May 2022, Asian Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Contribution award　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha

Sep. 2021, Japanese Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Outstanding presentation
Khin Khin Tha;Ulrich Katscher;Xinnan Li;Hiroyuki Hamaguchi;Hideki Hyodoh, 27309736

Aug. 2021, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Excellent Teacher Award　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha

Sep. 2020, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Excellent Teacher Award　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Apr. 2020, Japan Radiological Society, Excellent Reviewer Award　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Official journal, Japan

Dec. 2018, Hokkaido University, Global Networking Award
Others, Japan

Aug. 2018, Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, JMRI Reviewer Award (Reviewer with Distinction)
Official journal, United States

Jul. 2018, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Excellent Teacher　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Others, Japan

Mar. 2018, The 12th Asian-Oceanian Congress of Neuroradiology, Guerbet Scientific Award (Cum Laude)
Recent advances and new trends in glioma imaging
Tha KK, International society, Taiwan, Province of China

Jul. 2017, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Excellent Teacher　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Others, Japan

Mar. 2014, Japan Society of Neuroradiology, Outstanding poster award, third prize (Scientific presentation)　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Noninvasive evaluation of electrical conductivity of the brain tumors by MRI
Khin Khin Tha, Japan society, Japan

Oct. 2012, The 40th Japanese Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Presidential award　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Laterality of the corticospinal tract and influence of handedness: a diffusion tensor imaging observation
Khin Khin Tha, Japan society, Japan

May 2011, The International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Quiz winner　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha, International society, United States

Sep. 2010, The Japanese Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Presidential award　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Diffusion Tensor Imaging Characteristics of Normal Human Cervical Spinal Cord at 3T
Khin Khin Tha, Japan society, Japan

Feb. 2010, The Japanese Society of Neuroradiology, Kato prize
Microstructural white matter abnormalities of multiple system atrophy: in vivo topographic illustration by using diffusion-tensor MR imaging.
Khin Khin Tha, Publisher, Japan

Jun. 2006, Department of Radiation Medicine (Alumni), Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Wakabayashi Memorial Award　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Early detection of global cerebral anoxia: Improved accuracy by high b-value diffusion-weighted imaging with long echo time
Khin Khin Tha, Publisher, Japan

Mar. 2006, Symposium Neuroradiologicum, Travel Fellowship Award　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
High b-value diffusion-weighted imaging of the brain: advantages and pitfalls
Khin Khin Tha, International society

Feb. 2006, The Japanese Society of Neuroradiology, Best poster award　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha, Japan society, Japan

Dec. 2005, The Radiological Society of North America, Cum Laude　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Imaging spectrum of hyperintense cerebrospinal fluid on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images of the brain
Khin Khin Tha, International society, United States

Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate Combined with Ultra-Purified Alginate Bioresorbable Gel Enhances Intervertebral Disc Repair in a Canine Model: A Preclinical Proof-of-Concept Study.
Daisuke Ukeba, Yoko Ishikawa, Katsuhisa Yamada, Takashi Ohnishi, Hiroyuki Tachi, Khin Khin Tha, Norimasa Iwasaki, Hideki Sudo
Cells, 13, 11, 05 Jun. 2024, [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, Although discectomy is commonly performed for lumbar intervertebral disc (IVD) herniation, the capacity for tissue repair after surgery is limited, resulting in residual lower back pain, recurrence of IVD herniation, and progression of IVD degeneration. Cell-based therapies, as one-step procedures, are desirable for enhancing IVD repair. This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of a combination of newly developed ultra-purified alginate (UPAL) gel and bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC) implantation for IVD repair after discectomy. Prior to an in vivo study, the cell concentration abilities of three commercially available preparation kits for creating the BMAC were compared by measuring the number of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells harvested from the bone marrow of rabbits. Subsequently, canine-derived BMAC was tested in a canine model using a kit which had the highest concentration rate. At 24 weeks after implantation, we evaluated the changes in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signals as well as histological degeneration grade and immunohistochemical analysis results for type II and type I collagen-positive cells in the treated IVDs. In all quantitative evaluations, such as MRI and histological and immunohistochemical analyses of IVD degeneration, BMAC-UPAL implantation significantly suppressed the progression of IVD degeneration compared to discectomy and UPAL alone. This preclinical proof-of-concept study demonstrated the potential efficacy of BMAC-UPAL gel as a therapeutic strategy for implementation after discectomy, which was superior to UPAL and discectomy alone in terms of tissue repair and regenerative potential.

Intracerebral transplantation of MRI-trackable autologous bone marrow stromal cells for patients with subacute ischemic stroke.
Masahito Kawabori, Satoshi Kuroda, Hideo Shichinohe, Kaoru Kahata, Souichi Shiratori, Satoshi Ikeda, Taisuke Harada, Kenji Hirata, Khin Khin Tha, Masato Aragaki, Shunsuke Terasaka, Yoichi M Ito, Naoki Nishimoto, Shunsuke Ohnishi, Ichiro Yabe, Kohsuke Kudo, Kiyohiro Houkin, Miki Fujimura
Med (New York, N.Y.), 18 Mar. 2024, [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, BACKGROUND: Ischemic stroke is one of the leading causes of death and neurological disability worldwide, and stem cell therapy is highly expected to reverse the sequelae. This phase 1/2, first-in-human study evaluated the safety, feasibility, and monitoring of an intracerebral-transplanted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-trackable autologous bone marrow stromal cell (HUNS001-01) for patients with subacute ischemic stroke. METHODS: The study included adults with severe disability due to ischemic stroke. HUNS001-01 cultured with human platelet lysates and labeled with superparamagnetic iron oxide was stereotactically transplanted into the peri-infarct area 47-64 days after ischemic stroke onset (dose: 2 or 5 × 107 cells). Neurological and radiographic evaluations were performed throughout 1 year after cell transplantation. The trial was registered at UMIN Clinical Trial Registry (number UMIN000026130). FINDINGS: All seven patients who met the inclusion criteria successfully achieved cell expansion, underwent intracerebral transplantation, and completed 1 year of follow-up. No product-related adverse events were observed. The median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale and modified Rankin scale scores before transplantation were 13 and 4, which showed improvements of 1-8 and 0-2, respectively. Cell tracking proved that the engrafted cells migrated toward the infarction border area 1-6 months after transplantation, and the quantitative susceptibility mapping revealed that cell signals at the migrated area constantly increased throughout the follow-up period up to 34% of that of the initial transplanted site. CONCLUSIONS: Intracerebral transplantation of HUNS001-01 was safe and well tolerated. Cell tracking shed light on the therapeutic mechanisms of intracerebral transplantation. FUNDING: This work was supported by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED; JP17bk0104045 and JP20bk0104011).

Brain Temperature as an Indicator of Cognitive Function in Traumatic Brain Injury Patients
Maho Kitagawa, Kagari Abiko, Sulaiman Sheriff, Andrew Maudsley, Xinnan Li, Daisuke Sawamura, Sinyeob Ahn, Khin Tha
Metabolites, 27 Dec. 2023, [Peer-reviewed]
English, Scientific journal

Cerebral cortical structural alteration patterns across four major psychiatric disorders in 5549 individuals.
Junya Matsumoto, Masaki Fukunaga, Kenichiro Miura, Kiyotaka Nemoto, Naohiro Okada, Naoki Hashimoto, Kentaro Morita, Daisuke Koshiyama, Kazutaka Ohi, Tsutomu Takahashi, Michihiko Koeda, Hidenaga Yamamori, Michiko Fujimoto, Yuka Yasuda, Satsuki Ito, Ryuichi Yamazaki, Naomi Hasegawa, Hisashi Narita, Satoshi Yokoyama, Ryo Mishima, Jun Miyata, Yuko Kobayashi, Daiki Sasabayashi, Kenichiro Harada, Maeri Yamamoto, Yoji Hirano, Takashi Itahashi, Masahito Nakataki, Ryu-Ichiro Hashimoto, Khin K Tha, Shinsuke Koike, Toshio Matsubara, Go Okada, Reiji Yoshimura, Osamu Abe, Theo G M van Erp, Jessica A Turner, Neda Jahanshad, Paul M Thompson, Toshiaki Onitsuka, Yoshiyuki Watanabe, Koji Matsuo, Hidenori Yamasue, Yasumasa Okamoto, Michio Suzuki, Norio Ozaki, Kiyoto Kasai, Ryota Hashimoto
Molecular psychiatry, 28, 11, 4915, 4923, Nov. 2023, [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, According to the operational diagnostic criteria, psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia (SZ), bipolar disorder (BD), major depressive disorder (MDD), and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are classified based on symptoms. While its cluster of symptoms defines each of these psychiatric disorders, there is also an overlap in symptoms between the disorders. We hypothesized that there are also similarities and differences in cortical structural neuroimaging features among these psychiatric disorders. T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging scans were performed for 5,549 subjects recruited from 14 sites. Effect sizes were determined using a linear regression model within each protocol, and these effect sizes were meta-analyzed. The similarity of the differences in cortical thickness and surface area of each disorder group was calculated using cosine similarity, which was calculated from the effect sizes of each cortical regions. The thinnest cortex was found in SZ, followed by BD and MDD. The cosine similarity values between disorders were 0.943 for SZ and BD, 0.959 for SZ and MDD, and 0.943 for BD and MDD, which indicated that a common pattern of cortical thickness alterations was found among SZ, BD, and MDD. Additionally, a generally smaller cortical surface area was found in SZ and MDD than in BD, and the effect was larger in SZ. The cosine similarity values between disorders were 0.945 for SZ and MDD, 0.867 for SZ and ASD, and 0.811 for MDD and ASD, which indicated a common pattern of cortical surface area alterations among SZ, MDD, and ASD. Patterns of alterations in cortical thickness and surface area were revealed in the four major psychiatric disorders. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a cross-disorder analysis conducted on four major psychiatric disorders. Cross-disorder brain imaging research can help to advance our understanding of the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders and common symptoms.

One size does not fit all: qualitative vs. quantitative arterial spin labelling MRI assessment.
Khin Khin Tha
European radiology, 33, 11, 8002, 8004, Nov. 2023, [International Magazine]
English

Subcortical volumetric alterations in four major psychiatric disorders: a mega-analysis study of 5604 subjects and a volumetric data-driven approach for classification.
Naohiro Okada, Masaki Fukunaga, Kenichiro Miura, Kiyotaka Nemoto, Junya Matsumoto, Naoki Hashimoto, Masahiro Kiyota, Kentaro Morita, Daisuke Koshiyama, Kazutaka Ohi, Tsutomu Takahashi, Michihiko Koeda, Hidenaga Yamamori, Michiko Fujimoto, Yuka Yasuda, Naomi Hasegawa, Hisashi Narita, Satoshi Yokoyama, Ryo Mishima, Takahiko Kawashima, Yuko Kobayashi, Daiki Sasabayashi, Kenichiro Harada, Maeri Yamamoto, Yoji Hirano, Takashi Itahashi, Masahito Nakataki, Ryu-Ichiro Hashimoto, Khin K Tha, Shinsuke Koike, Toshio Matsubara, Go Okada, Theo G M van Erp, Neda Jahanshad, Reiji Yoshimura, Osamu Abe, Toshiaki Onitsuka, Yoshiyuki Watanabe, Koji Matsuo, Hidenori Yamasue, Yasumasa Okamoto, Michio Suzuki, Jessica A Turner, Paul M Thompson, Norio Ozaki, Kiyoto Kasai, Ryota Hashimoto
Molecular psychiatry, 04 Aug. 2023, [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, Differential diagnosis is sometimes difficult in practical psychiatric settings, in terms of using the current diagnostic system based on presenting symptoms and signs. The creation of a novel diagnostic system using objective biomarkers is expected to take place. Neuroimaging studies and others reported that subcortical brain structures are the hubs for various psycho-behavioral functions, while there are so far no neuroimaging data-driven clinical criteria overcoming limitations of the current diagnostic system, which would reflect cognitive/social functioning. Prior to the main analysis, we conducted a large-scale multisite study of subcortical volumetric and lateralization alterations in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, and autism spectrum disorder using T1-weighted images of 5604 subjects (3078 controls and 2526 patients). We demonstrated larger lateral ventricles volume in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder, smaller hippocampus volume in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia-specific smaller amygdala, thalamus, and accumbens volumes and larger caudate, putamen, and pallidum volumes. In addition, we observed a leftward alteration of lateralization for pallidum volume specifically in schizophrenia. Moreover, as our main objective, we clustered the 5,604 subjects based on subcortical volumes, and explored whether data-driven clustering results can explain cognitive/social functioning in the subcohorts. We showed a four-biotype classification, namely extremely (Brain Biotype [BB] 1) and moderately smaller limbic regions (BB2), larger basal ganglia (BB3), and normal volumes (BB4), being associated with cognitive/social functioning. Specifically, BB1 and BB2-3 were associated with severe and mild cognitive/social impairment, respectively, while BB4 was characterized by normal cognitive/social functioning. Our results may lead to the future creation of novel biological data-driven psychiatric diagnostic criteria, which may be expected to be useful for prediction or therapeutic selection.

Quantitative Assessment of Intervertebral Disc Composition by MRI: Sensitivity to Diurnal Variation.
Hiroyuki Hamaguchi, Maho Kitagawa, Daiki Sakamoto, Ulrich Katscher, Hideki Sudo, Katsuhisa Yamada, Kohsuke Kudo, Khin Khin Tha
Tomography (Ann Arbor, Mich.), 9, 3, 1029, 1040, 16 May 2023, [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, Whether diurnal variation exists in quantitative MRI indices such as the T1rho relaxation time (T1ρ) of the intervertebral disc (IVD) is yet to be explored. This prospective study aimed to evaluate the diurnal variation in T1ρ, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), and electrical conductivity (σ) of lumbar IVD and its relationship with other MRI or clinical indices. Lumbar spine MRI, including T1ρ imaging, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and electric properties tomography (EPT), was conducted on 17 sedentary workers twice (morning and evening) on the same day. The T1ρ, ADC, and σ of IVD were compared between the time points. Their diurnal variation, if any, was tested for correlation with age, body mass index (BMI), IVD level, Pfirrmann grade, scan interval, and diurnal variation in IVD height index. The results showed a significant decrease in T1ρ and ADC and a significant increase in the σ of IVD in the evening. T1ρ variation had a weak correlation with age and scan interval, and ADC variation with scan interval. Diurnal variation exists for the T1ρ, ADC, and σ of lumbar IVD, which should be accounted for in image interpretation. This variation is thought to be due to diurnal variations in intradiscal water, proteoglycan, and sodium ion concentration.

Dynamics of corticocortical brain functional connectivity relevant to therapeutic response to biologics in inflammatory arthritis.
Kodai Sakiyama, Nobuya Abe, Yuichiro Fujieda, Khin K Tha, Hisashi Narita, Kohei Karino, Masatoshi Kanda, Michihito Kono, Masaru Kato, Tatsuya Atsumi
Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991), 33, 13, 8342, 8351, 01 Apr. 2023, [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, Aberrant functional connectivity (FC) of the brain regions, evaluated by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), affects clinical courses in inflammatory arthritis (IA). The static analysis methods would be simplistic to estimate the whole picture of resting-state brain function because blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals fluctuate over time. The effects of FC dynamics on clinical course are unknown in IA. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate dynamic FC for therapeutic responsiveness to biologics in IA patients. We analyzed resting-state fMRI data of 64 IA patients in 2 cohorts. Dynamic FC was derived as a correlation coefficient of the windowed BOLD signal time series. We determined representative whole-brain dynamic FC patterns by k-means++ cluster analysis, leading to 4 distinct clusters. In the first cohort, occurrence probability of the distinct cluster was associated with favorable therapeutic response in disease activity and patients' global assessment, which was validated by the second cohort. The whole-brain FC of the distinct cluster indicated significantly increased corticocortical connectivity, and probabilistically decreased after therapy in treatment-effective patients compared with -ineffective patients. Taken together, frequent emergence of corticocortical connections was associated with clinical outcomes in IA. The coherence of corticocortical interactions might affect pain modulation, possibly relevant to therapeutic satisfaction.

Protocol for treating lumbar spinal canal stenosis with a combination of ultrapurified, allogenic bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells and in situ-forming gel: a multicentre, prospective, double-blind randomised controlled trial.
Hideki Sudo, Takashi Miyakoshi, Yudai Watanabe, Yoichi M Ito, Kaoru Kahata, Khin Khin Tha, Nozomi Yokota, Hiroe Kato, Tomoko Terada, Norimasa Iwasaki, Teruyo Arato, Norihiro Sato, Toshiyuki Isoe
BMJ open, 13, 2, e065476, 02 Feb. 2023, [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, INTRODUCTION: In patients with combined lumbar spinal canal stenosis (LSCS), a herniated intervertebral disc (IVD) that compresses the dura mater and nerve roots is surgically treated with discectomy after laminoplasty. However, defects in the IVD after discectomy may lead to inadequate tissue healing and predispose patients to the development of IVD degeneration. Ultrapurified stem cells (rapidly expanding clones (RECs)), combined with an in situ-forming bioresorbable gel (dMD-001), have been developed to fill IVD defects and prevent IVD degeneration after discectomy. We aim to investigate the safety and efficacy of a new treatment method in which a combination of REC and dMD-001 is implanted into the IVD of patients with combined LSCS. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is a multicentre, prospective, double-blind randomised controlled trial. Forty-five participants aged 20-75 years diagnosed with combined LSCS will be assessed for eligibility. After performing laminoplasty and discectomy, participants will be randomised 1:1:1 into the combination of REC and dMD-001 (REC-dMD-001) group, the dMD-001 group or the laminoplasty and discectomy alone (control) group. The primary outcomes of the trial will be the safety and effectiveness of the procedure. The effectiveness will be assessed using visual analogue scale scores of back pain and leg pain as well as MRI-based estimations of morphological and compositional quality of the IVD tissue. Secondary outcomes will include self-assessed clinical scores and other MRI-based estimations of compositional quality of the IVD tissue. All evaluations will be performed at baseline and at 1, 4, 12, 24 and 48 weeks after surgery. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study was approved by the ethics committees of the institutions involved. We plan to conduct dissemination of the outcome data by presenting our data at national and international conferences, as well as through formal publication in a peer-reviewed journal. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: jRCT2013210076.

