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Excerpt
This book aims to spread knowledge on three novel physiological magnetic resonance (MR) techniques: diffusion and perfusion MR imaging (MRI), and MR spectroscopy, which recently became available in most MRI clinical systems to study tissue function in addition to brain anatomy.
In the first section of the book (totaling 167 pages), three chapters with a thorough account and helpful examples are devoted to the basics of each MR physiological technique: diffusion, perfusion, and spectroscopy. The chapters include limitations and cautionary advice with regard to the clinical application of these techniques. The technical chapters on proton MR spectroscopy review spatial localization, water suppression, single- vs. multi-voxel techniques, chemical shift imaging, and metabolite quantification, and emphasize the importance of protocol optimization. Technical chapters on diffusion MRI accurately review diffusion encoding, anisotropic diffusion, diffusion tensor imaging, and MR tractographic techniques; the effect of magnetic susceptibility, partial volume, perfusion, motion, and flow, and other sources of image artifacts such as eddy currents and non-linear gradient fields are well discussed in the text. Technical chapters on perfusion MRI describe bolus tracking, cerebral blood flow, mean transit time, continued and pulsed arterial spin labeling, as well as limitations in perfusion MRI.
In the subsequent seven sections of the book, thirty-seven chapters (636 pages) describe and illustrate clinical and clinically related applications of these techniques to medical problems such as cerebrovascular disease, adult neoplasia, infection, inflammation and demyelination, seizure disorders, psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases, trauma, and to studies of neurodevelopmental processes (i.e., pediatrics). Each section begins with an overview of one clinical problem; related chapters initially summarize key points by highlighting the rationale for using one particular technique, then its potential contribution is discussed critically and illustrated by superb tables and figures. Additional case studies, demonstrating the important medical applications of these techniques, provide additional clinical relevance at the close of some chapters.
This book is indeed a welcomed addition to the rapidly growing knowledge base of clinical neuroimaging, as it will undoubtedly provide medical professionals with a clear and informative reference to emerging state-of-the-art neuroimaging applications. The book's emphasis of applications to issues of human disease on the one hand and accurate basic research driven technological information on the other will also facilitate a much needed communication and collaboration between the medical and physical sciences for future technological developments with clinical applications. The editors wisely selected authors who are well established in each of the relevant topics and who have demonstrated extensive research experience using these novel physiological MR techniques in basic development research and in more clinically applicable research. Overall, the book chapters allow the reader to get a clear notion of the relative value of each method for a given clinical problem. Therefore, Clinical MR Neuroimaging: Diffusion, Perfusion and Spectroscopy by J. Gillard et al. is a wonderful reference book for physicians and radiologists looking for comprehensive coverage of clinical applications, as well as for biomedical engineers, MR physicists, and others more interested in the underlying physical principles of these novel MR techniques.
