Browsing by Author "Cruz, Gastão"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Motion-corrected simultaneous cardiac positron emission tomography and coronary MR angiography with high acquisition efficiency
    (2018) Munoz, Camila; Neji, Radhouene; Cruz, Gastão; Mallia, Andrew; Jeljeli, Sami; Reader, Andrew J.; Botnar, René Michael; Prieto Vásquez, Claudia
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    Non-invasive in vivo imaging of changes in Collagen III turnover in myocardial fibrosis
    (2024) Chaher, Nadia; Lacerda, Sara; Digilio, Giuseppe; Padovan, Sergio; Gao, Ling; Lavín, Begoña; Stefania, Rachele; Velasco Jimeno, Carlos; Cruz, Gastão; Prieto Vásquez, Claudia; Botnar, René Michael; Phinikaridou, Alkystis
    Heart failure (HF) affects 64 million people globally with enormous societal and healthcare costs. Myocardial fibrosis, characterised by changes in collagen content drives HF. Despite evidence that collagen type III (COL3) content changes during myocardial fibrosis, in vivo imaging of COL3 has not been achieved. Here, we discovered the first imaging probe that binds to COL3 with high affinity and specificity, by screening candidate peptide-based probes. Characterisation of the probe showed favourable magnetic and biodistribution properties. The probe’s potential for in vivo molecular cardiac magnetic resonance imaging was evaluated in a murine model of myocardial infarction. Using the new probe, we were able to map and quantify, previously undetectable, spatiotemporal changes in COL3 after myocardial infarction and monitor response to treatment. This innovative probe provides a promising tool to non-invasively study the unexplored roles of COL3 in cardiac fibrosis and other cardiovascular conditions marked by changes in COL3.
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    Optimized respiratory-resolved motion-compensated 3D cartesian coronary MR angiography
    (2018) Correia, Teresa; Ginami, Giulia; Cruz, Gastão; Neji, Radhouene; Rashid, Imran; Botnar, René Michael; Prieto Vásquez, Claudia
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    Simultaneous comprehensive liver T1, T2, , T1ρ, and fat fraction characterization with MR fingerprinting
    (2022) Velasco, Carlos; Cruz, Gastão; Jaubert, Olivier; Lavin, Begoña; Botnar, René Michael; Prieto Vásquez, Claudia
    Purpose: To develop a novel simultaneous co-registered T1, T2, urn:x-wiley:07403194:media:mrm29089:mrm29089-math-0811, T1ρ, and fat fraction abdominal MR fingerprinting (MRF) approach for fully comprehensive liver-tissue characterization in a single breath-hold scan. Methods: A gradient-echo liver MRF sequence with low fixed flip angle, multi-echo radial readout, and varying magnetization preparation pulses for multiparametric encoding is performed at 1.5 T. The urn:x-wiley:07403194:media:mrm29089:mrm29089-math-0011 and fat fraction are estimated from a graph/cut water/fat separation method using a six-peak fat model. Water/fat singular images obtained are then matched to an MRF dictionary, estimating water-specific T1, T2, and T1ρ. The proposed approach was tested in phantoms and 10 healthy subjects and compared against conventional sequences. Results: For the phantom studies, linear fits show excellent coefficients of determination (r2 > 0.9) for every parametric map. For in vivo studies, the average values measured within regions of interest drawn on liver, spleen, muscle, and fat are statistically different from the reference scans (p < 0.05) for T1, T2, and T1⍴ but not for urn:x-wiley:07403194:media:mrm29089:mrm29089-math-0012 and fat fraction, whereas correlation between MRF and reference scans is excellent for each parameter (r2 > 0.92 for every parameter). Conclusion: The proposed multi-echo inversion-recovery, T2, and T1⍴ prepared liver MRF sequence presented in this work allows for quantitative T1, T2, urn:x-wiley:07403194:media:mrm29089:mrm29089-math-0013, T1⍴, and fat fraction liver-tissue characterization in a single breath-hold scan of 18 seconds. The approach showed good agreement and correlation with respect to reference clinical maps.
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    Technical note : accelerated nonrigid motion-compensated isotropic 3D coronary MR angiography
    (2018) Correia, Teresa; Cruz, Gastão; Schneider, Torben; Botnar, René Michael; Prieto Vásquez, Claudia