肝細胞癌陽子線治療効果予測におけるADC値指標の検討　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
藤田 祥博, 加藤 徳雄, 打浪 雄介, 田口 大志, 西岡 健太郎, 森 崇, 安田 耕一, 小泉 富基, 大塚 愛美, 高尾 聖心, 田村 昌也, Sutherland Kenneth, Khin Khin Tha, 伊藤 陽一, 青山 英史
Japanese Journal of Radiology, 41, Suppl., 10, 10, (公社)日本医学放射線学会, Feb. 2023
Japanese

Pathogenic neuropsychiatric effect of stress-induced microglial interleukin 12/23 axis in systemic lupus erythematosus.
Nobuya Abe, Masato Tarumi, Yuichiro Fujieda, Nobuhiko Takahashi, Kohei Karino, Mona Uchida, Michihito Kono, Yuki Tanaka, Rie Hasebe, Masaru Kato, Olga Amengual, Yoshiyuki Arinuma, Kenji Oku, Wakiro Sato, Khin Khin Tha, Miwako Yamasaki, Masahiko Watanabe, Tatsuya Atsumi, Masaaki Murakami
Annals of the rheumatic diseases, 81, 11, 1564, 1575, 11 Jul. 2022, [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, OBJECTIVES: The central nervous system disorder in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), called neuropsychiatric lupus (NPSLE), is one of the most severe phenotypes with various clinical symptoms, including mood disorder, psychosis and delirium as diffuse neuropsychological manifestations (dNPSLE). Although stress is one of the aggravating factors for neuropsychiatric symptoms, its role in the pathogenesis of dNPSLE remains to be elucidated. We aimed to investigate stress effects on the neuropsychiatric pathophysiology in SLE using lupus-prone mice and patients' data. METHODS: Sleep disturbance stress (SDS) for 2 weeks was placed on 6-8-week-old female MRL/lpr and control mice. Behavioural phenotyping, histopathological analyses and gene and protein expression analyses were performed to assess SDS-induced neuroimmunological alterations. We also evaluated cytokines of the cerebrospinal fluid and brain regional volumes in patients with dNPSLE and patients with non-dNPSLE. RESULTS: SDS-subjected MRL/lpr mice exhibited less anxiety-like behaviour, whereas stressed control mice showed increased anxiety. Furthermore, stress strongly activated the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in SDS-subjected MRL/lpr. A transcriptome analysis of the PFC revealed the upregulation of microglial activation-related genes, including Il12b. We confirmed that stress-induced microglial activation and the upregulation of interleukin (IL) 12/23p40 proteins and increased dendritic spines in the mPFC of stressed MRL/lpr mice. IL-12/23p40 neutralisation and tyrosine kinase 2 inhibition mitigated the stress-induced neuropsychiatric phenotypes of MRL/lpr mice. We also found a higher level of cerebrospinal fluid IL-12/23p40 and more atrophy in the mPFC of patients with dNPSLE than those with non-dNPSLE. CONCLUSIONS: The microglial IL-12/23 axis in the mPFC might be associated with the pathogenesis and a promising therapeutic target for dNPSLE.

A diagnostic index based on quantitative susceptibility mapping and voxel-based morphometry may improve early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.
Ryota Sato, Kohsuke Kudo, Niki Udo, Masaaki Matsushima, Ichiro Yabe, Akinori Yamaguchi, Khin Khin Tha, Makoto Sasaki, Masafumi Harada, Noriyuki Matsukawa, Tomoki Amemiya, Yasuo Kawata, Yoshitaka Bito, Hisaaki Ochi, Toru Shirai
European radiology, 32, 7, 4479, 4488, Jul. 2022, [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, OBJECTIVES: Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) is widely used to quantify the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but improvement is still needed for accurate early diagnosis. We evaluated the feasibility of a novel diagnosis index for early diagnosis of AD based on quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and VBM. METHODS: Thirty-seven patients with AD, 24 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD, and 36 cognitively normal (NC) subjects from four centers were included. A hybrid sequence was performed by using 3-T MRI with a 3D multi-echo GRE sequence to obtain both a T1-weighted image for VBM and phase images for QSM. The index was calculated from specific voxels in QSM and VBM images by using a linear support vector machine. The method of voxel extraction was optimized to maximize diagnostic accuracy, and the optimized index was compared with the conventional VBM-based index using receiver operating characteristic analysis. RESULTS: The index was optimal when voxels were extracted as increased susceptibility (AD > NC) in the parietal lobe and decreased gray matter volume (AD < NC) in the limbic system. The optimized proposed index showed excellent performance for discrimination between AD and NC (AUC = 0.94, p = 1.1 × 10-10) and good performance for MCI and NC (AUC = 0.87, p = 1.8 × 10-6), but poor performance for AD and MCI (AUC = 0.68, p = 0.018). Compared with the conventional index, AUCs were improved for all cases, especially for MCI and NC (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In this preliminary study, the proposed index based on QSM and VBM improved the diagnostic performance between MCI and NC groups compared with the VBM-based index. KEY POINTS: • We developed a novel diagnostic index for Alzheimer's disease based on quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and voxel-based morphometry (VBM). • QSM and VBM images can be acquired simultaneously in a single sequence with little increasing scan time. • In this preliminary study, the proposed diagnostic index improved the discriminative performance between mild cognitive impairment and normal control groups compared with the conventional VBM-based index.

The Distribution of Major Brain Metabolites in Normal Adults: Short Echo Time Whole-Brain MR Spectroscopic Imaging Findings.
Xinnan Li, Kagari Abiko, Sulaiman Sheriff, Andrew A Maudsley, Yuta Urushibata, Sinyeob Ahn, Khin Khin Tha
Metabolites, 12, 6, 14 Jun. 2022, [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, This prospective study aimed to evaluate the variation in magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI)-observed brain metabolite concentrations according to anatomical location, sex, and age, and the relationships among regional metabolite distributions, using short echo time (TE) whole-brain MRSI (WB-MRSI). Thirty-eight healthy participants underwent short TE WB-MRSI. The major metabolite ratios, i.e., N-acetyl aspartate (NAA)/creatine (Cr), choline (Cho)/Cr, glutamate + glutamine (Glx)/Cr, and myoinositol (mI)/Cr, were calculated voxel-by-voxel. Their variations according to anatomical regions, sex, and age, and their relationship to each other were evaluated by using repeated-measures analysis of variance, t-tests, and Pearson's product-moment correlation analyses. All four metabolite ratios exhibited widespread regional variation across the cerebral hemispheres (corrected p < 0.05). Laterality between the two sides and sex-related variation were also shown (p < 0.05). In several regions, NAA/Cr and Glx/Cr decreased and mI/Cr increased with age (corrected p < 0.05). There was a moderate positive correlation between NAA/Cr and mI/Cr in the insular lobe and thalamus and between Glx/Cr and mI/Cr in the parietal lobe (r ≥ 0.348, corrected p ≤ 0.025). These observations demand age- and sex- specific regional reference values in interpreting these metabolites, and they may facilitate the understanding of glial-neuronal interactions in maintaining homeostasis.

Aberrant functional connectivity between anterior cingulate cortex and left insula in association with therapeutic response to biologics in inflammatory arthritis.
Nobuya Abe, Yuichiro Fujieda, Khin K Tha, Hisashi Narita, Kuniyuki Aso, Kohei Karino, Masatoshi Kanda, Michihito Kono, Masaru Kato, Olga Amengual, Tatsuya Atsumi
Seminars in arthritis and rheumatism, 55, 151994, 151994, 15 Mar. 2022, [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, BACKGROUND: Brain activity is reported to be associated with individual pain susceptibility and inflammatory status, possibly contributing to disease activity assessment in inflammatory arthritis (IA) including rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthritis (SpA). However, what alteration of brain function associated with disease activity and therapeutic effectiveness in IA remains unclear. We aimed to identify the alterations of brain functional connectivity (FC) shared in both RA and SpA, and evaluate its relationship to anti-rheumatic treatment response using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Structural and resting-state functional MRI data were acquired from patients with IA, patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and heathy controls (HCs). Two datasets were adopted to derive (51 IA, 56 OA, and 17 HCs) and validate (31 IA) the observations. 33 IA patients in the derivation dataset and all the patients in validation dataset required biological treatment and were clinically evaluated before and after therapy. Via whole-brain pair-wise FC analyses, we analyzed IA-specific FC measures relevant to therapeutic response to biologics. RESULTS: The value of FC between left insular cortex (IC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was significantly low in IA patients compared with OA patients and HCs. We demonstrated that the FC between left anterior long insular gyrus as a subdivision of IC and ACC was significantly associated with therapeutic response to biologics regarding the improvement of patients' global assessment (PGA) in both derivation and validation datasets. CONCLUSION: Disease-specific resting-state FC provides a means to assess the therapeutic improvement of PGA and would be a clinical decision-making tool with predictability for treatment response in both RA and SpA.

Intravenous transplantation of amnion-derived mesenchymal stem cells promotes functional recovery and alleviates intestinal dysfunction after spinal cord injury.
Soichiro Takamiya, Masahito Kawabori, Kazuyoshi Yamazaki, Sho Yamaguchi, Aki Tanimori, Koji Yamamoto, Shunsuke Ohnishi, Toshitaka Seki, Kotaro Konno, Khin Khin Tha, Daigo Hashimoto, Masahiko Watanabe, Kiyohiro Houkin, Miki Fujimura
PloS one, 17, 7, e0270606, 2022, [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, Spinal cord injury (SCI) is often accompanied by gastrointestinal dysfunction due to the disconnection of the spinal autonomic nervous system. Gastrointestinal dysfunction reportedly upregulates intestinal permeability, leading to bacterial translocation of the gut microbiome to the systemic circulation, which further activates systemic inflammation, exacerbating neuronal damage. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) reportedly ameliorate SCI. Here, we aimed to investigate their effect on the associated gastrointestinal dysfunction. Human amnion-derived MSC (AMSCs) were intravenously transplanted one day after a rat model of midthoracic SCI. Biodistribution of transplanted cells, behavioral assessment, and histological evaluations of the spinal cord and intestine were conducted to elucidate the therapeutic effect of AMSCs. Bacterial translocation of the gut microbiome was examined by in situ hybridization and bacterial culture of the liver. Systemic inflammations were examined by blood cytokines, infiltrating immune cells in the spinal cord, and the size of the peripheral immune tissue. AMSCs released various neurotrophic factors and were mainly distributed in the liver and lung after transplantation. AMSC-transplanted animals showed smaller spinal damage and better neurological recovery with preserved neuronal tract. AMSCs transplantation ameliorated intestinal dysfunction both morphologically and functionally, which prevented translocation of the gut microbiome to the systemic circulation. Systemic inflammations were decreased in animals receiving AMSCs in the chronic phase. Intravenous AMSC administration during the acute phase of SCI rescues both spinal damage and intestinal dysfunction. Reducing bacterial translocation may contribute to decreasing systemic inflammation.

Microscopic Fractional Anisotropy Detects Cognitive Training-Induced Microstructural Brain Changes.
Xinnan Li, Daisuke Sawamura, Hiroyuki Hamaguchi, Yuta Urushibata, Thorsten Feiweier, Keita Ogawa, Khin Khin Tha
Tomography (Ann Arbor, Mich.), 8, 1, 33, 44, 01 Jan. 2022, [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, Cognitive training-induced neuroplastic brain changes have been reported. This prospective study evaluated whether microscopic fractional anisotropy (μFA) derived from double diffusion encoding (DDE) MRI could detect brain changes following a 4 week cognitive training. Twenty-nine healthy volunteers were recruited and randomly assigned into the training (n = 21) and control (n = 8) groups. Both groups underwent brain MRI including DDE MRI and 3D-T1-weighted imaging twice at an interval of 4-6 weeks, during which the former underwent the training. The training consisted of hour-long dual N-back and attention network tasks conducted five days per week. Training and time-related changes of DDE MRI indices (μFA, fractional anisotropy (FA), and mean diffusivity (MD)) and the gray and white matter volume were evaluated using mixed-design analysis of variance. In addition, any significant imaging indices were tested for correlation with cognitive training-induced task performance changes, using partial correlation analyses. μFA in the left middle frontal gyrus decreased upon the training (53 voxels, uncorrected p < 0.001), which correlated moderately with response time changes in the orienting component of attention (r = -0.521, uncorrected p = 0.032). No significant training and time-related changes were observed for other imaging indices. Thus, μFA can become a sensitive index to detect cognitive training-induced neuroplastic changes.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging During a Pandemic: Recommendations by the ISMRM Safety Committee.
Jeremy D Collins, Howard Rowley, Tim Leiner, Scott Reeder, Maureen Hood, Ilona Dekkers, Khin Tha, Vikas Gulani, Emre Kopanoglu
Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI, 55, 5, 1322, 1339, 20 Dec. 2021, [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the challenges delivering face-to-face patient care across healthcare systems. In particular the COVID-19 pandemic challenged the imaging community to provide timely access to essential diagnostic imaging modalities while ensuring appropriate safeguards were in place for both patients and personnel. With increasing vaccine availability and greater prevalence of vaccination in communities worldwide we are finally emerging on the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic. As we learned from our institutional and healthcare system responses to the pandemic, maintaining timely access to MR imaging is essential. Radiologists and other imaging providers partnered with their referring providers to ensure that timely access to advanced MR imaging was maintained. On behalf of the International Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) Safety Committee, this white paper is intended to serve as a guide for radiology departments, imaging centers, and other imaging specialists who perform MR imaging to refer to as we prepare for the next pandemic. Lessons learned including strategies to triage and prioritize MR imaging research during a pandemic are discussed. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 5 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 5.

Exploratory clinical trial on the safety and capability of dMD-001 in lumbar disc herniation: Study protocol for a first-in-human pilot study.
Katsuhisa Yamada, Maeda Kenichiro, Yoichi M Ito, Fujio Inage, Toshiyuki Isoe, Nozomi Yokota, Osamu Sugita, Norihiro Sato, Khin Khin Tha, Norimasa Iwasaki, Teruyo Arato, Hideki Sudo
Contemporary clinical trials communications, 23, 100805, 100805, Sep. 2021, [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, Herniated nucleus pulposus (NP), one of the most common diseases of the spine, is surgically treated by removing the sequestered NP. However, intervertebral disc (IVD) defects may remain after discectomy, leading to inadequate tissue healing and predisposing patients to IVD degeneration. An acellular, bioresorbable, ultra-purified alginate (UPAL) gel (dMD-001) implantation system can be used to fill any IVD defects in order to prevent IVD degeneration after discectomy. This first-in-human pilot study aims to determine the feasibility, safety, and perceived patient response to a combined treatment involving discectomy and UPAL gel implantation for herniated NP. We designed a one-arm, double-centre, open-label, pilot trial. The study started in November 2018 and will run until a sample of 40 suitable participants is established. Patients aged 20-49 years, diagnosed with isolated lumbar IVD herniation and scheduled for discectomy represent suitable candidates. All eligible participants who provide informed consent undergo standard discectomy followed by UPAL gel implantation. The primary outcomes of the trial will be the feasibility and safety of the procedure. Secondary outcomes will include self-assessed clinical scores and magnetic resonance imaging-based measures of morphological and compositional quality of the IVD tissue. Initial outcomes will be published at 24 weeks. Analysis of feasibility and safety will be performed using descriptive statistics. Both intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses of treatment trends of effectiveness will be conducted.

Higher Electrical Conductivity of Liver Parenchyma in Fibrotic Patients: Noninvasive Assessment by Electric Properties Tomography
Tha KK, Kikuchi Y, Ishizaka K, Kamiyama T, Yoneyama M, Katscher U
Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 54, 5, 1689, 1691, May 2021, [Peer-reviewed], [Lead author, Corresponding author], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, 27309738

Microstructural Alterations in Bipolar and Major Depressive Disorders: A Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging Study.
Daisuke Sawamura, Hisashi Narita, Naoki Hashimoto, Shin Nakagawa, Hiroyuki Hamaguchi, Noriyuki Fujima, Kohsuke Kudo, Hiroki Shirato, Khin K Tha
Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI, 52, 4, 1187, 1196, Oct. 2020, [Peer-reviewed], [Last author, Corresponding author], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, BACKGROUND: Identifying structural and functional abnormalities in bipolar (BD) and major depressive disorders (MDD) is important for understanding biological processes. HYPOTHESIS: Diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) may be able to detect the brain's microstructural alterations in BD and MDD and any differences between the two. STUDY TYPE: Prospective. SUBJECTS: In all, 16 BD patients, 19 MDD patients, and 20 age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers. FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: DKI at 3.0T. ASSESSMENT: The major DKI indices of the brain were compared voxel-by-voxel among the three groups. Significantly different voxels were tested for correlation with clinical variables (ie, Young Mania Rating Scale [YMRS], 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale [17-HDRS], Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale, total disease duration, duration of current episode, and the number of past manic/depressive episodes). The performance of the DKI indices in identifying microstructural alterations was estimated. STATISTICAL TESTS: One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for group comparison of DKI indices. The performance of these indices in detecting microstructural alterations was determined by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Pearson's product-moment correlation analyses were used to test the correlations of these indices with clinical variables. RESULTS: DKI revealed widespread microstructural alterations across the brain in each disorder (P < 0.05). Some were significantly different between the two disorders. Mean kurtosis (MK) in the gray matter of the right inferior parietal lobe was able to distinguish BD and MDD with an accuracy of 0.906. A strong correlation was revealed between MK in that region and YMRS in BD patients (r = -0.641, corrected P = 0.042) or 17-HDRS in MDD patients (r = -0.613, corrected P = 0.030). There were also strong correlations between a few other DKI indices and disease duration (r = -0.676 or 0.626, corrected P < 0.05). DATA CONCLUSION: DKI detected microstructural brain alterations in BD and MDD. Its indices may be useful to distinguish the two disorders or to reflect disease severity and duration. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2 TECHNICAL EFFICACY STAGE: 3 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2020;52:1187-1196.

