• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.154-158
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• 1999

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to find the optimum TE value for enhancing $T_2^{*}$ weighting effect and minimizing the SNR degradation and to compare the BOLD effects according to the changes of TE in 1.5T and 3.0T MRI systems. Materials and Methods : Healthy normal volunteers (eight males and two females with 24-38 years old) participated in this study. Each volunteer was asked to perform a simple finger-tapping task (sequential opposition of thumb to each of the other four fingers) with right hand with a mean frequency of about 2Hz. The stimulus was initially off for 3 images and was then alternatively switched on and off for 2 cycles of 6 images. Images were acquired on the 1.5T and 3.0T MRI with the FLASH (fast low angle shot) pulse sequence (TR : 100ms, FA : $20^{\circ}$, FOV : 230mm) that was used with 26, 36, 46, 56, 66, 76ms of TE times in 1.5T and 16, 26, 36, 46, 56, 66ms of TE in 3.0T MRI system. After the completion of scan, MR images were transferred into a PC and processed with a home-made analysis program based on the correlation coefficient method with the threshold value of 0.45. To search for the optimum TE value in fMRI, the difference between the activation and the rest by the susceptibility change for each TE was used in 1.5T and 3.0T respectively. In addition, the functional $T_2^{*}$ map was calculated to quantify susceptibility change. Results : The calculated optimum TE for fMRI was $61.89{\pm}2.68$ at 1.5T and $47.64{\pm}13.34$ at 3.0T. The maximum percentage of signal intensity change due to the susceptibility effect inactivation region was 3.36% at TE 66ms in 1.5T 10.05% at TE 46ms in 3.0T, respectively. The signal intensity change of 3.0T was about 3 times bigger than of 1.5T. The calculated optimum TE value was consistent with TE values which were obtained from the maximum signal change for each TE. Conclusion : In this study, the 3.0T MRI was clearly more sensitive, about three times bigger than the 1.5T in detecting the susceptibility due to the deoxyhemoglobin level change in the functional MR imaging. So the 3.0T fMRI I ore useful than 1.5T.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.17-25
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• 2011

In this study, we examined the impact caused by chronic exposure to Mn by investigating the degree of brain activation based on the data of recognition activities using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging). A questionnaire survey, blood tests, and fMRI tests were carried out with respect to two groups. Group 1 was an exposure group consisting of 15 male workers who are 34 years old or older, and who worked for longer than 10 years in a shipbuilding factory as a welder. Group 2 was a control group consisting of 15 workers in manufacturing industries with the same gender and age. The results showed that blood Mn concentration of Group 1($1.3\;{\mu}g/dl$) was significantly higher than that of Group 2($0.8\;{\mu}g/dl$)(p < 0.001), and Pallidal Index (PI) of Group 1 was also significantly higher than that of Group 2 (p < 0.001). PI value of the group whose blood Mn concentration was $0.93\;{\mu}g/dl$ or higher was significantly higher than that of the group whose blood Mn concentration was less than $0.93 \;{\mu}g/dl$ (p < 0.001). As for brain activity area within the control group, the right and the left areas of occipital cortex showed significant activity and the left area of middle temporal cortex, the right area of superior inferior frontal cortex and inferior parietal cortex showed significant activity. Unlike the control group, the exposure group showed significant activity on the right area of superior inferior temporal cortex, the left of insula area. In the comparison of brain activity areas between the two groups, the exposure group showed significantly higher activation than the control group in such areas as the right inferior temporal cortex, the left area of superior parietal cortex and occipital cortex, and cerebellum including middle temporal cortex. However, in nowhere the control group showed more activated area than the exposure group. As the final outcome, chronic exposure to Mn increased brain activity during implementation of arithmetic task. In an identical task, activation increased in superior inferior temporal cortex, and insula area. And it was discovered that brain activity increase in temporal area and occipital area was more pronounced in the exposure group than in the control group. This result suggests that chronic exposure to Mn in the work environment affects brain activation neuro-network.