: 02/16/2023] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023]
Abstract
Magnetic resonance microimaging (MRμI) is an outstanding technique for studying water transfers in millimetric bio-based materials in a non-destructive and non-invasive manner. However, depending on the composition of the material, monitoring and quantification of these transfers can be very complex, and hence reliable image processing and analysis tools are necessary. In this study, a combination of MRμI and multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) is proposed to monitor the water ingress into a potato starch extruded blend containing 20% glycerol that was shown to have interesting properties for biomedical, textile, and food applications. In this work, the main purpose of MCR is to provide spectral signatures and distribution maps of the components involved in the water uptake process that occurs over time with various kinetics. This approach allowed the description of the system evolution at a global (image) and a local (pixel) level, hence, permitted the resolution of two waterfronts, at two different times into the blend that could not be resolved by any other mathematical processing method usually used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The results were supplemented by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations in order to interpret these two waterfronts in a biological and physico-chemical point of view.
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On the use of multicompartment models of diffusion and relaxation for placental imaging. Placenta 2021; 112:197-203. [PMID: 34392172 DOI: 10.1016/j.placenta.2021.07.302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2021] [Revised: 04/27/2021] [Accepted: 07/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Multi-compartment models of diffusion and relaxation are ubiquitous in magnetic resonance research especially applied to neuroimaging applications. These models are increasingly making their way into the world of placental imaging. This review provides a framework for their motivation and implementation and describes some of the outstanding questions that need to be answered before they can be routinely adopted.
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Franssen WMJ, Vergeldt FJ, Bader AN, van Amerongen H, Terenzi C. Full-Harmonics Phasor Analysis: Unravelling Multiexponential Trends in Magnetic Resonance Imaging Data. J Phys Chem Lett 2020; 11:9152-9158. [PMID: 33053305 PMCID: PMC7649845 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c02319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Phasor analysis is a robust, nonfitting, method for the study of multiexponential decays in lifetime imaging data, routinely used in Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy (FLIM) and only recently validated for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). In the established phasor approach, typically only the first Fourier harmonic is used to unravel time-domain exponential trends and their intercorrelations across image voxels. Here, we demonstrate the potential of full-harmonics (FH) phasor analysis by using all frequency-domain data points in simulations and quantitative MRI (qMRI) T2 measurements of phantoms with bulk liquids or liquid-filled porous particles and of a human brain. We show that FH analysis, while of limited advantage in FLIM due to the correlated nature of shot noise, in MRI outperforms single-harmonic phasor in unravelling multiple physical environments and partial-volume effects otherwise undiscernible. We foresee application of FH phasor to, e.g., big-data analysis in qMRI of biological or other multiphase systems, where multiparameter fitting is unfeasible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wouter M. J. Franssen
- Laboratory
of Biophysics, Wageningen University &
Research, Wageningen 6708 WE, The Netherlands
| | - Frank J. Vergeldt
- Laboratory
of Biophysics, Wageningen University &
Research, Wageningen 6708 WE, The Netherlands
| | - Arjen N. Bader
- Laboratory
of Biophysics, Wageningen University &
Research, Wageningen 6708 WE, The Netherlands
- MicroSpectroscopy
Centre, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen 6708 WE, The Netherlands
| | - Herbert van Amerongen
- Laboratory
of Biophysics, Wageningen University &
Research, Wageningen 6708 WE, The Netherlands
- MicroSpectroscopy
Centre, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen 6708 WE, The Netherlands
| | - Camilla Terenzi
- Laboratory
of Biophysics, Wageningen University &
Research, Wageningen 6708 WE, The Netherlands
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Nikiforaki K, Ioannidis GS, Lagoudaki E, Manikis GH, de Bree E, Karantanas A, Maris TG, Marias K. Multiexponential T2 relaxometry of benign and malignant adipocytic tumours. Eur Radiol Exp 2020; 4:45. [PMID: 32743728 PMCID: PMC7396415 DOI: 10.1186/s41747-020-00175-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2020] [Accepted: 07/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background We investigated a recently proposed multiexponential (Mexp) fitting method applied to T2 relaxometry magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data of benign and malignant adipocytic tumours and healthy subcutaneous fat. We studied the T2 distributions of the different tissue types and calculated statistical metrics to differentiate benign and malignant tumours. Methods Twenty-four patients with primary benign and malignant adipocytic tumours prospectively underwent 1.5-T MRI with a single-slice T2 relaxometry (Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill sequence, 25 echoes) prior to surgical excision and histopathological assessment. The proposed method adaptively chooses a monoexponential or biexponential model on a voxel basis based on the adjusted R2 goodness of fit criterion. Linear regression was applied on the statistical metrics derived from the T2 distributions for the classification. Results Healthy subcutaneous fat and benign lipoma were better described by biexponential fitting with a monoexponential and biexponential prevalence of 0.0/100% and 0.2/99.8% respectively. Well-differentiated liposarcomas exhibit 17.6% monoexponential and 82.4% biexponential behaviour, while more aggressive liposarcomas show larger degree of monoexponential behaviour. The monoexponential/biexponential prevalence was 47.6/52.4% for myxoid tumours, 52.8/47.2% for poorly differentiated parts of dedifferentiated liposarcomas, and 24.9/75.1% pleomorphic liposarcomas. The percentage monoexponential or biexponential model prevalence per patient was the best classifier distinguishing between malignant and benign adipocytic tumours with a 0.81 sensitivity and a 1.00 specificity. Conclusions Healthy adipose tissue and benign lipomas showed a pure biexponential behaviour with similar T2 distributions, while decreased adipocytic cell differentiation characterising aggressive neoplasms was associated with an increased rate of monoexponential decay curves, opening a perspective adipocytic tumour classification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katerina Nikiforaki
- Computational Bio-Medicine Laboratory (CBML), Institute of Computer Science (ICS), Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Nikolaou Plastira 100, Vassilika Vouton, GR-70013, Heraklion, Crete, Greece. .,Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece.
| | - Georgios S Ioannidis
- Computational Bio-Medicine Laboratory (CBML), Institute of Computer Science (ICS), Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Nikolaou Plastira 100, Vassilika Vouton, GR-70013, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.,Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
| | - Eleni Lagoudaki
- Department of Pathology, University Hospital of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
| | - Georgios H Manikis
- Computational Bio-Medicine Laboratory (CBML), Institute of Computer Science (ICS), Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Nikolaou Plastira 100, Vassilika Vouton, GR-70013, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.,Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
| | - Eelco de Bree
- Department of Surgical Oncology, University Hospital of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
| | - Apostolos Karantanas
- Computational Bio-Medicine Laboratory (CBML), Institute of Computer Science (ICS), Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Nikolaou Plastira 100, Vassilika Vouton, GR-70013, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.,Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece.,Department of Medical Imaging, University Hospital, Heraklion, Greece
| | - Thomas G Maris
- Computational Bio-Medicine Laboratory (CBML), Institute of Computer Science (ICS), Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Nikolaou Plastira 100, Vassilika Vouton, GR-70013, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.,Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece.,Department of Medical Physics, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
| | - Kostas Marias
- Computational Bio-Medicine Laboratory (CBML), Institute of Computer Science (ICS), Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Nikolaou Plastira 100, Vassilika Vouton, GR-70013, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.,Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Heraklion, Greece
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