Prediction of Hypoxia in Brain Tumors Using a Multivariate Model Built from MR Imaging and 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Accumulation Data.
Yukie Shimizu, Kohsuke Kudo, Hiroyuki Kameda, Taisuke Harada, Noriyuki Fujima, Takuya Toyonaga, Khin Khin Tha, Hiroki Shirato
Magnetic resonance in medical sciences : MRMS : an official journal of Japan Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 19, 3, 227, 234, 03 Aug. 2020, [Peer-reviewed], [Domestic magazines]
English, Scientific journal, PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to generate a multivariate model using various MRI markers of blood flow and vascular permeability and accumulation of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) to predict the extent of hypoxia in an 18F-fluoromisonidazole (FMISO)-positive region. METHODS: Fifteen patients aged 27-74 years with brain tumors (glioma, n = 13; lymphoma, n = 1; germinoma, n = 1) were included. MRI scans were performed using a 3T scanner, and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) perfusion and arterial spin labeling images were obtained. Ktrans and Vp maps were generated using the DCE images. FDG and FMISO positron emission tomography scans were also obtained. A model for predicting FMISO positivity was generated on a voxel-by-voxel basis by a multivariate logistic regression model using all the MRI parameters with and without FDG. Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis was used to detect FMISO positivity with multivariate and univariate analysis of each parameter. Cross-validation was performed using the leave-one-out method. RESULTS: The area under the curve (AUC) was highest for the multivariate prediction model with FDG (0.892) followed by the multivariate model without FDG and univariate analysis with FDG and Ktrans (0.844 for all). In cross-validation, the multivariate model with FDG had the highest AUC (0.857 ± 0.08) followed by the multivariate model without FDG (0.834 ± 0.119). CONCLUSION: A multivariate prediction model created using blood flow, vascular permeability, and glycometabolism parameters can predict the extent of hypoxia in FMISO-positive areas in patients with brain tumors.

Investigating the challenges and generalizability of deep learning brain conductivity mapping.
Nils Hampe, Ulrich Katscher, Cornelis A T van den Berg, Khin Khin Tha, Stefano Mandija
Physics in medicine and biology, 65, 13, 135001, 135001, 26 Jun. 2020, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, To investigate deep learning electrical properties tomography (EPT) for application on different simulated and in-vivo datasets, including pathologies for brain conductivity reconstructions, 3D patch-based convolutional neural networks were trained to predict conductivity maps from B 1 transceive phase data. To compare the performance of DL-EPT networks on different datasets, three datasets were used throughout this work, one from simulations and two from in-vivo measurements from healthy volunteers and patients with brain lesions, respectively. At first, networks trained on simulations were tested on all datasets with different levels of homogeneous Gaussian noise introduced in training and testing. Secondly, to investigate potential robustness towards systematical differences between simulated and measured phase maps, in-vivo data with conductivity labels from conventional EPT were used for training. High quality conductivity reconstructions from networks trained on simulations with and without noise confirm the potential of deep learning for EPT. However, when this network is used for in-vivo reconstructions, measurement related artifacts affect the quality of conductivity maps. Training DL-EPT networks using conductivity labels from conventional EPT improves the quality of the results. Networks trained on realistic simulations yield reconstruction artifacts when applied to in-vivo data. Training with realistic phase data and conductivity labels from conventional EPT allows for reducing these artifacts.

Cognitive Impairment, Neuroinflammation, and MRI.
Khin Khin Tha
Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI, 51, 6, 1844, 1845, WILEY, Jun. 2020, [Peer-reviewed], [Invited], [Lead author, Last author, Corresponding author], [International Magazine]
English

Utility of a diffusion-weighted arterial spin labeling (DW-ASL) technique for evaluating the progression of brain white matter lesions.
Noriyuki Fujima, Hiroyuki Kameda, Yukie Shimizu, Taisuke Harada, Khin Khin Tha, Masami Yoneyama, Kohsuke Kudo
Magnetic resonance imaging, 69, 81, 87, Jun. 2020, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, PURPOSE: To investigate the utility of diffusion-weighted arterial spin labeling (DW-ASL) for detecting the progression of brain white matter lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 492 regions of interest (ROIs) in 41 patients were prospectively analyzed. DW-ASL was performed using the diffusion gradient prepulse of five b-values (0, 25, 60, 102, and 189) before the ASL readout. We calculated the water exchange rate (Kw) with post-processing using the ASL signal information for each b-value. The cerebral blood flow (CBF) was also calculated using b0 images. Using the signal information in FLAIR (fluid-attenuated inversion recovery) images, we classified the severity of white matter lesions into three grades: non-lesion, moderate, and severe. In addition, the normal Kw level was measured from DW-ASL data of 60 ROIs in five control subjects. The degree of variance of the Kw values (Kw-var) was calculated by squaring the value of the difference between each Kw value and the normal Kw level. All patient's ROIs were divided into non-progressive and progressive white matter lesions by comparing the present FLAIR images with those obtained 2 years before this acquisition. RESULTS: Compared to the non-progressive group, the progressive group had significantly lower CBF, significantly higher severity grades in FLAIR, and significantly greater Kw-var values. In a receiver operator characteristic curve analysis, a high area under the curve (AUC) of 0.89 was obtained with the use of Kw-var. In contrast, the AUCs of 0.59 for CBF and 0.72 for severity grades in FLAIR were obtained. CONCLUSIONS: The DW-ASL technique can be useful to detect the progression of brain white matter lesions. This technique will become a clinical tool for patients with various degrees of white matter lesions.

Combined structural and diffusion tensor imaging detection of ischemic injury in moyamoya disease: relation to disease advancement and cerebral hypoperfusion.
Ken Kazumata, Kikutaro Tokairin, Masaki Ito, Haruto Uchino, Taku Sugiyama, Masahito Kawabori, Toshiya Osanai, Khin Khin Tha, Kiyohiro Houkin
Journal of neurosurgery, 134, 3, 1, 10, 03 Apr. 2020, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, OBJECTIVE: The microstructural integrity of gray and white matter is decreased in adult moyamoya disease, suggesting covert ischemic injury as a mechanism of cognitive dysfunction. Establishing a microstructural brain imaging marker is critical for monitoring cognitive outcomes following surgical interventions. The authors of the present study determined the pathophysiological basis of altered microstructural brain injury in relation to advanced arterial occlusion, cerebral hypoperfusion, and cognitive function. METHODS: The authors examined 58 patients without apparent brain lesions and 30 healthy controls by using structural MRI, as well as diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Arterial occlusion in each hemisphere was classified as early or advanced stage based on MRA and posterior cerebral artery (PCA) involvement. Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was measured with N-isopropyl-p-[123I]-iodoamphetamine SPECT. Furthermore, cognitive performance was examined using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Third Edition and the Trail Making Test (TMT). Both voxel- and region of interest-based analyses were performed for groupwise comparisons, as well as correlation analysis, using parameters such as cognitive test scores; gray matter volume; fractional anisotropy (FA) of association fiber tracts, including the inferior frontooccipital fasciculus (IFOF) and superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF); PCA involvement; and rCBF. RESULTS: Compared to the early stages, advanced stages of arterial occlusion in the left hemisphere were associated with a lower Performance IQ (p = 0.031), decreased anterior cingulate volumes (p = 0.0001, uncorrected), and lower FA in the IFOF, cingulum, and forceps major (all p < 0.01, all uncorrected). There was no significant difference in rCBF between the early and the advanced stage. In patients with an advanced stage, PCA involvement was correlated with a significantly lower Full Scale IQ (p = 0.036), cingulate volume (p < 0.01, uncorrected), and FA of the left SLF (p = 0.0002, uncorrected) compared to those with an intact PCA. The rCBF was positively correlated with FA of the SLF, IFOF, and forceps major (r > 0.34, p < 0.05). Global gray matter volumes were moderately correlated with TMT part A (r = 0.40, p = 0.003). FA values in the left SLF were moderately associated with processing speed (r = 0.40, p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Although hemodynamic compensation may mask cerebral ischemia in advanced stages of adult moyamoya disease, the disease progression is detrimental to gray and white matter microstructure as well as cognition. In particular, additional PCA involvement in advanced disease stages may impair key neural substrates such as the cingulum and SLF. Thus, combined structural MRI and DTI are potentially useful for tracking the neural integrity of key neural substrates associated with cognitive function and detecting subtle anatomical changes associated with persistent ischemia, as well as disease progression.

画像情報を作業療法に活かす(最終回) 脳の最新研究知見を作業療法に活かす
澤村 大輔, タ・キンキン
作業療法ジャーナル, 54, 3, 244, 251, (株)三輪書店, Mar. 2020
Japanese, ＜文献概要＞はじめに 近年では,脳画像技術や解析技術の目覚ましい発展により,非侵襲的に高い空間解像度で脳の構造,機能が可視化できるようになってきている.特に神経回路解析には各学問領域から注目が集まっている.神経回路解析は従来の技術で病態解明が困難とされていた種々の脳疾患の診断,脳腫瘍除去術の術前評価,予後予測についても有用であり,臨床応用されるようになってきている.また,アルツハイマー型認知症(Alzheimer's disease:AD)等の神経変性疾患における早期診断のバイオマーカーとしての役割も期待されている.MRIを用いた神経回路解析のイメージング法としては,解剖学的結合を評価する拡散MRI,機能的結合を評価する安静時機能MRI(resting state functional MRI:rsfMRI)がある.これらのイメージング法は従来の病巣解析とは異なり,神経ネットワークの生理状態や障害を評価するものである.拡散MRIは脳内における水分子の運動を捉えることにより大脳白質を中心とした脳の微細構造の情報を把握することができ,大脳皮質領域間の解剖学的結合を評価することができるイメージング法である.一方で,rsfMRIは,解剖学的な連結構造が仮定されない場合を含む離れた領域間の神経活動パターンの情報を捉え,その類似性より機能的結合を評価することができるイメージング法である.これらのイメージング法はリハ効果検討における神経可塑性の結果指標として,また予後予測の一助として利用されるようになってきている.ここではこの2つの代表的な脳イメージング法の基本原理を簡略に概説し,画像情報の解釈およびリハ関連領域の先行研究について紹介する.また,リハ領域における臨床応用が期待される近赤外線分光法(near-infrared spectroscopy:NIRS)についても触れたうえで,これらのイメージング法を作業療法に活かす視点を述べる.

fMRI(機能的磁気共鳴画像)：失語症と高次脳機能障害
高倉祐樹, 澤村大輔, タキンキン, 大槻美佳
CLINICAL REHABILITATION, 28, 12, 1132, 1139, 医歯薬出版(株), Nov. 2019, [Peer-reviewed]
Japanese, Scientific journal

Brain Structure, Connectivity, and Cognitive Changes Following Revascularization Surgery in Adult Moyamoya Disease.
Ken Kazumata, Khin Khin Tha, Kikutaro Tokairin, Masaki Ito, Haruto Uchino, Masahito Kawabori, Taku Sugiyama
Neurosurgery, 85, 5, E943-E952, E952, OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC, 01 Nov. 2019, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, BACKGROUND: The effect of the combined direct/indirect revascularization surgery in Moyamoya disease has not been evaluated sufficiently with regard to cognitive function, brain microstructure, and connectivity. OBJECTIVE: To investigate structural and functional changes following revascularization surgery in patients with moyamoya disease (MMD) through a combined analysis of brain morphology, microstructure, connectivity, and neurobehavioral data. METHODS: Neurobehavioral and neuroimaging examinations were performed in 25 adults with MMD prior to and >12 mo after revascularization surgery. Cognitive function was investigated using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III, Trail-Making Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Continuous Performance Test, Stroop test, and Wechsler Memory Scale. We assessed white matter integrity using diffusion tensor imaging, brain morphometry using magnetization-prepared rapid gradient-echo sequences, and brain connectivity using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). RESULTS: Cognitive examinations revealed significant changes in the full-scale intelligence quotient (IQ), performance IQ (PIQ), perceptual organization (PO), processing speed, and Stroop test scores after surgery (P < .05). Enlargement of the lateral ventricle, volume reductions in the corpus callosum and subcortical nuclei, and cortical thinning in the prefrontal cortex were also observed (P < .05). Fractional anisotropy in the white matter tracts, including the superior longitudinal fasciculus, increased 2 to 4 yr after surgery, relative to that observed in the presurgical state (P < .05). Resting-state brain connectivity was increased predominantly in the fronto-cerebellar circuit and was positively correlated with improvements in PIQ and PO (P < .05). CONCLUSION: Revascularization surgery may improve processing speed and attention in adult patients with MMD. Further, multimodal MRI may be useful for detecting subtle postsurgical brain structural changes, reorganization of white matter tracts, and brain connectivity alterations.

Tumour necrosis factor alpha blockade for non-inflammatory pain: beyond inflammation?
N Abe, M Kato, Y Fujieda, H Narita, K K Tha, T Atsumi
Scandinavian journal of rheumatology, 48, 6, 519, 521, Nov. 2019, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English

The utility of MRI histogram and texture analysis for the prediction of histological diagnosis in head and neck malignancies.
Noriyuki Fujima, Akihiro Homma, Taisuke Harada, Yukie Shimizu, Khin Khin Tha, Satoshi Kano, Takatsugu Mizumachi, Ruijiang Li, Kohsuke Kudo, Hiroki Shirato
Cancer imaging : the official publication of the International Cancer Imaging Society, 19, 1, 5, 5, 04 Feb. 2019, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, BACKGROUND: To assess the utility of histogram and texture analysis of magnetic resonance (MR) fat-suppressed T2-weighted imaging (Fs-T2WI) for the prediction of histological diagnosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and malignant lymphoma (ML). METHODS: The cases of 57 patients with SCC (45 well/moderately and 12 poorly differentiated SCC) and 10 patients with ML were retrospectively analyzed. Quantitative parameters with histogram features (relative mean signal, coefficient of variation, kurtosis and skewness) and gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) features (contrast, correlation, energy and homogeneity) were calculated using Fs-T2WI data with a manual tumor region of interest (ROI). RESULTS: The following significantly different values were obtained for the total SCC versus ML groups: relative mean signal (3.65 ± 0.86 vs. 2.61 ± 0.49), contrast (72.9 ± 16.2 vs. 49.3 ± 8.7) and homogeneity (2.22 ± 0.25 × 10- 1 vs. 2.53 ± 0.12 × 10- 1). In the comparison of the SCC histological grades, the relative mean signal and contrast were significantly lower in the poorly differentiated SCC (2.89 ± 0.63, 56.2 ± 12.9) compared to the well/moderately SCC (3.85 ± 0.81, 77.5 ± 13.9). The homogeneity in poorly differentiated SCC (2.56 ± 0.15 × 10- 1) was higher than that of the well/moderately SCC (2.1 ± 0.18 × 10- 1). CONCLUSIONS: Parameters obtained by histogram and texture analysis of Fs-T2WI may be useful for noninvasive prediction of histological type and grade in head and neck malignancy.

特徴的な画像所見を呈した鞍上部immature teratomaの1例　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
藤井 宝顕, 原田 太以佑, 清水 幸衣, 藤間 憲幸, Tha Khin Khin, 工藤 與亮, 寺坂 俊介, 長 祐子, 白土 博樹
Japanese Journal of Radiology, 37, Suppl., 4, 4, (公社)日本医学放射線学会, Feb. 2019
Japanese

くも膜下出血後にびまん性の白質障害を呈した1例　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
古家 翔, 原田 太以佑, 清水 幸衣, 藤間 憲幸, Tha Khin Khin, 工藤 與亮, 月花 正幸, 中山 若樹, 白土 博樹
Japanese Journal of Radiology, 37, Suppl., 10, 10, (公社)日本医学放射線学会, Feb. 2019
Japanese

Automatic Metastatic Bone Tumor Classification with DCNN-based Features Using Treatment-planning CT Images
Haruna Watanabe, Ren Togo, Takahiro Ogawa, Miki Haseyama, Koichi Yasuda, Khin Khin Tha, Kohsuke Kudo, Hiroki Shirato
INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON MEDICAL IMAGING IN ASIA 2019, 11050, SPIE-INT SOC OPTICAL ENGINEERING, 2019, [Peer-reviewed]
English, International conference proceedings, In this paper, we propose a method to classify metastatic bone tumors using treatment-planning computed tomography images. The proposed method utilizes pre-trained deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) models as feature extractors and enables the metastatic bone tumor classification by using the obtained features. Performance of several state-of-the-art DCNN-based features was compared and evaluated in our experiment.

くも膜下出血後にびまん性の白質障害を呈した一例
古家 翔, 原田 太以佑, 清水 幸衣, 藤間 憲幸, Tha Khin Khin, 工藤 與亮, 月花 正幸, 中山 若樹, 白土 博樹
核医学, 55, 1, 40, 40, (一社)日本核医学会, Dec. 2018
Japanese

Dependence of Scan Parameters on Nerve Fiber Crossing Depiction in Diffusion Spectrum Imaging in Clinical Practice
Minghui Tang, Kazuya Oshinomi, Kinya Ishizaka, Khin Khin Tha, Toru Yamamoto
JOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED TOMOGRAPHY, 42, 4, 522, 526, LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS, Jul. 2018, [Peer-reviewed]
English, Scientific journal, Objective The objective of this study was to show the effect of the number of sampling points (NS) and the maximum b value (b(max)) on fiber crossing detection in diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI) in clinical practice.Methods We performed 3-Tesla DSI in which we changed the NS (62-258) while keeping b(max) at 8000 s/mm(2) and in which we changed the b(max) (4000-8000 s/mm(2)) while keeping the NS at 129. The superior longitudinal fasciculus volume and the proportion of nerve voxels in which at least 2 (R-cr2) or 3 (R-cr3) nerve fiber bundles crossed were calculated.Results When b(max) was set to 8000 s/mm(2), mean R-cr2 and R-cr3 values and superior longitudinal fasciculus volumes significantly increased with higher NSs, but they did not significantly change when we varied b(max) with 129 NS.Conclusions Depiction sensitivity of nerve fiber crossing in DSI improves at higher NS and b(max) settings, but a b(max) insensitivity appears at an intermediate NS such as 129.

