OBJECTIVES We hypothesized that 3D time-of-flight (TOF) and true fast imaging with steady-state precession (true-FISP) fusion imaging could provide more information regarding the arterial vessel wall. The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy of lesion detection and the diagnostic confidence of VAD between TOF images alone and fused TOF and true-FISP images. METHODS Fifty patients...

We demonstrated the complementary use of inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ESI-Q-TOF-MS) for the analysis of Se-containing compounds, such as selenate, selenomethionine (SeMet), and trimethylselenonium ion (TMSe), found in biological samples. The sensitivity of ESI-Q-TOF-MS for Se-containing compounds w...

Right ventricular (RV) function is notoriously difficult to quantify. Patients with tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) have decreased systolic performance. We measure regional RV performance using MRI with 1-dimensional myocardial tissue tagging. By tagging cine-MRI in two views, we measured regional shortening in 12 regions throughout the RV. We image 32 pediatric patients: 21 normal patients and 11 pa...

The aim of this study was to examine differences in prejunctional effects of different relaxants by measuring the train-of-four (TOF) fade during the onset and recovery of neuromuscular block. The relaxants studied were atracurium (225 micrograms.kg-1), mivacurium (65 micrograms.kg-1) rocuronium (300 micrograms.kg-1) and vecuronium (40 micrograms.kg-1). The TOF ratios were measured at approxima...

Residual neuromuscular blockade (RNmB) is always a potential concern for anesthesiologists. However, there is no uniformity and/or universal protocol (because it constantly keeps evolving) in regards to neuromuscular blocking drugs (NmBds) administrations based on peri-operative neuromuscular monitoring as well as tracheal extubations guided by neuromuscular monitoring. moreover, neuromuscular ...

The increasing use of nanoparticles (NP) in commercial products requires elaborated techniques to detect NP in the tissue of exposed organisms. However, due to the low amount of material, the detection and exact localization of NP within tissue sections is demanding. In this respect, Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and Ion Beam Microscopy (IBM) are promising techniques...

Despite that matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) has become a powerful tool in the clinical microbiology setting, few studies have till now focused on MALDI-TOF MS-based identification of dermatophytes. In this study, we analyze dermatophytes strains isolated from clinical samples by MALDI-TOF MS to supplement the reference database avai...

BACKGROUND The most typical cardiac abnormality is conotruncal defects (CTDs) in patients with 22q11 deletion syndrome (22q11DS). HIRA (histone cell cycle regulator) gene, as one of the candidate genes located at the critical region of 22q11DS, was reported as possibly relevant to CTD in animal models. This study aimed to analyze the level of expression of the HIRA gene in tetralogy of Fallot (...

BACKGROUND The use of contrast media and the time-resolved imaging of contrast kinetics (TRICKS) technique have some theoretical advantages over time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography (TOF-MRA) in the follow-up of intracranial aneurysms after endovascular treatment. We prospectively compared the diagnostic performance of TRICKS and TOF-MRA with digital subtracted angiography (DSA) in the...

Time-of-flight (TOF) positron emission tomography (PET) was studied and preliminarily developed in the 1980s, but the lack of a scintillator able to deliver at the same time proper time resolution and stopping power has prevented this technique from becoming widespread and commercially available. With the introduction of LSO in PET, TOF is now a feasible option. TOF reconstruction has been impl...