Radiomics and radiogenomics for precision radiotherapy.
Jia Wu, Khin Khin Tha, Lei Xing, Ruijiang Li
Journal of radiation research, 59, suppl_1, i25-i31, I31, OXFORD UNIV PRESS, 01 Mar. 2018, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, Imaging plays an important role in the diagnosis and staging of cancer, as well as in radiation treatment planning and evaluation of therapeutic response. Recently, there has been significant interest in extracting quantitative information from clinical standard-of-care images, i.e. radiomics, in order to provide a more comprehensive characterization of image phenotypes of the tumor. A number of studies have demonstrated that a deeper radiomic analysis can reveal novel image features that could provide useful diagnostic, prognostic or predictive information, improving upon currently used imaging metrics such as tumor size and volume. Furthermore, these imaging-derived phenotypes can be linked with genomic data, i.e. radiogenomics, in order to understand their biological underpinnings or further improve the prediction accuracy of clinical outcomes. In this article, we will provide an overview of radiomics and radiogenomics, including their rationale, technical and clinical aspects. We will also present some examples of the current results and some emerging paradigms in radiomics and radiogenomics for clinical oncology, with a focus on potential applications in radiotherapy. Finally, we will highlight the challenges in the field and suggest possible future directions in radiomics to maximize its potential impact on precision radiotherapy.

30年後の再発が疑われる脊髄Germinomaの1例　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
木野田 直也, 原田 太以佑, 吉田 篤司, 清水 幸衣, 藤間 憲幸, 工藤 興亮, Khin Khin Tha, 白土 博樹, 山口 秀, 小林 浩之, 寺坂 俊介, 岡田 宏美, 畑中 佳奈子
Japanese Journal of Radiology, 36, Suppl., 3, 3, (公社)日本医学放射線学会, Feb. 2018
Japanese

長期間経過を追えたCerebral Amyloid Angiopathyの1例　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
常田 慧徳, 原田 太以佑, 吉田 篤司, 清水 幸衣, 藤間 憲幸, 工藤 與亮, 西村 洋昭, 佐々木 秀直, Khin Khin Tha, 白土 博樹
Japanese Journal of Radiology, 36, Suppl., 13, 13, (公社)日本医学放射線学会, Feb. 2018
Japanese

亜急性連合性脊髄変性症の1例　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
長島 諒太, 原田 太以佑, 吉田 篤司, 清水 幸衣, 藤間 憲幸, 工藤 與亮, Khin Khin Tha, 白土 博樹, 西村 洋昭, 佐々木 秀直
Japanese Journal of Radiology, 36, Suppl., 16, 16, (公社)日本医学放射線学会, Feb. 2018
Japanese

Noninvasive electrical conductivity measurement by MRI: a test of its validity and the electrical conductivity characteristics of glioma.
Khin Khin Tha, Ulrich Katscher, Shigeru Yamaguchi, Christian Stehning, Shunsuke Terasaka, Noriyuki Fujima, Kohsuke Kudo, Ken Kazumata, Toru Yamamoto, Marc Van Cauteren, Hiroki Shirato
European radiology, 28, 1, 348, 355, Jan. 2018, [Peer-reviewed], [Lead author, Corresponding author], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, OBJECTIVES: This study noninvasively examined the electrical conductivity (σ) characteristics of diffuse gliomas using MRI and tested its validity. METHODS: MRI including a 3D steady-state free precession (3D SSFP) sequence was performed on 30 glioma patients. The σ maps were reconstructed from the phase images of the 3D SSFP sequence. The σ histogram metrics were extracted and compared among the contrast-enhanced (CET) and noncontrast-enhanced tumour components (NCET) and normal brain parenchyma (NP). Difference in tumour σ histogram metrics among tumour grades and correlation of σ metrics with tumour grades were tested. Validity of σ measurement using this technique was tested by correlating the mean tumour σ values measured using MRI with those measured ex vivo using a dielectric probe. RESULTS: Several σ histogram metrics of CET and NCET of diffuse gliomas were significantly higher than NP (Bonferroni-corrected p ≤ .045). The maximum σ of NCET showed a moderate positive correlation with tumour grade (r = .571, Bonferroni-corrected p = .018). The mean tumour σ measured using MRI showed a moderate positive correlation with the σ measured ex vivo (r = .518, p = .040). CONCLUSIONS: Tissue σ can be evaluated using MRI, incorporation of which may better characterise diffuse gliomas. KEY POINTS: • This study tested the validity of noninvasive electrical conductivity measurements by MRI. • This study also evaluated the electrical conductivity characteristics of diffuse glioma. • Gliomas have higher electrical conductivity values than the normal brain parenchyma. • Noninvasive electrical conductivity measurement can be helpful for better characterisation of glioma.

[Diffusion Tensor Imaging of Rotator Cuff: Influence of Arm Position].
Aono S, Ishizaka K, Tha KK, Takamori S, Aoike S, Fujiwara T
Nihon Hoshasen Gijutsu Gakkai zasshi, 74, 4, 335, 343, 2018, [Peer-reviewed]

The effect of duration of illness and antipsychotics on subcortical volumes in schizophrenia: Analysis of 778 subjects.
Naoki Hashimoto, Yoichi M Ito, Naohiro Okada, Hidenaga Yamamori, Yuka Yasuda, Michiko Fujimoto, Noriko Kudo, Ariyoshi Takemura, Shuraku Son, Hisashi Narita, Maeri Yamamoto, Khin Khin Tha, Asuka Katsuki, Kazutaka Ohi, Fumio Yamashita, Shinsuke Koike, Tsutomu Takahashi, Kiyotaka Nemoto, Masaki Fukunaga, Toshiaki Onitsuka, Yoshiyuki Watanabe, Hidenori Yamasue, Michio Suzuki, Kiyoto Kasai, Ichiro Kusumi, Ryota Hashimoto
NeuroImage. Clinical, 17, 563, 569, 2018, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, Background: The effect of duration of illness and antipsychotic medication on the volumes of subcortical structures in schizophrenia is inconsistent among previous reports. We implemented a large sample analysis utilizing clinical data from 11 institutions in a previous meta-analysis. Methods: Imaging and clinical data of 778 schizophrenia subjects were taken from a prospective meta-analysis conducted by the COCORO consortium in Japan. The effect of duration of illness and daily dose and type of antipsychotics were assessed using the linear mixed effect model where the volumes of subcortical structures computed by FreeSurfer were used as a dependent variable and age, sex, duration of illness, daily dose of antipsychotics and intracranial volume were used as independent variables, and the type of protocol was incorporated as a random effect for intercept. The statistical significance of fixed-effect of dependent variable was assessed. Results: Daily dose of antipsychotics was positively associated with left globus pallidus volume and negatively associated with right hippocampus. It was also positively associated with laterality index of globus pallidus. Duration of illness was positively associated with bilateral globus pallidus volumes. Type of antipsychotics did not have any effect on the subcortical volumes. Discussion: A large sample size, uniform data collection methodology and robust statistical analysis are strengths of the current study. This result suggests that we need special attention to discuss about relationship between subcortical regional brain volumes and pathophysiology of schizophrenia because regional brain volumes may be affected by antipsychotic medication.

Volume of high-risk intratumoral subregions at multi-parametric MR imaging predicts overall survival and complements molecular analysis of glioblastoma.
Yi Cui, Shangjie Ren, Khin Khin Tha, Jia Wu, Hiroki Shirato, Ruijiang Li
European radiology, 27, 9, 3583, 3592, Sep. 2017, [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a volume-based, quantitative imaging marker by integrating multi-parametric MR images for predicting glioblastoma survival, and to investigate its relationship and synergy with molecular characteristics. METHODS: We retrospectively analysed 108 patients with primary glioblastoma. The discovery cohort consisted of 62 patients from the cancer genome atlas (TCGA). Another 46 patients comprising 30 from TCGA and 16 internally were used for independent validation. Based on integrated analyses of T1-weighted contrast-enhanced (T1-c) and diffusion-weighted MR images, we identified an intratumoral subregion with both high T1-c and low ADC, and accordingly defined a high-risk volume (HRV). We evaluated its prognostic value and biological significance with genomic data. RESULTS: On both discovery and validation cohorts, HRV predicted overall survival (OS) (concordance index: 0.642 and 0.653, P < 0.001 and P = 0.038, respectively). HRV stratified patients within the proneural molecular subtype (log-rank P = 0.040, hazard ratio = 2.787). We observed different OS among patients depending on their MGMT methylation status and HRV (log-rank P = 0.011). Patients with unmethylated MGMT and high HRV had significantly shorter survival (median survival: 9.3 vs. 18.4 months, log-rank P = 0.002). CONCLUSION: Volume of the high-risk intratumoral subregion identified on multi-parametric MRI predicts glioblastoma survival, and may provide complementary value to genomic information. KEY POINTS: • High-risk volume (HRV) defined on multi-parametric MRI predicted GBM survival. • The proneural molecular subtype tended to harbour smaller HRV than other subtypes. • Patients with unmethylated MGMT and high HRV had significantly shorter survival. • HRV complements genomic information in predicting GBM survival.

Topographic changes in cerebral blood flow and reduced white matter integrity in the first 2 weeks following revascularization surgery in adult moyamoya disease.
Ken Kazumata, Khin Khin Tha, Haruto Uchino, Tohru Shiga, Hideo Shichinohe, Masaki Ito, Naoki Nakayama, Takeo Abumiya
Journal of neurosurgery, 127, 2, 260, 269, AMER ASSOC NEUROLOGICAL SURGEONS, Aug. 2017, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, OBJECTIVE After revascularization surgery, hyperperfusion and ischemia are associated with morbidity and mortality in adult moyamoya disease (MMD). However, structural changes within the brain following revascularization surgery, especially in the early postsurgical period, have not been thoroughly studied. Such knowledge may enable improved monitoring and clinical management of hyperperfusion and ischemia in MMD. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the topographic and temporal profiles of cerebral perfusion and related white matter microstructural changes following revascularization surgery in adult MMD. METHODS The authors analyzed 20 consecutive surgeries performed in 17 adults. Diffusion imaging in parallel with serial measurements of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) using SPECT was performed. Both voxel-based and region-of-interest analyses were performed, comparing neuroimaging parameters of postoperative hemispheres with those of preoperative hemispheres at 4 different time points within 2 weeks after surgery. RESULTS Voxel-based analysis showed a distinct topographic pattern of cerebral perfusion, characterized by increased rCBF in the basal ganglia for the first several days and gradually increased rCBF in the lateral prefrontal cortex over 1 week (p < 0.001). Decreased rCBF was also observed in the lateral prefrontal cortex, occipital lobe, and cerebellum contralateral to the surgical hemisphere (p < 0.001). Reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) and axial diffusivity (AD), as well as increased radial diffusivity (RD), were demonstrated in both the anterior and posterior limbs of the internal capsule (p < 0.001). Diffusion parameters demonstrated the greatest changes in both FA and RD on Days 1-2 and in AD on Days 3-6; FA, RD, and AD recovered to preoperative levels on Day 14. Patients with transient neurological deteriorations (TNDs), as compared with those without, demonstrated greater increases in rCBF in both the lateral prefrontal cortex and striatum as well as smaller FAs in the posterior limb of the internal capsule (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The excessively increased rCBF and the recovery process were heterogeneous across brain regions, demonstrating a distinct topographic pattern during the initial 2 weeks following revascularization surgery in MMD. Temporary impairments in the deep white matter tract and immediate postoperative ischemia were also identified. The study results characterized postoperative brain perfusion as well as the impact of revascularization surgery on the brain microstructure. Notably, rCBF and white matter changes correlated to TNDs, suggesting that these changes represent potential neuroimaging markers for tracking tissue structural changes associated with hyperperfusion during the acute postoperative period following revascularization surgery for MMD.

Non-invasive prediction of the tumor growth rate using advanced diffusion models in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients.
Noriyuki Fujima, Tomohiro Sakashita, Akihiro Homma, Taisuke Harada, Yukie Shimizu, Khin Khin Tha, Kohsuke Kudo, Hiroki Shirato
Oncotarget, 8, 20, 33631, 33643, 16 May 2017, [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, We assessed parameters of advanced diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) models for the prediction of the tumor growth rate in 55 head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients. The DWI acquisition used single-shot spin-echo echo-planar imaging with 12 b-values (0-2000). We calculated 14 DWI parameters using mono-exponential, bi-exponential, tri-exponential, stretched exponential and diffusion kurtosis imaging models. We directly measured the tumor growth rate from two sets of different-date imaging data. We divided the patients into a discovery group (n = 40) and validation group (n = 15) based on their MR acquisition dates. In the discovery group, we performed univariate and multivariate regression analyses to establish the multiple regression equation for the prediction of the tumor growth rate using diffusion parameters. The equation obtained with the discovery group was applied to the validation group for the confirmation of the equation's accuracy. After the univariate and multivariate regression analyses in the discovery-group patients, the estimated tumor growth rate equation was established by using the significant parameters of intermediate diffusion coefficient D2 and slow diffusion coefficient D3 obtained by the tri-exponential model. The discovery group's correlation coefficient between the estimated and directly measured tumor growth rates was 0.74. In the validation group, the correlation coefficient (r = 0.66) and intra-class correlation coefficient (0.65) between the estimated and directly measured tumor growth rates were respectively good. In conclusion, advanced DWI model parameters can be a predictor for determining HNSCC patients' tumor growth rate.

Prediction of the treatment outcome using intravoxel incoherent motion and diffusional kurtosis imaging in nasal or sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma patients.
Noriyuki Fujima, Daisuke Yoshida, Tomohiro Sakashita, Akihiro Homma, Akiko Tsukahara, Yukie Shimizu, Khin Khin Tha, Kohsuke Kudo, Hiroki Shirato
European radiology, 27, 3, 956, 965, Mar. 2017, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the diagnostic value of intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) and diffusional kurtosis imaging (DKI) parameters in nasal or sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) patients to determine local control/failure. METHODS: Twenty-eight patients were evaluated. MR acquisition used single-shot spin-echo EPI with 12 b-values. Quantitative parameters (mean value, 25th, 50th and 75th percentiles) of IVIM (perfusion fraction f, pseudo-diffusion coefficient D*, and true-diffusion coefficient D), DKI (kurtosis value K, kurtosis corrected diffusion coefficient Dk) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were calculated. Parameter values at both the pretreatment and early-treatment period, and the percentage change between these two periods were obtained. RESULTS: Multivariate logistic regression analysis: the percentage changes of D (mean, 25th, 50th, 75th), K (mean, 50th, 75th), Dk (mean, 25th, 50th), and ADC (mean, 25th, 50th) were predictors of local control. ROC curve analysis: the parameter with the highest accuracy = the percentage change of D value with the histogram 25th percentile (0.93 diagnostic accuracy). Multivariate Cox regression analyses: the percentage changes of D (mean, 25th, 50th), K (mean, 50th, 75th), Dk (mean, 25th, 50th) and ADC (mean, 25th, 50th) are predictors. CONCLUSIONS: IVIM and DKI parameters, especially the D-value's histogram 25th percentile, are useful for predicting local control. KEY POINTS: • Noninvasive assessment of treatment outcome in SCC patients was achieved using IVIM/DKI. • Several IVIM and DKI parameters can predict the local control. • Especially, the D-value's histogram 25th percentile has high diagnostic accuracy.

Advanced diffusion models in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients: Goodness of fit, relationships among diffusion parameters and comparison with dynamic contrast-enhanced perfusion.
Noriyuki Fujima, Tomohiro Sakashita, Akihiro Homma, Yukie Shimizu, Atsushi Yoshida, Taisuke Harada, Khin Khin Tha, Kohsuke Kudo, Hiroki Shirato
Magnetic resonance imaging, 36, 16, 23, Feb. 2017, [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, PURPOSE: We assessed advanced fitting models of diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) in head/neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients to determine the best goodness of fit and correlations among diffusion parameters. We compared these results with those of dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) perfusion parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 32 HNSCC patients (12 sinonasal, 20 pharynx/oral cavity). The DWI acquisition used single-shot spin-echo echo-planar imaging (EPI) with 12 b-values (0-2000). We calculated 14 DWI parameters using mono-exponential, bi-exponential, and tri-exponential models, stretched exponential model (SEM) and diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) models. We compared each model's goodness of fit using the residual sum of squares (RSS), Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) and Bayesian information criterion (BIC) value. We determined the correlation between each pair of DWI parameters and between each DWI parameter and DCE perfusion parameter. RESULTS: The tri-exponential fit's RSS, AIC and BIC values were significantly smaller than those for bi-exponential fit. The RSS, AIC and BIC values of the SEM fit and DKI fit were significantly smaller than mono-exponential model. Significant correlations were observed in 30 pairs (sinonasal cavity) and 31 (sinonasal cavity group) among 91 DWI parameter combinations. Significant correlations were also observed in nine pairs (both sinonasal cavity and pharynx/oral cavity group) among 64 DWI/DCE perfusion parameter pairs, in particular, high positive correlations between the tri-exponential model's intermediate diffusion fraction (f2) and the volume of the extracellular extravascular space per unit volume of tissue (ve) were observed in both patient groups. CONCLUSION: We identified several correlations between DWI parameters by advanced fitting models and correlations between DWI and DCE parameters. These will help determine HNSCC patients' detailed tissue structures.

Mapping altered brain connectivity and its clinical associations in adult moyamoya disease: A resting-state functional MRI study.
Ken Kazumata, Khin Khin Tha, Haruto Uchino, Masaki Ito, Naoki Nakayama, Takeo Abumiya
PloS one, 12, 8, e0182759, PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE, 2017, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, Detection of subtle ischemic injuries in moyamoya disease may enable optimization of timing of revascularization surgery, and could potentially improve functional outcomes. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) is widely used to study functional organization of the brain, but it remains unclear whether rs-fMRI could elucidate distinct characteristics in moyamoya disease. Here, we aimed to determine changes in a conventional rs-fMRI measure and analyze any associations with clinical symptoms and cerebral hemodynamics. Thirty-one adults with moyamoya disease and 25 adult controls underwent rs-fMRI, in which we measured brain connectivity via temporal correlations of low-frequency BOLD signals. We identified the extent of between-group differences with multivoxel pattern analysis. Seed-based analysis was performed to determine associations with vascular lesions, symptoms, and regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). There was significantly altered connectivity in the precentral gyrus, operculo-insular region, precuneus, cingulate cortex, and middle frontal gyrus in moyamoya disease. There was reduced connectivity in the left insula, left precuneus, right precentral, and right middle frontal regions, which form part of the salience, default mode, motor, and central executive networks, respectively. Patients with ischemic motor-related symptoms showed significantly decreased connectivity in precentral homotopic regions compared with those without, while there were no differences in vascular lesions or rCBF. Connectivity between the right occipital and left hippocampus was significantly associated with cognitive performance and posterior cerebral artery involvement. Our results demonstrate distinct alterations in the temporal correlations of low-frequency BOLD signals, predominantly in resting-state networks in moyamoya disease. Additionally, rs-fMRI measures were associated with ischemic motor-related symptoms and cognitive performance in the patients. Thus, rs-fMRI may offer a useful non-invasive method of acquiring additional information beyond cerebral perfusion as part of clinical investigations in patients with moyamoya disease.

定量的磁化率マッピングで脳の構造と酸素代謝をみる　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
工藤 與亮, 藤間 憲幸, Khin Khin Tha, 清水 幸衣, 原田 太以佑, 吉田 篤司
臨床神経学, 56, Suppl., S62, S62, (一社)日本神経学会, Dec. 2016
Japanese

Mean kurtosis alterations of cerebral white matter in patients with schizophrenia revealed by diffusion kurtosis imaging.
Hisashi Narita, Khin K Tha, Naoki Hashimoto, Hiroyuki Hamaguchi, Shin Nakagawa, Hiroki Shirato, Ichiro Kusumi
Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry, 71, 169, 75, PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD, 03 Nov. 2016, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, INTRODUCTION: Diffusion kurtosis imaging can provide a better understanding of microstructural white matter (WM) changes where crossing fibers exist, compared with conventional diffusion tensor imaging. Here, we aimed to examine the differences of mean kurtosis (MK) and fractional anisotropy (FA) values between patients with schizophrenia and control subjects using voxel-based analysis (VBA). Additionally, we examined the correlation between these values and severity of clinical symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. METHODS: MK and FA values were acquired with a 3.0T scanner from 31 patients with schizophrenia and 31 age-, handedness-, and sex-matched healthy controls. VBA was used to compare the MK and FA maps of the patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. We also performed a correlation analysis between the MK and FA values of the regions with significant differences and the positive and negative syndrome scale scores in patients with schizophrenia. RESULTS: Compared to FA values, voxels with MK decrease were more widespread across bilateral cerebral the WM of patients with schizophrenia. The MK values of left superior longitudinal fasciculus were significantly negatively correlated with the severity of positive symptoms (r=-0.451, P=0.011). There was no significant correlation between MK and FA values and other clinical variables. CONCLUSION: The diffusion kurtosis indices are suitable for evaluating altered WM structures in the human brain as they may detect white matter alterations of crossing fibers alterations of WM in schizophrenia and assess the clinical state of patients.

Characteristics of Diffusional Kurtosis in Chronic Ischemia of Adult Moyamoya Disease: Comparing Diffusional Kurtosis and Diffusion Tensor Imaging.
K Kazumata, K K Tha, H Narita, Y M Ito, H Shichinohe, M Ito, H Uchino, T Abumiya
AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology, 37, 8, 1432, 9, Aug. 2016, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Detecting microstructural changes due to chronic ischemia potentially enables early identification of patients at risk of cognitive impairment. In this study, diffusional kurtosis imaging and diffusion tensor imaging were used to investigate whether the former provides additional information regarding microstructural changes in the gray and white matter of adult patients with Moyamoya disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MR imaging (diffusional kurtosis imaging and DTI) was performed in 23 adult patients with Moyamoya disease and 23 age-matched controls. Three parameters were extracted from diffusional kurtosis imaging (mean kurtosis, axial kurtosis, and radial kurtosis), and 4, from DTI (fractional anisotropy, radial diffusivity, mean diffusivity, and axial diffusivity). Voxelwise analysis for these parameters was performed in the normal-appearing brain parenchyma. The association of these parameters with neuropsychological performance was also evaluated. RESULTS: Voxelwise analysis revealed the greatest differences in fractional anisotropy, followed, in order, by radial diffusivity, mean diffusivity, and mean kurtosis. In patients, diffusional kurtosis imaging parameters were decreased in the dorsal deep white matter such as the corona radiata and superior longitudinal fasciculus (P < .01), including areas without DTI abnormality. Superior longitudinal fasciculus fiber-crossing areas showed weak correlations between diffusional kurtosis imaging and DTI parameters compared with tissues with a single-fiber direction (eg, the corpus callosum). Diffusional kurtosis imaging parameters were associated with general intelligence and frontal lobe performance. CONCLUSIONS: Although DTI revealed extensive white matter changes, diffusional kurtosis imaging additionally demonstrated microstructural changes in ischemia-prone deep white matter with abundant fiber crossings. Thus, diffusional kurtosis imaging may be a useful adjunct for detecting subtle chronic ischemic injuries.

Effect of respiratory and cardiac gating on the major diffusion-imaging metrics.
Hiroyuki Hamaguchi, Khin Khin Tha, Hiroyuki Sugimori, Mitsuhiro Nakanishi, Shin Nakagawa, Taro Fujiwara, Hirokazu Yoshida, Sayaka Takamori, Hiroki Shirato
The neuroradiology journal, 29, 4, 254, 9, Aug. 2016, [Peer-reviewed], [Corresponding author], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, The effect of respiratory gating on the major diffusion-imaging metrics and that of cardiac gating on mean kurtosis (MK) are not known. For evaluation of whether the major diffusion-imaging metrics-MK, fractional anisotropy (FA), and mean diffusivity (MD) of the brain-varied between gated and non-gated acquisitions, respiratory-gated, cardiac-gated, and non-gated diffusion-imaging of the brain were performed in 10 healthy volunteers. MK, FA, and MD maps were constructed for all acquisitions, and the histograms were constructed. The normalized peak height and location of the histograms were compared among the acquisitions by use of Friedman and post hoc Wilcoxon tests. The effect of the repetition time (TR) on the diffusion-imaging metrics was also tested, and we corrected for its variation among acquisitions, if necessary. The results showed a shift in the peak location of the MK and MD histograms to the right with an increase in TR (p ≤ 0.01). The corrected peak location of the MK histograms, the normalized peak height of the FA histograms, the normalized peak height and the corrected peak location of the MD histograms varied significantly between the gated and non-gated acquisitions (p < 0.05). These results imply an influence of respiration and cardiac pulsation on the major diffusion-imaging metrics. The gating conditions must be kept identical if reproducible results are to be achieved.

Investigating Brain Network Characteristics Interrupted by Covert White Matter Injury in Patients with Moyamoya Disease: Insights from Graph Theoretical Analysis.
Ken Kazumata, Khin Khin Tha, Hisashi Narita, Hideo Shichinohe, Masaki Ito, Haruto Uchino, Takeo Abumiya
World neurosurgery, 89, 654, 665, May 2016, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, Chronic ischemia in adult moyamoya disease (MMD) reduces the integrity of normal-appearing white matter (WM). We investigated whether covert WM impairment alters large-scale brain networks and specific neural circuits associated with neurocognitive dysfunction in MMD. Forty-six participants (control, n = 23; MMD, n = 23) were examined using diffusion tensor imaging and streamline tractography. Structural connectivity among 90 cortical and subcortical brain regions was evaluated using the mean fractional anisotropy along the fiber tracts. Graph theoretical analysis was used to measure network parameters and inter-regional connectivity. Global network parameters were reduced in patients with MMD, including cluster coefficient (controls vs. MMD: 3.62 ± 0.24 vs. 3.26 ± 0.36; P < 0.0001), characteristic path length (controls vs. MMD: 1.20 ± 0.02 vs. 1.17 ± 0.01; P < 0.001), and small-world property (controls vs. MMD: 3.07 ± 0.18 vs. 2.83 ± 0.27; P < 0.001). Reduced pairwise connectivity was found in prefrontal neural circuits within the middle/inferior frontal gyrus; supplementary motor area; and insular, inferior temporal, and dorsal cingulate cortices. Covert WM microstructural changes in patients with MMD alter large-scale brain networks, as well as lateral prefrontal neural circuits. Evaluation of structural connectivity may be useful to assess the severity of chronic ischemic injury from a network perspective.

Comparison between borderline ovarian tumors and carcinomas using semi-automated histogram analysis of diffusion-weighted imaging: focusing on solid components.
Rie Mimura, Fumi Kato, Khin Khin Tha, Kohsuke Kudo, Yosuke Konno, Noriko Oyama-Manabe, Tatsuya Kato, Hidemichi Watari, Noriaki Sakuragi, Hiroki Shirato
Japanese journal of radiology, 34, 3, 229, 37, SPRINGER, Mar. 2016, [Peer-reviewed], [Domestic magazines]
English, Scientific journal, PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate whether histogram analysis of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of a solid tumor component could distinguish borderline ovarian tumors from ovarian carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixteen pathologically proven borderline tumors and 21 carcinomas were retrospectively examined. Magnetic resonance (1.5-T) image data sets were coregistered, and the solid components of each tumor were semiautomatically segmented. ADC histograms of the solid components were extracted; modes, minimums, means, and 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles of the histograms were compared between the two tumor types, and receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed. RESULTS: The mode, minimum, mean, 10th, 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile ADC values of solid components of borderline tumors were significantly larger than those of carcinomas. Among these, the 10th percentile values had the lowest p value (p = 0.0003). At ROC analysis, the area under the curve (AUC) in the 10th percentile was the greatest (0.854), and the best cutoff value in the 10th percentile provided the highest specificity (93.8 %). CONCLUSIONS: ADC histograms of solid tumor components facilitated the distinction between borderline ovarian tumors and carcinoma. The 10th percentile ADC values had the best diagnostic performance.

Usefulness of Pseudocontinuous Arterial Spin-Labeling for the Assessment of Patients with Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma by Measuring Tumor Blood Flow in the Pretreatment and Early Treatment Period.
N Fujima, D Yoshida, T Sakashita, A Homma, A Tsukahara, K K Tha, K Kudo, H Shirato
AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology, 37, 2, 342, 8, Feb. 2016, [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: For the assessment of the treatment response in non-surgical treatment, tumor blood flow provides the functional information of the tumor which is different from the morphological information such as tumor volume. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of tumor blood flow values obtained by pseudocontinuous arterial spin-labeling in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-one patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma were evaluated by using pseudocontinuous arterial spin-labeling. Quantitative tumor blood flow was calculated at the pretreatment and the early treatment periods in all the patients, and the percentage change of tumor blood flow between the two was calculated. At the early treatment period, based on their tumor volume reduction rate, we divided the patients into stable disease and partial response groups for a subgroup analysis. The local control or failure was confirmed either by histopathology or by radiologic evaluation within the follow-up. RESULTS: Pretreatment tumor blood flow in patients in the failure group was significantly lower than that in patients in the local control group. In the subgroup analysis of patients with stable disease, the percentage change of tumor blood flow was significantly larger (due to the tumor blood flow increase from pretreatment value) in the local control group than in the failure group. In addition, in patients with a partial response, the percentage change of tumor blood flow was significantly smaller (due to the tumor blood flow decrease from the pretreatment value) in the local control group than in the failure group. The accuracy for determination of the local control group or the failure group in pretreatment tumor blood flow was 0.83 and that in the combination use of the percentage change of tumor blood flow and tumor volume in the early treatment period was 0.93. CONCLUSIONS: Tumor blood flow obtained by pseudocontinuous arterial spin-labeling can be useful for the determination of local control. The combined use of the percentage change of tumor blood flow and tumor volume had particularly high diagnostic accuracy.

Prognostic Imaging Biomarkers in Glioblastoma: Development and Independent Validation on the Basis of Multiregion and Quantitative Analysis of MR Images.
Yi Cui, Khin Khin Tha, Shunsuke Terasaka, Shigeru Yamaguchi, Jeff Wang, Kohsuke Kudo, Lei Xing, Hiroki Shirato, Ruijiang Li
Radiology, 278, 2, 546, 53, Feb. 2016, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, PURPOSE: To develop and independently validate prognostic imaging biomarkers for predicting survival in patients with glioblastoma on the basis of multiregion quantitative image analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study was approved by the local institutional review board, and informed consent was waived. A total of 79 patients from two independent cohorts were included. The discovery and validation cohorts consisted of 46 and 33 patients with glioblastoma from the Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA) and the local institution, respectively. Preoperative T1-weighted contrast material-enhanced and T2-weighted fluid-attenuation inversion recovery magnetic resonance (MR) images were analyzed. For each patient, we semiautomatically delineated the tumor and performed automated intratumor segmentation, dividing the tumor into spatially distinct subregions that demonstrate coherent intensity patterns across multiparametric MR imaging. Within each subregion and for the entire tumor, we extracted quantitative imaging features, including those that fully capture the differential contrast of multimodality MR imaging. A multivariate sparse Cox regression model was trained by using TCIA data and tested on the validation cohort. RESULTS: The optimal prognostic model identified five imaging biomarkers that quantified tumor surface area and intensity distributions of the tumor and its subregions. In the validation cohort, our prognostic model achieved a concordance index of 0.67 and significant stratification of overall survival by using the log-rank test (P = .018), which outperformed conventional prognostic factors, such as age (concordance index, 0.57; P = .389) and tumor volume (concordance index, 0.59; P = .409). CONCLUSION: The multiregion analysis presented here establishes a general strategy to effectively characterize intratumor heterogeneity manifested at multimodality imaging and has the potential to reveal useful prognostic imaging biomarkers in glioblastoma.

Diagnostic value of tumor blood flow and its histogram analysis obtained with pCASL to differentiate sinonasal malignant lymphoma from squamous cell carcinoma.
Noriyuki Fujima, Hiroyuki Kameda, Akiko Tsukahara, Daisuke Yoshida, Tomohiro Sakashita, Akihiro Homma, Khin Khin Tha, Kohsuke Kudo, Hiroki Shirato
European journal of radiology, 84, 11, 2187, 93, Nov. 2015, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, OBJECTIVES: To investigate the diagnostic value of tumor blood flow (TBF) obtained with pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL) for the differentiation of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and malignant lymphoma (ML) in the nasal or sinonasal cavity. METHODS: Thirty-three patients with SCC and 6 patients with ML in the nasal or sinonasal cavity were retrospectively analyzed. Quantitative TBF values were obtained using whole-tumor region of interest (ROI) from pCASL data. The histogram analysis of TBF values within the tumor ROI was also performed by calculating the coefficient of variation (CV), kurtosis, and skewness. The mean TBF value, histogram CV, kurtosis and skewness of the patients with SCC were compared with those of the ML patients. The diagnostic accuracy to differentiate SCC from ML was also calculated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. In addition, multiple logistic regression models were also performed to determine their independent predictive value, and diagnostic accuracy with the combined use of these parameters. RESULTS: Between the SCC and ML groups, significant differences were observed in mean TBF, CV, and kurtosis, but not in skewness. In ROC curve analysis, the diagnostic accuracy values for the differentiation of SCC from ML in mean TBF, CV, and kurtosis were all 0.87, respectively. Multiple logistic regression models revealed TBF and CV were respectively independent predictive value. With the combination of these parameters, the diagnostic accuracy was elevated to 0.97. CONCLUSIONS: The TBF value and its histogram analysis obtained with pCASL can help differentiate SCC and ML.

Measurement of tumor blood flow in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma by pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling: comparison with dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI.
Noriyuki Fujima, Kohsuke Kudo, Akiko Tsukahara, Daisuke Yoshida, Tomohiro Sakashita, Akihiro Homma, Khin Khin Tha, Hiroki Shirato
Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI, 41, 4, 983, 91, Apr. 2015, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, PURPOSE: To investigate the feasibility of tumor blood flow (TBF) measurement in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) using pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL) in a comparison with dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) perfusion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We prospectively scanned 18 patients with HNSCC using 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with both pCASL and DCE perfusion. Quantitative TBF value in the whole-tumor region of interest (ROI), and regional TBF in the ROIs of the central and peripheral areas in the tumor were respectively measured. Relative TBF value in the whole-tumor ROI was also calculated. We determined the correlation and agreement between each measured TBF by pCASL and DCE perfusion using Pearson's correlation coefficients, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), and Bland-Altman analysis. RESULTS: In the whole-tumor ROIs, significant correlation was observed between the absolute TBF values (r = 0.72, P < 0.01), with an ICC of 0.72; moreover, higher correlation was observed in the relative TBF (r = 0.79). The correlation was higher in the peripheral ROI (r = 0.70) than the central ROI (r = 0.65), with an ICC of 0.62 and 0.54, respectively. Bland-Altman plots revealed the underestimation of TBF by pCASL in central ROIs. CONCLUSION: TBF measurement by pCASL was feasible in patients with HNSCC.

頭頸部における扁平上皮癌と悪性リンパ腫の腫瘍血流の違い　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
亀田 浩之, 藤間 憲幸, 吉川 仁人, 吉田 篤司, 清水 幸衣, 吉田 大介, 塚原 亜希子, 工藤 與亮, Tha Khin Khin, 白土 博樹
Japanese Journal of Radiology, 33, Suppl., 1, 1, (公社)日本医学放射線学会, Feb. 2015
Japanese

Chronic ischemia alters brain microstructural integrity and cognitive performance in adult moyamoya disease.
Ken Kazumata, Khin Khin Tha, Hisashi Narita, Ichiro Kusumi, Hideo Shichinohe, Masaki Ito, Naoki Nakayama, Kiyohiro Houkin
Stroke, 46, 2, 354, 60, Feb. 2015, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The mechanisms underlying frontal lobe dysfunction in moyamoya disease (MMD) are unknown. We aimed to determine whether chronic ischemia induces subtle microstructural brain changes in adult MMD and evaluated the association of changes with neuropsychological performance. METHODS: MRI, including 3-dimensional T1-weighted imaging and diffusion tensor imaging, was performed in 23 adult patients with MMD and 23 age-matched controls and gray matter density and major diffusion tensor imaging indices were compared between them; any alterations in the patients were tested for associations with age, ischemic symptoms, hemodynamic compromise, and neuropsychological performance. RESULTS: Decrease in gray matter density, associated with hemodynamic compromise (P<0.05), was observed in the posterior cingulate cortex of patients with MMD. Widespread reduction in fractional anisotropy and increases in radial diffusivity and mean diffusivity in some areas were also observed in bilateral cerebral white matter. The fractional anisotropy (r=0.54; P<0.0001) and radial diffusivity (r=-0.41; P<0.01) of white matter significantly associated with gray matter density of the cingulate cortex. The mean fractional anisotropy of the white matter tracts of the lateral prefrontal, cingulate, and inferior parietal regions were significantly associated with processing speed, executive function/attention, and working memory. CONCLUSIONS: In adult MMD, there were more white matter abnormalities than gray matter changes. Disruption of white matter may play a pivotal role in the development of cognitive dysfunction.

Identifying Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Using Background Parenchymal Enhancement Heterogeneity on Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI: A Pilot Radiomics Study.
Jeff Wang, Fumi Kato, Noriko Oyama-Manabe, Ruijiang Li, Yi Cui, Khin Khin Tha, Hiroko Yamashita, Kohsuke Kudo, Hiroki Shirato
PloS one, 10, 11, e0143308, PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE, 2015, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, OBJECTIVES: To determine the added discriminative value of detailed quantitative characterization of background parenchymal enhancement in addition to the tumor itself on dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI at 3.0 Tesla in identifying "triple-negative" breast cancers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this Institutional Review Board-approved retrospective study, DCE-MRI of 84 women presenting 88 invasive carcinomas were evaluated by a radiologist and analyzed using quantitative computer-aided techniques. Each tumor and its surrounding parenchyma were segmented semi-automatically in 3-D. A total of 85 imaging features were extracted from the two regions, including morphologic, densitometric, and statistical texture measures of enhancement. A small subset of optimal features was selected using an efficient sequential forward floating search algorithm. To distinguish triple-negative cancers from other subtypes, we built predictive models based on support vector machines. Their classification performance was assessed with the area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) using cross-validation. RESULTS: Imaging features based on the tumor region achieved an AUC of 0.782 in differentiating triple-negative cancers from others, in line with the current state of the art. When background parenchymal enhancement features were included, the AUC increased significantly to 0.878 (p<0.01). Similar improvements were seen in nearly all subtype classification tasks undertaken. Notably, amongst the most discriminating features for predicting triple-negative cancers were textures of background parenchymal enhancement. CONCLUSIONS: Considering the tumor as well as its surrounding parenchyma on DCE-MRI for radiomic image phenotyping provides useful information for identifying triple-negative breast cancers. Heterogeneity of background parenchymal enhancement, characterized by quantitative texture features on DCE-MRI, adds value to such differentiation models as they are strongly associated with the triple-negative subtype. Prospective validation studies are warranted to confirm these findings and determine potential implications.

Intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion-weighted imaging in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: assessment of perfusion-related parameters compared to dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI.
Noriyuki Fujima, Daisuke Yoshida, Tomohiro Sakashita, Akihiro Homma, Akiko Tsukahara, Khin Khin Tha, Kohsuke Kudo, Hiroki Shirato
Magnetic resonance imaging, 32, 10, 1206, 13, Dec. 2014, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, PURPOSE: To investigate the correlation between perfusion-related parameters obtained with intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) and classical perfusion parameters obtained with dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) magnetic resonance imaging in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), and to compare direct and asymptotic fitting, the pixel-by-pixel approach, and a region of interest (ROI)-based approach respectively for IVIM parameter calculation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventeen patients with HNSCC were included in this retrospective study. All magnetic resonance (MR) scanning was performed using a 3T MR unit. Acquisition of IVIM was performed using single-shot spin-echo echo-planar imaging with three orthogonal gradients with 12 b-values (0, 10, 20, 30, 50, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1000, and 2000). Perfusion-related parameters of perfusion fraction 'f' and the pseudo-diffusion coefficient 'D*' were calculated from IVIM data by using least square fitting with the two fitting methods of direct and asymptotic fitting, respectively. DCE perfusion was performed in a total of 64 dynamic phases with a 3.2-s phase interval. The two-compartment exchange model was used for the quantification of tumor blood volume (TBV) and tumor blood flow (TBF). Each tumor was delineated with a polygonal ROI for the calculation of f, f∙D* performed using both the pixel-by-pixel approach and the ROI-based approach. In the pixel-by-pixel approach, after fitting each pixel to obtain f, f∙D* maps, the mean value in the delineated ROI on these maps was calculated. In the ROI-based approach, the mean value of signal intensity was calculated within the ROI for each b-value in IVIM images, and then fitting was performed using these values. Correlations between f in a total of four combinations (direct or asymptotic fitting and pixel-by-pixel or ROI-based approach) and TBV were respectively analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficients. Correlations between f∙D* and TBF were also similarly analyzed. RESULTS: In all combinations of f and TBV, f∙D* and TBF, there was a significant correlation. In the comparison of f and TBV, a moderate correlation was observed only between f obtained by direct fitting with the pixel-by-pixel approach, whereas a good correlation was observed in the comparisons using the other three combinations. In the comparison of f∙D* and TBF, a good correlation was observed only with f∙D* obtained by asymptotic fitting with the ROI-based approach. In contrast, moderate correlations were observed in the comparisons using the other three combinations. CONCLUSION: IVIM was found to be feasible for the analysis of perfusion-related parameters in patients with HNSCC. Especially, the combination of asymptotic fitting with the ROI-based approach was better correlated with DCE perfusion.

The value of 4-month neurocognitive function as an endpoint in brain metastases trials.
Shunsuke Onodera, Hidefumi Aoyama, Khin Khin Tha, Naoki Hashimoto, Atsuhito Toyomaki, Satoshi Terae, Hiroki Shirato
Journal of neuro-oncology, 120, 2, 311, 9, SPRINGER, Nov. 2014, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, To investigate whether the neurocognitive function at 4 months could be a relevant primary endpoint in clinical trials dealing with brain metastases, we created a Japanese neurocognitive battery and examined the changes in patients' neurocognitive function for 1 year after their brain radiotherapy. In this prospective pilot study, we enrolled 27 patients (20 patients who received whole-brain radiation therapy [WBRT] and seven who received stereotactic irradiation [STI] alone) between March 2009 and December 2010. The follow-up neurocognitive data at 4, 8 and 12 months were available in 22 (17 WBRT, 5 STI), 19 patients (14 WBRT, 5 STI) and 13 patients (9 WBRT, 4 STI), respectively. Among the patients who received WBRT, significant deterioration in delayed memory compared to the baseline (p = 0.04) was observed at 4 months, and at 8 months, significant improvements were observed in immediate memory compared to the baseline (p = 0.008) and 4-months scores (p = 0.005). At 12 months, however, the immediate memory scores had returned to the baseline. Similar trends were observed in other functions (delayed memory, attention and executive functions). In these patients, the correlations between 4-months scores of neurocognitive functions and 12-months scores were significant in immediate memory (γ = 0.68, p = 0.004), delayed memory (γ = 0.738, p = 0.023) and attention (γ = 0.817, p = 0.007). Among the patients who received STI, no significant changes were observed in any functions. These results suggest that 4-months changes in neurocognitive functions were transient but could also be a premonitory index for predicting the neurocognitive function 1 year or later after brain radiation therapy.

Arterial spin labeling to determine tumor viability in head and neck cancer before and after treatment.
Noriyuki Fujima, Kohsuke Kudo, Daisuke Yoshida, Akihiro Homma, Tomohiro Sakashita, Akiko Tsukahara, Khin Khin Tha, Yuri Zaitsu, Satoshi Terae, Hiroki Shirato
Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI, 40, 4, 920, 8, WILEY-BLACKWELL, Oct. 2014, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, PURPOSE: To evaluate the feasibility of arterial spin-labeling (ASL) in head and neck cancer for noninvasive measurement of tumor blood flow (TBF), by comparing 1) the TBF change before and after the treatment, and 2) posttreatment TBF and its reduction rate between residual and nonresidual tumors after treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-two patients with head and neck cancer were evaluated using ASL on 3.0-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before and after nonsurgical treatment. A pulsed ASL sequence with Look–Locker readout was used to calculate quantitative TBF. TBF reduction rates between pre- and posttreatment values were also calculated. Residual tumors were confirmed when present with either histopathologically or clinical follow-up. RESULTS: Pre- and posttreatment mean TBF values were 121.4 ± 27.8 (standard deviation) and 24.9 ± 14.9 mL/100g/min, respectively. Pre- and posttreatment TBF differed significantly. Posttreatment TBF was significantly higher in patients with residual tumors (five patients, 46.9 ± 7.1 mL/100g/min) than in those without (17 patients, 18.4 ± 9.2 mL/100g/min). The TBF reduction rate was significantly lower in patients with residual tumors (0.540.55 ± 0.120.12) than in those without (0.85 ± 0.06). CONCLUSION: ASL allows quantitative assessment of TBF in head and neck cancer. ASL may be useful for noninvasive assessment of tumor viability in head and neck cancer.

Isolated posterior fossa involvement in posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome.
Yukie Shimizu, Khin Khin Tha, Akihiro Iguchi, Yuko Cho, Atsushi Yoshida, Noriyuki Fujima, Akiko Tsukahara, Hiroki Shirato, Satoshi Terae
The neuroradiology journal, 26, 5, 514, 9, Oct. 2013, [Peer-reviewed], [Corresponding author], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is characterized by reversible vasogenic edema affecting the subcortical white matter of bilateral occipital and parietal lobes. We describe a case of isolated posterior fossa involvement of PRES which occurred during remission induction chemotherapy for T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Both the brainstem and cerebellum were extensively involved, but the supratentorial structures were completely spared. The follow-up magnetic resonance images revealed reversibility of most lesions. The knowledge of atypical radiological features of PRES is essential for prompt diagnosis.

Impaired integrity of the brain parenchyma in non-geriatric patients with major depressive disorder revealed by diffusion tensor imaging.
Khin K Tha, Satoshi Terae, Shin Nakagawa, Takeshi Inoue, Nobuki Kitagawa, Yuki Kako, Yasuya Nakato, Kawser Akter Popy, Noriyuki Fujima, Yuri Zaitsu, Daisuke Yoshida, Yoichi M Ito, Tamaki Miyamoto, Tsukasa Koyama, Hiroki Shirato
Psychiatry research, 212, 3, 208, 15, 30 Jun. 2013, [Peer-reviewed], [Lead author, Corresponding author], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is considered to be able to non-invasively quantify white matter integrity. This study aimed to use DTI to evaluate white matter integrity in non-geriatric patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) who were free of antidepressant medication. DTI was performed on 19 non-geriatric patients with MDD, free of antidepressant medication, and 19 age-matched healthy subjects. Voxel-based and histogram analyses were used to compare fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) values between the two groups, using two-sample t tests. The abnormal DTI indices, if any, were tested for correlation with disease duration and severity, using Pearson product-moment correlation analysis. Voxel-based analysis showed clusters with FA decrease at the bilateral frontal white matter, anterior limbs of internal capsule, cerebellum, left putamen and right thalamus of the patients. Histogram analysis revealed lower peak position of FA histograms in the patients. FA values of the abnormal clusters and peak positions of FA histograms of the patients exhibited moderate correlation with disease duration and severity. These results suggest the implication of frontal-subcortical circuits and cerebellum in MDD, and the potential utility of FA in evaluation of brain parenchymal integrity.

H-1-MRS and P-31-MRS findings in Machado-Joseph disease
I. Yabe, K. K. Tha, H. Hamaguchi, K. Sakushima, T. Kano, S. Terae, H. Sasaki
MOVEMENT DISORDERS, 28, S235, S235, WILEY-BLACKWELL, Jun. 2013, [Peer-reviewed]
English

DTI撮像における撮像体位の影響　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
濱口 裕行, 高森 清華, 谷川原 綾子, 水戸 寿々子, 杉森 博行, 石坂 欣也, Tha Khin Khin
北海道放射線技術雑誌, 74, 26, 27, (公社)日本放射線技術学会-北海道支部, Mar. 2013
Japanese

Small FOV Imagingにおける画質の基礎的検討　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
濱口 裕行, 杉森 博行, キンキンタ, 高森 清華, 谷川原 綾子, 藤原 太郎, 吉田 博一
日本放射線技術学会総会学術大会予稿集, 69回, 300, 300, (公社)日本放射線技術学会, Feb. 2013
Japanese

Association of Renal Volume with the Degree of Aortic Contrast Enhancement in Abdominal CT　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Muto NS, Kamishima T, Sasaki T, Terae S, Tha KK, Shirato H, Bae KT
Advances in Computed Tomography, 2, 55, 62, 2013, [Peer-reviewed]
English, Scientific journal

Detection of Brain Metastases by 3-Dimensional Magnetic Resonance Imaging at 3 T: Comparison Between T1-Weighted Volume Isotropic Turbo Spin Echo Acquisition and 3-Dimensional T1-Weighted Fluid-Attenuated Inversion Recovery Imaging
Atsushi Yoshida, Khin Khin Tha, Noriyuki Fujima, Yuri Zaitsu, Daisuke Yoshida, Akiko Tsukahara, Shunsuke Onodera, Hiroki Shirato, Satoshi Terae
JOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED TOMOGRAPHY, 37, 1, 84, 90, LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS, Jan. 2013, [Peer-reviewed], [Corresponding author]
English, Scientific journal, Objective: This study aimed to compare the diagnostic performance in the detection of brain metastases between contrast-enhanced T1-weighted volume isotropic turbo spin echo acquisition (T1-VISTA) and 3-dimensional T1-weighted fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (3D-T1-FLAIR) imaging at 3 T.Methods: Two neuroradiologists selected 129 true (metastases) and 70 false (vessels and artifacts) lesions on the contrast-enhanced T1-VISTA and 3D-T1-FLAIR images of 14 cancer patients with hyperintense brain lesions. Four blinded neuroradiologists distinguished between the true and false lesions, using a 5-point confidence rating scale. The receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to compare the diagnostic performance. Contrast-to-noise ratio of the true lesions was also compared between the 2 sequences by using paired t tests.Results: For lesions less than 3 mm, the area under curve and sensitivity achieved by T1-VISTA imaging were significantly greater than 3D-T1-FLAIR imaging. The contrast-to-noise ratio was also significantly greater with T1-VISTA imaging.Conclusions: The contrast-enhanced T1-VISTA imaging is better suited than 3D-T1-FLAIR imaging, for detection of small metastases.

DTI撮像における撮像本位の影響　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
濱口 裕行, 高森 清華, 谷川原 綾子, 杉森 博行, 石坂 欣也, 水戸 寿々子, Tha Khin Khin
北海道放射線技術雑誌, 73, 105, 105, (公社)日本放射線技術学会-北海道支部, Nov. 2012
Japanese

Feasibility of a dual microcatheter-dual interlocking detachable coil technique in preoperative embolization in preparation for distal pancreatectomy with en bloc celiac axis resection for locally advanced pancreatic body cancer.
Daisuke Abo, Yu Hasegawa, Yusuke Sakuhara, Satoshi Terae, Tadashi Shimizu, Khin Khin Tha, Eiichi Tanaka, Satoshi Hirano, Satoshi Kondo, Hiroki Shirato
Journal of hepato-biliary-pancreatic sciences, 19, 4, 431, 7, 4, Jul. 2012, [Peer-reviewed], [Domestic magazines]
English, Scientific journal, PURPOSE: To describe the feasibility of a dual microcatheter-dual interlocking detachable coil (DMDI) technique for preoperative embolization of the common hepatic artery (CHA) in preparation for distal pancreatectomy with en bloc celiac axis resection (DP-CAR) for locally advanced pancreatic body cancer. METHODS: From January 2007 to December 2009, 26 patients underwent embolization of the CHA by the DMDI technique. We compared the results with those of 37 patients in whom the CHA was embolized by conventional techniques from August 1998 to February 2007. RESULTS: With the DMDI technique, no coil migration or other embolization-related complications occurred. The success rate was 100%. The rate of embolization-related complications was significantly lower in the DMDI embolization group (0%) than in the conventional embolization group (24.3%) (P = 0.008). The frequency of improper positioning of the embolic material necessitating its removal during DP-CAR was significantly lower in the DMDI embolization group (10%) than in the conventional embolization group (37.5%) (P = 0.044). CONCLUSION: The DMDI technique allows the development of collateral pathways, reduces the surgeon's burden in ligating the distal CHA, and prevents coil migration. For these reasons, we believe that this technique is feasible for embolization of the CHA in preparation for DP-CAR for locally advanced pancreatic body cancer.

Hyperintense putaminal rim at 1.5 T: prevalence in normal subjects and distinguishing features from multiple system atrophy.
Khin K Tha, Satoshi Terae, Akiko Tsukahara, Hiroyuki Soma, Ryo Morita, Ichiro Yabe, Yoichi M Ito, Hidenao Sasaki, Hiroki Shirato
BMC neurology, 12, 39, 39, BIOMED CENTRAL LTD, 18 Jun. 2012, [Peer-reviewed], [Lead author, Corresponding author], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, BACKGROUND: Hyperintense putaminal rim (HPR) is an important magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sign for multiple system atrophy (MSA). Recent studies have suggested that it can also be observed in normal subjects at 3 T. Whether it can be observed in normal subjects at 1.5 T is not known. This study aimed to determine whether HPR could be observed in normal subjects at 1.5 T; and if so, to establish its prevalence, the MRI characteristics, and the features which distinguish from HPR in MSA patients. METHODS: Axial T2-weighted images of 130 normal subjects were evaluated for the prevalence of HPR, its age and gender distribution, laterality, maximum dimension, association with hypointensity of nearby putamen, and presence of discontinuity. To distinguish from that observed in MSA, axial T2-weighted images of 6 MSA patients with predominant parkinsonism (MSA-P) and 15 MSA patients with predominant cerebellar symptoms (MSA-C) were also evaluated. The characteristics of HPR were compared between these patients and age-matched normal subjects. The mean diffusivity (MD) values of putamen were also compared. Fisher's exact test, t-test, and one way analysis of variance were used to determine significance at corrected p < 0.05. RESULTS: HPR was observed in 38.5% of normal subjects. Age and gender predilection and laterality were not observed. In most cases, it occupied the full length or anterior half of the lateral margin of putamen, and was continuous throughout its length. Maximum transverse dimension was 2 mm. There was no association with hypointensity of nearby putamen. However, in MSA-P, HPR was located predominantly at the posterolateral aspect of putamen, and associated with putaminal atrophy. Discontinuity of HPR was more frequently observed in MSA-P. On visual analysis, the characteristics of HPR were similar between MSA-C patients and normal subjects. Patients with MSA of either type had significantly higher MD values of putamen than normal subjects. CONCLUSIONS: HPR can be observed in 38.5% of normal subjects at 1.5 T. Thin linear hyperintensity without discontinuity, occupying the full length or anterior half of the lateral margin of the putamen, is suggestive of "normal." In doubtful cases, measurement of the MD values of nearby putamen may be valuable.

Preoperative percutaneous transhepatic portal vein embolization with ethanol injection.
Yusuke Sakuhara, Daisuke Abo, Yu Hasegawa, Tadashi Shimizu, Toshiya Kamiyama, Satoshi Hirano, Daisuke Fukumori, Takeshi Kawamura, Yoichi M Ito, Khin Khin Tha, Hiroki Shirato, Satoshi Terae
AJR. American journal of roentgenology, 198, 4, 914, 22, AMER ROENTGEN RAY SOC, Apr. 2012, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article is to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of preoperative percutaneous transhepatic portal vein embolization with ethanol injection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 143 patients who underwent percutaneous transhepatic portal vein embolization. Hypertrophy of the future liver remnant was assessed by comparing the volumetric data obtained from CT image data before and after percutaneous transhepatic portal vein embolization. The evaluation of effectiveness was based on changes in the absolute volume of the future liver remnant and the ratio of the future liver remnant to the total estimated liver volume. RESULTS: Ten of 143 patients (7.0%) underwent additional embolization because of recanalization and insufficient hypertrophy of the future liver remnant. The mean increase in the ratio of the future liver remnant was 33.6% (p < 0.0001), and the mean ratio of future liver remnant to total estimated liver volume increased from 34.9% to 45.7% (p < 0.0001). Although most of the patients complained of pain after ethanol injection, they were gradually relieved of pain in a few minutes by conservative treatment. Fever (38-39°C) was reported after 47 of 151 (31.1%) percutaneous transhepatic portal vein embolization sessions and was resolved within a few days. Transient elevation of the liver transaminases was observed after the procedures and resolved within about a week. Major complications occurred in nine of 151 (6%) percutaneous transhepatic portal vein embolization sessions, but no patients developed hepatic insufficiency or severe complications precluding successful resection. One hundred twenty patients underwent hepatic resection, and two patients developed hepatic failure after surgery. CONCLUSION: Preoperative percutaneous transhepatic portal vein embolization with ethanol is a feasible and effective procedure to obtain hypertrophy of the future liver remnant for preventing hepatic failure after hepatectomy.

3T装置での脳転移スクリーニングのための造影3D-MRIの撮像法の検討 T1-VISTA法とT1-FLAIR法との比較　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
吉田 篤司, 塚原 亜希子, 吉田 大介, 曽山 武士, 原田 慶一, 財津 有里, 藤間 憲幸, 寺江 聡, Tha Khin Khin, 白土 博樹
Japanese Journal of Radiology, 30, Suppl.I, 12, 12, (公社)日本医学放射線学会, Feb. 2012
Japanese

Diffusion tensor imaging in major depression　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Nakagawa S, Tha KK, Koyama T
躁うつ病の薬理・生化学的研究談話会編：気分紹介の薬理・生化学：うつ病の脳内メカニズム研究：進歩と挑戦, 324, 325, 2012
Japanese

Mapping of cerebral oxygen extraction fraction changes with susceptibility-weighted phase imaging.
Yuri Zaitsu, Kohsuke Kudo, Satoshi Terae, Rie Yazu, Kinya Ishizaka, Noriyuki Fujima, Khin K Tha, E Mark Haacke, Makoto Sasaki, Hiroki Shirato
Radiology, 261, 3, 930, 6, RADIOLOGICAL SOC NORTH AMERICA, Dec. 2011, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, PURPOSE: To develop a map to detect changes in oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) utilizing susceptibility-weighted (SW) phase images and to correlate such changes in OEF with those in cerebral blood flow (CBF). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study protocol was approved by the institutional review board, and written informed consent was obtained from all subjects. Eight healthy volunteers (mean age ± standard deviation, 29.8 years ± 4.6) were included in the study. Subjects were evaluated by using SW imaging, and the change in OEF was calculated by subtracting the image at baseline from one of the images obtained during six different conditions, including two at resting state, three different types of respiratory challenges, and one drug challenge with acetazolamide. Arterial spin labeling was carried out to measure CBF, while SW imaging was used to generate maps of change in OEF in response to a given condition. Statistical tests included one-way analysis of variance and Dunnett multiple comparisons to compare among the six conditions the magnitude of change from baseline for both OEF and CBF, by using the OEF change at resting state (resting 1) as the control. RESULTS: Hyperventilation caused a statistically significant decrease in CBF (-29.3%, P < .001) and an increase in OEF (+5.2%, P < .001) compared with the control, resting 1 (+2.2%, -0.7%, respectively). Acetazolamide caused a significant increase in CBF (+39.7%, P < .001) and a decrease in OEF (-3.4%, P = .040). Carbogen also induced a CBF increase (+16.2%); however, the change was not significant (P = .090), even though OEF decreased significantly (-4.2%, P = .003). Oxygen administration resulted in a significant CBF decrease (-27.2%, P < .001), whereas OEF showed no significant difference (-0.6%, P > .99). CONCLUSION: Maps of changes in OEF generated from SW phase images revealed changes in OEF corresponding to anticipated changes in CBF induced by various conditions; SW phase imaging might, in the future, be applied to evaluate cerebrovascular and other cerebral disorders in which changes in oxygen metabolism are important for planning therapeutic strategies.

Identification and further differentiation of subendocardial and transmural myocardial infarction by fast strain-encoded (SENC) magnetic resonance imaging at 3.0 Tesla.
Noriko Oyama-Manabe, Naoki Ishimori, Hiroyuki Sugimori, Marc Van Cauteren, Kohsuke Kudo, Osamu Manabe, Tomoyuki Okuaki, Tamotsu Kamishima, Yoichi M Ito, Hiroyuki Tsutsui, Khin Khin Tha, Satoshi Terae, Hiroki Shirato
European radiology, 21, 11, 2362, 8, SPRINGER, Nov. 2011, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether subendocardial and transmural myocardial infarction can be identified and differentiated using the peak circumferential and longitudinal strains measured by fast strain-encoded (SENC). METHODS: Nineteen patients with ischemic heart diseases underwent imaging with fast SENC and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) MRI at 3 T. Fast SENC measurements were performed in three short-axis slices (basal, mid-ventricular and apical levels) and one long-axis view (four-chamber) to assess peak longitudinal and circumferential systolic strains. RESULTS: All patients showed myocardial infarction with an average of 7 positive LGE segments. A total of 304 segments for longitudinal strains (LS) and 114 segments for circumferential strains (CS) could be analysed. Positive LGE segments showed lower peak CS and LS compared with the no LGE segments (P < 0.0001 for both). Segments with subendocardial infarction showed reduced CS and LS compared with the no LGE segments (P < 0.0001 for both). There was a significant difference in CS between subendocardial and transmural infarct segments (P = 0.03), but no significant difference in LS between them (P = 0.64). CONCLUSIONS: Fast SENC can identify old myocardial infarction and differentiate subendocardial from transmural infarction.

Improved Detection of Heat Stroke-Induced Brain Injury by High B-Value Diffusion-Weighted Imaging
Kentaro Kobayashi, Khin Khin Tha, Satoshi Terae, Yuki Iijima, Kenichi Katabami, Yosuke Minami, Shinji Uegaki, Satoshi Gando, Hiroki Shirato
JOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED TOMOGRAPHY, 35, 4, 498, 500, LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS, Jul. 2011, [Peer-reviewed], [Corresponding author]
English, Scientific journal, We report a case of heat stroke in which detection of brain injury was improved by high b-value diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). High b-value DWI revealed moderate to marked hyperintensity at/around bilateral dentate nuclei and part of thalami. Apparent diffusion coefficient maps revealed apparent diffusion coefficient decrease of the dentate lesions. Routine DWI showed only mild hyperintensity of part of dentate lesions. High b-value DWI could be valuable for improved detection of heat stroke-induced brain injury.

Non-invasive measurement of oxygen saturation in the spinal vein using SWI: quantitative evaluation under conditions of physiological and caffeine load.
Noriyuki Fujima, Kohsuke Kudo, Satoshi Terae, Kinya Ishizaka, Rie Yazu, Yuri Zaitsu, Khin Khin Tha, Daisuke Yoshida, Akiko Tsukahara, Mark E Haacke, Makoto Sasaki, Hiroki Shirato
NeuroImage, 54, 1, 344, 9, 1, 01 Jan. 2011, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, Susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) has been used for quantitative and non-invasive measurement of blood oxygen saturation in the brain. In this study, we used SWI for quantitative measurement of oxygen saturation in the spinal vein to look for physiological- or caffeine-induced changes in venous oxygenation. SWI measurements were obtained for 5 healthy volunteers using 1.5-T MR units, under 1) 3 kinds of physiological load (breath holding, Bh; hyperventilation, Hv; and inspiration of highly concentrated oxygen, Ox) and 2) caffeine load. Oxygen saturation in the anterior spinal vein (ASV) was calculated. We evaluated changes in oxygen saturation induced by physiological load. We also evaluated the time-course of oxygen saturation after caffeine intake. For the physiological load measurements, the average oxygen saturation for the 5 subjects was significantly lower in Hv (0.75) and significantly higher in Bh (0.84) when compared with control (0.80). There was no significant difference between Ox (0.81) and control. Oxygen saturation gradually decreased after caffeine intake. The average values of oxygen saturation were 0.79 (0 min), 0.76 (20 min), 0.74 (40 min), and 0.73 (60 min), respectively. We demonstrated a significant difference in oxygen saturation at 40 and 60 min after caffeine intake when compared with 0 min. In conclusion, we demonstrated the feasibility of using SWI for non-invasive measurement of oxygen saturation in the spinal vein. We showed changes in oxygen saturation under physiological as well as caffeine load and suggest that this method is a useful tool for the clinical evaluation of spinal cord oxygenation.

Estimation of skeletal muscle energy metabolism in Machado-Joseph disease using (31)P-MR spectroscopy.
Ichiro Yabe, Khin K Tha, Takashi Yokota, Kazunori Sato, Hiroyuki Soma, Asako Takei, Satoshi Terae, Koichi Okita, Hidenao Sasaki
Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society, 26, 1, 165, 8, WILEY-BLACKWELL, Jan. 2011, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, The aim of this study was to determine if muscle energy metabolism, as measured by (31)P-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), is a metabolic marker for the efficacy of treatment of Machado-Joseph disease (MJD). We obtained (31)P-MRS in the calf muscle of 8 male patients with MJD and 11 healthy men before, during, and after a 4 minute plantar flexion exercise in a supine position. The data showed that there was a significant difference between the groups in terms of the PCr/(Pi + PCr) ratio at rest (P = 0.03) and the maximum rate of mitochondrial ATP production (V(max)) (P < 0.01). In addition, V(max) was inversely correlated with the scale for the assessment and rating of ataxia score (r = -0.34, P = 0.04). The MJD group also showed a reduction in V(max) over the course of 2 years (P < 0.05). These data suggest that this noninvasive measurement of muscle energy metabolism may represent a surrogate marker for MJD.

Diffusion tensor imaging characteristics of normal human cervical spinal cord at 3T
Tha KK, Terae S, Ishizaka K, Okuaki T, Hirotani M, Fujima N, Tsukahara A, Shirato H
日本磁気共鳴医学会雑誌, 31, 1, 70, 70, 2011, [Invited]
Japanese

Microstructural white matter abnormalities of multiple system atrophy: in vivo topographic illustration by using diffusion-tensor MR imaging.
Khin K Tha, Satoshi Terae, Ichiro Yabe, Tamaki Miyamoto, Hiroyuki Soma, Yuri Zaitsu, Noriyuki Fujima, Kohsuke Kudo, Hidenao Sasaki, Hiroki Shirato
Radiology, 255, 2, 563, 9, RADIOLOGICAL SOC NORTH AMERICA, May 2010, [Peer-reviewed], [Lead author, Corresponding author], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, PURPOSE: To determine whether diffusion-tensor (DT) imaging can demonstrate microstructural white matter abnormalities of multiple system atrophy (MSA) and to correlate these imaging findings with clinical signs and symptoms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Institutional review board approval and written informed consent were obtained. DT imaging was performed in 16 patients with MSA with predominant cerebellar symptoms (MSA-C) (mean age, 60.0 years + or - 5.1 [standard deviation]; range, 51-69 years) and 16 age-matched healthy subjects. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) were compared voxel-by-voxel between the two groups by using a two-sample t test. Overlap maps were created to illustrate areas with FA and MD alterations. Correlation between DT imaging indexes and Barthel index score, scale for assessment and rating of ataxia (SARA) score, severity of orthostatic hypotension, age of disease onset, and disease duration was tested by using Spearman rank or Pearson product-moment correlation analysis. T2-weighted and proton density-weighted images of the patients were visually assessed. RESULTS: Widespread areas of FA reduction and MD elevation were observed in supra- and infratentorial white matter structures in patients with MSA (P < .05, false discovery rate corrected). Significant correlation (P < .01) between DT imaging indexes and Barthel index score, SARA score, severity of orthostatic hypotension, and disease duration was observed for multiple areas with FA and/or MD alterations. T2-weighted and proton density-weighted images showed no significant abnormality in supratentorial white matter. CONCLUSION: DT imaging may help identify the microstructural white matter abnormalities of MSA-C. DT imaging may be useful for severity assessment of MSA-C.

Spinal arteriovenous malformation: evaluation of change in venous oxygenation with susceptibility-weighted MR imaging after treatment.
Noriyuki Fujima, Kohsuke Kudo, Satoshi Terae, Kazutoshi Hida, Kinya Ishizaka, Yuri Zaitsu, Takeshi Asano, Daisuke Yoshida, Khin Khin Tha, E Mark Haacke, Makoto Sasaki, Hiroki Shirato
Radiology, 254, 3, 891, 9, 3, Mar. 2010, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy of susceptibility-weighted (SW) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for the assessment of the posttreatment change in oxygen saturation in the draining vein in patients with spinal arteriovenous malformation (AVM). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study protocol was approved by the institutional review board, and written informed consent was obtained from all subjects. SW imaging was performed in 11 patients with spinal AVM before and after surgical or endovascular treatment. Eleven healthy subjects were included as a control group. A four-grade response scale was used for the visual assessment of the anterior spinal vein (ASV). For quantitative analysis, the phase value of the ASV was measured and oxygen saturation was calculated. Nonparametric multigroup comparison for visual assessment and one-way analysis of variance for quantitative measurement of oxygen saturation were used as statistical tests for comparison among three groups (pretreatment patients, posttreatment patients, and control subjects). RESULTS: Complete shunt occlusion in all patients was confirmed by using conventional angiography. For visual assessment, the average score of the pretreatment group was significantly less than that of the posttreatment and control groups. For quantitative analysis, the average oxygen saturation of the pretreatment group was significantly higher than that of the posttreatment and control groups, while no significant difference was observed between the posttreatment and control groups. CONCLUSION: After treatment, normalization of increased oxygen saturation was noninvasively observed by using SW imaging in patients with spinal AVM. SW imaging can be a useful tool for the assessment of treatment efficacy in patients with spinal AVM. (c) RSNA, 2010.

Detection of normal spinal veins by using susceptibility-weighted imaging.
Kinya Ishizaka, Kohsuke Kudo, Noriyuki Fujima, Yuri Zaitsu, Rie Yazu, Khin Khin Tha, Satoshi Terae, E Mark Haacke, Makoto Sasaki, Hiroki Shirato
Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI, 31, 1, 32, 8, 1, Jan. 2010, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, PURPOSE: To evaluate the visualization of the spinal veins using susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 1.5-T magnet equipped with a spine matrix coil was used. Axial SWI scans of 20 healthy volunteers were obtained with a three-dimensional fast low-angle shot (3D-FLASH) sequence. Maximum intensity projection (MIP) of the phase images were reconstructed and five MIP images (at the levels of T11, T11/12, T12, T12/L1, and L1) were selected for the evaluation. The anterior median vein (AMV), posterior median vein (PMV), anterior radiculomedullary vein (ARV), posterior radiculomedullary vein (PRV), and sulcal vein (SV) were evaluated using a 4-grade scale (0, none; 1, weak; 2, moderate; and 3, prominent). RESULTS: The AMV was detected in all the subjects (100%). The detection rates of the other veins were lower: PMV, 65%; right ARV, 45%; left ARV, 15%; right PRV, 10%; left PRV, 30%; and SV, 0%. The average scores for AMV, PMV, right ARV, left ARV, right PRV, left PRV, and SV were 0.98, 0.24, 0.20, 0.08, 0.08, 0.14, and 0, respectively. CONCLUSION: SWI of the spine is feasible. The extrinsic spinal veins can be visualized by SWI without using contrast materials.

Susceptibility-weighted imaging of cerebral fat embolism.
Yuri Zaitsu, Satoshi Terae, Kohsuke Kudo, Khin Khin Tha, Mineji Hayakawa, Noriyuki Fujima, Daisuke Yoshida, Akiko Tsukahara, Hiroki Shirato
Journal of computer assisted tomography, 34, 1, 107, 12, LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS, Jan. 2010, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, Cerebral fat embolism (CFE) causes microinfarcts, vasogenic edema, and petechiae in the brain. Conventional magnetic resonance imaging has been reported to effectively visualize microinfarcts and vasogenic edema in CFE, but not petechiae. We report 3 cases of CFE in which susceptibility-weighted imaging distinctly demonstrated multiple minute hypointense foci in the brain, which were interpreted as petechiae, susceptibility-weighted imaging is a useful adjunct to conventional magnetic resonance imaging for the evaluation of CFE.

An Internationally Compatible, Japanese Neurocognitive Function Test Battery for the Assessment of Radiation-induced Brain Injury
S. Onodera, H. Aoyama, N. Hashimoto, A. Toyomaki, N. Nishikawa, K. K. Tha, K. Ogisu, S. Terae, H. Shirato
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RADIATION ONCOLOGY BIOLOGY PHYSICS, 78, 3, S293, S293, ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC, 2010, [Peer-reviewed]
English

Differential diagnosis of hyperintense cerebrospinal fluid on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images of the brain. Part II: non-pathological conditions.
K K Tha, S Terae, K Kudo, K Miyasaka
The British journal of radiology, 82, 979, 610, 4, BRITISH INST RADIOLOGY, Jul. 2009, [Peer-reviewed], [Lead author, Corresponding author], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, The fluid-attenuated inversion recovery imaging sequence is a widely used MRI sequence of the brain. It is an inversion recovery pulse sequence, designed to suppress signals from the cerebrospinal fluid. It is highly sensitive for detection of lesions adjacent to or within the cerebrospinal fluid, associated with T(2) prolongation or T(1) shortening. The term "hyperintense cerebrospinal fluid" is used to describe failed suppression or hyperintensity of cerebrospinal fluid on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery imaging of the brain. It is often encountered in many important pathological conditions, including subarachnoid haemorrhage, meningitis and leptomeningeal metastasis. However, certain non-pathological states in which there is no definite cerebrospinal fluid abnormality can also present with hyperintense cerebrospinal fluid. Correct interpretation of abnormalities is important to arrive at an appropriate diagnosis. This pictorial review provides fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images of hyperintense cerebrospinal fluid of the brain and describes distinguishing features, focusing on non-pathological conditions.

Differential diagnosis of hyperintense cerebrospinal fluid on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images of the brain. Part I: pathological conditions.
K K Tha, S Terae, K Kudo, K Miyasaka
The British journal of radiology, 82, 977, 426, 34, BRITISH INST RADIOLOGY, May 2009, [Peer-reviewed], [Lead author, Corresponding author], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, The fluid-attenuated inversion recovery imaging sequence is a widely used MRI sequence of the brain. It is an inversion recovery pulse sequence, designed to suppress signals from the cerebrospinal fluid. It is highly sensitive in detection of lesions adjacent to or within the cerebrospinal fluid associated with T(2) prolongation or T(1) shortening. The term "hyperintense cerebrospinal fluid" is used to describe failed suppression, or hyperintensity, of cerebrospinal fluid on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery imaging of the brain. It is often encountered in many important pathological conditions, including subarachnoid haemorrhage, meningitis and leptomeningeal metastasis. However, certain non-pathological states in which there is no definite cerebrospinal fluid abnormality can also present with hyperintense cerebrospinal fluid. Correct interpretation of abnormalities is important to arrive at an appropriate diagnosis. This pictorial review provides fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images of hyperintense cerebrospinal fluid of the brain and describes distinguishing features. Part I features pathological conditions whereas Part II focuses on non-pathological conditions.

脊髄AVMにおける磁化率強調画像(SWI)の有用性の検討　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
藤間 憲幸, 工藤 興亮, Tha Khin Khin, 塚原 亜希子, 寺江 聡, 白土 博樹
Japanese Journal of Radiology, 27, Suppl., 4, 4, (公社)日本医学放射線学会, Apr. 2009
Japanese

Skeletal muscle energy metabolism in Machado-Joseph disease
I. Yabe, K. K. Tha, S. Terae, K. Okita, H. Sasaki
MOVEMENT DISORDERS, 23, 1, S148, S148, WILEY-LISS, 2008, [Peer-reviewed]
English

Contrast-enhanced FLAIR imaging in combination with pre- and postcontrast magnetization transfer T1-weighted imaging: usefulness in the evaluation of brain metastases.
Satoshi Terae, Daisuke Yoshida, Kohsuke Kudo, Khin Khin Tha, Masaharu Fujino, Kazuo Miyasaka
Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI, 25, 3, 479, 87, WILEY, Mar. 2007, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, PURPOSE: To assess whether the use of postcontrast fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) imaging in combination with pre- and postcontrast magnetization transfer (MT) T1-weighted imaging (T1WI) can increase diagnostic confidence in the evaluation of brain metastases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Brain MR images from 41 patients with suspected brain metastases were reviewed. Two radiologists viewed pre- and postcontrast MT-T1W images for the presence of metastatic tumors and rated the possible enhanced lesions using a five-point confidence scale (session 1). The postcontrast FLAIR images were then viewed together with pre- and postcontrast MT-T1W images, and the presence of metastasis was rated again (session 2). RESULTS: A total of 240 possible enhanced lesions were detected in session 1. Judging by follow-up MR examinations, 196 were considered to be nonmetastatic findings and 44 were determined to be metastasis. In session 2 the confidence rating for nonmetastasis increased significantly in the subset of nonmetastatic findings (P < 0.001), and the confidence rating for metastasis increased significantly in the subset of metastases (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The addition of postcontrast FLAIR imaging to pre- and postcontrast MT-T1WI improves diagnostic confidence in evaluation of brain metastases.

Capillary telangiectasia of the brain stem diagnosed by susceptibility-weighted imaging
Yuri Yoshida, Satoshi Terae, Kohsuke Kudo, Khin Khin Tha, Masahiro Imamura, Kazuo Miyasaka
JOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED TOMOGRAPHY, 30, 6, 980, 982, LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS, Nov. 2006, [Peer-reviewed]
English, Scientific journal, A case of brain stem capillary telangiectasia diagnosed by susceptibility-weighted imaging is reported. A small enhancing pontine lesion was found on postcontrast T1 -weighted MR images in a 56-year-old woman with human T-cell leukemia virus type I infection. Imaging diagnosis was difficult with conventional MR imaging because the lesion did not show characteristic signal loss on conventional gradient-echo images. SWI was useful for imaging diagnosis as it demonstrated marked signal loss of the lesion.

Early detection of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis by high b-value diffusion-weighted imaging - A case report
KK Tha, S Terae, K Kudo, T Yamamoto, S Hamada, A Ogata, H Sasaki, K Miyasaka
JOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED TOMOGRAPHY, 30, 1, 126, 130, LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS, Jan. 2006, [Peer-reviewed], [Lead author, Corresponding author]
English, Scientific journal, The authors report a case of subacute sclerosing pariencephalitis in which the diagnosis was suggested by high b-value diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) findings. The signal abnormalities were located asymmetrically at bilateral cerebral corticosubcortical regions. High b-value DWI showed these signal abnormalities as marked hyperintensity with decreased apparent diffusion coefficient values. The signal abnormalities were difficult to identify on other magnetic resonance imaging sequences, including routine DWI. High b-value DWI could be valuable for earlier detection of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis.

The role of tumor lysis in reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome.
Emiko Kaito, Satoshi Terae, Ryoji Kobayashi, Kohsuke Kudo, Khin Khin Tha, Kazuo Miyasaka
Pediatric radiology, 35, 7, 722, 7, 7, Jul. 2005, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, We report on a child with B-cell lymphoma who developed hypertension and reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome (RPLS) after chemotherapy conducted during recovery from tumor lysis syndrome. After recovery from RPLS, the patient received further combination chemotherapy without recurrence of the neurological signs or symptoms suggestive of RPLS. Many etiological factors have been reported in the development of RPLS; however, little attention has been paid to tumor lysis syndrome as a contributory factor for RPLS. Tumor lysis syndrome can precipitate the development of RPLS in patients with hematological malignancies who are undergoing chemotherapy. Knowledge and awareness would help facilitate immediate management such as normalization of blood pressure and temporary cessation of chemotherapy, helping to avoid irreversible brain damage.

Early detection of global cerebral anoxia: Improved accuracy by high-b-value diffusion-weighted imaging with long echo time
KK Tha, S Terae, T Yamamoto, K Kudo, C Takahashi, M Oka, S Uegaki, K Miyasaka
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF NEURORADIOLOGY, 26, 6, 1487, 1497, AMER SOC NEURORADIOLOGY, Jun. 2005, [Peer-reviewed], [Lead author, Corresponding author]
English, Scientific journal, BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Early and accurate detection of global cerebral anoxia is important for determination of prognosis and further management. We evaluated whether accuracy in early detection of global cerebral anoxia was improved by high-b-value diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) with long echo time (TE).METHODS: Routine DWI (b = 1000 s/mm(2); TE = 139 ms), high-b-value DWI (b = 3000 s/mm(2); TE = 190 ms), T2-weighted imaging (T2WI), and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) imaging were acquired in six patients who experienced cardiopulmonary arrest within 24 hours and six volunteers. Region of interest-based analysis was performed. Regions of interest of patients showing significant decrease in apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC)3 values than volunteers were considered abnormal. Three neuroradiologists independently assessed images of the patients for conspicuity of hyperintensity within regions of interest. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed, and the area under the curve (Az) was compared among sequences and observers. Average contrast and contrast-to-noise ratios between abnormal regions of interest and regions of interest of normal surrounding parenchyma were calculated.RESULTS: For all observers, high-b-value DWIs achieved the largest Az, and FLAIR imaging the lowest Az. Az of routine DWI and T2WI were between these values. High-b-value DWI and FLAIR imaging showed no significant interobserver variation in Az, whereas routine DWI and T2WI did. High-b-value DWI also achieved the largest contrast and contrast-to-noise ratios.CONCLUSION. High-b-value DWI with long TE improved accuracy in early detection of global cerebral anoxia. Application of the sequence would facilitate early diagnosis.

Physiologic change in flow velocity and direction of dural venous sinuses with respiration: MR venography and flow analysis.
Kohsuke Kudo, Satoshi Terae, Aki Ishii, Tokuhiko Omatsu, Takeshi Asano, Khin Khin Tha, Kazuo Miyasaka
AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology, 25, 4, 551, 7, AMER SOC NEURORADIOLOGY, Apr. 2004, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Blood flow of the internal jugular vein and intracranial venous sinuses is affected by respiratory state. The purpose of this study was to clarify the changes in flow velocity and direction and signal intensities of sigmoid sinuses on phase-contrast (PC) MR images obtained with regular breathing and with deep inspiratory breath holding. METHODS: One hundred seven subjects without venous sinus abnormality were studied. Coronal 2D PC MR venography and axial 2D PC images with peripheral pulse gating were acquired with a 1.5-T MR unit, during regular breathing and deep inspiratory breath holding. The signal intensity changes of bilateral sigmoid sinuses on MR venograms and the changes of flow velocity and direction on the axial 2D PC images were analyzed. RESULTS: Breath holding decreased signal intensities of the right and left sigmoid sinuses on MR venograms in 57 (53.3%) and 36 (33.6%) subjects, respectively. Increased signal intensity was observed in 12 (11.2%) and 33 (30.8%) subjects, respectively. In the flow analysis, retrograde flow was detected at the left sigmoid sinus in four subjects (3.7%) during regular breathing, which was normalized by breath holding. Flow velocities of the right and left sigmoid sinuses decreased during breath holding in 92 (86.0%) and 70 (65.4%) subjects, and increased in 15 (14.0%) and 37 (34.6%) subjects, respectively. CONCLUSION: The signal intensities of sigmoid sinuses were affected by breath holding in about 2/3 of the subjects. Breath-holding maneuver can be used to increase blood flow and signal intensities of dural venous sinuses on PC MR venograms.

MRI in methotrexate-related leukoencephalopathy: Disseminated necrotising leukoencephalopathy in comparison with mild leukoencephalopathy.
M Oka, S Terae, R Kobayashi, Y Sawamura, K Kudoh, K K Tha, M Yoshida, M Kaneda, Y Suzuki, K Miyasaka
Neuroradiology, 45, 7, 493, 7, SPRINGER-VERLAG, Jul. 2003, [Peer-reviewed], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, We report two fatal cases of methotrexate (MTX)-induced disseminated necrotising leukoencephalopathy (DNL) in which MRI was repeated from the onset. Initial T2-weighted images showed multiple areas of high signal, mainly in deep cerebral white matter, which on follow-up, spread and coalesced to involve the entire white matter. Small irregular low-signal foci on T2-weighted images were seen within the high-signal lesions. Multiple areas of contrast enhancement corresponded to these low-signal foci. The condition of both patients deteriorated and they died. We compared their MRI findings with those of seven patients with mild MTX-related leukoencephalopathy, six of whom were asymptomatic; one had transient neurological symptoms. They showed no contrast enhancement, but rather mild-to-moderate diffuse high signal in deep white matter, which later disappeared. These findings suggest that multiple low-signal foci on T2-weighted images with contrast enhancement may be characteristic of DNL, and that contrast-enhanced imaging is useful to differentiate this condition from mild leukoencephalopathy.

Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in early stage of 5-fluorouracil-induced leukoencephalopathy.
K K Tha, S Terae, M Sugiura, T Nishioka, M Oka, K Kudoh, K Kaneko, K Miyasaka
Acta neurologica Scandinavica, 106, 6, 379, 86, BLACKWELL MUNKSGAARD, Dec. 2002, [Peer-reviewed], [Lead author, Corresponding author], [International Magazine]
English, Scientific journal, We report a case of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-induced leukoencephalopathy in which magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain, including diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), was performed serially. The initial T2-weighted and FLAIR images showed diffuse mild hyperintensity in bilateral deep cerebral white matter and corpus callosum, which on T1WI appeared as non-enhanced faint hypointensity. Isotropic DWI disclosed the abnormality as well-conspicuous diffuse hyperintensity with decreased ADC. Serial studies revealed that majority of the abnormal signal intensity on these sequences resolved, and the decreased ADC values approached normal. Some hyperintensity remained in the deep cerebral white matter and the splenium, but no further significant ADC change after normalization was noted. Measurement of ADC along the three orthogonal directions showed the presence of directional dependence of diffusion throughout the length of study. These findings suggest that early stage of 5-FU-induced leukoencephalopathy is associated with reversible restricted diffusion and preservation of anisotropy. Diffusion-weighted imaging may be useful for the diagnosis.

深層学習に基づく画像特徴量を利用した放射線治療用CT画像における転移性骨腫瘍の検出に関する検討
渡邊はるな, 藤後廉, 小川貴弘, 長谷山美紀, 安田耕一, THA Khin Khin, 工藤與亮, 白土博樹, 電気・情報関係学会北海道支部連合大会講演論文集(CD-ROM), 2018, ROMBUNNO.87, 27 Oct. 2018
Japanese

眼痛を有する患者の安静時機能的MRIによる検討　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
田川 義晃, 杉森 博行, Tha Khin Khin, 石田 晋, PAIN RESEARCH, 33, 2, 146, 146, Jun. 2018
日本疼痛学会, Japanese

ドライアイ症状を有する患者の安静時機能的MRIによる検討　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
田川 義晃, 大口 剛司, 杉森 博行, タ・キンキン, 木嶋 理紀, 岩田 大樹, 田川 義継, 石田 晋, 日本眼科学会雑誌, 122, 臨増, 156, 156, Mar. 2018
(公財)日本眼科学会, Japanese

A note on classification of brain metastases from MR images based on machine learning
菅田健斗, 小川貴弘, 長谷山美紀, THA Khin Khin, THA Khin Khin, 工藤與亮, 工藤與亮, 白土博樹, 白土博樹, 電子情報通信学会技術研究報告, 117, 431, 311, 314, 15 Feb. 2018
電子情報通信学会, Japanese

A note on classification of brain metastases from MR images based on machine learning
菅田 健斗, 小川 貴弘, 長谷山 美紀, タ キンキン, 工藤 與亮, 白土 博樹, 映像情報メディア学会技術報告 = ITE technical report, 42, 4, 311, 314, Feb. 2018
映像情報メディア学会, Japanese

Zonally Magnified Oblique Multislice(ZOOM)EPI-DTI法を用いた腕神経叢の描出における至適撮像条件の検討　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
野畑 圭亮, Khin Khin Tha, 藤原 太郎, 杉森 博行, 石坂 欣也, 奥秋 知幸, 工藤 興亮, 日本放射線技術学会雑誌, 73, 9, 918, 918, Sep. 2017
(公社)日本放射線技術学会, Japanese

DSIにおけるパラメータ変化による神経束角度への影響についての検討　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
吉富 敬祐, 石坂 欣也, 押野見 一哉, 河口 蒼, Khin Khin Tha, 山本 徹, 杉森 博行, 北海道放射線技術雑誌, 80, 16, 17, Apr. 2016
(公社)日本放射線技術学会-北海道部会, Japanese

BUT短縮型ドライアイ患者のfunctionalMRIによる脳機能解析を施行した1例　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
田川 義晃, 大口 剛司, Tha Khin Khin, 藤間 憲幸, 敦賀 健吉, 加藤 類, 木嶋 理紀, 岩田 大樹, 水内 一臣, 田川 義継, 石田 晋, 日本眼科学会雑誌, 119, 臨増, 266, 266, Mar. 2015
(公財)日本眼科学会, Japanese

拡散尖度画像(DKI)を用いた気分障害の病態研究　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
中川 伸, Tha Khin Khin, 成田 学, 秋谷 絵理, 成田 尚, 仲唐 安哉, 亀山 梨絵, 若槻 百美, 北川 寛, 井上 猛, 久住 一郎, 先進医薬研究振興財団研究成果報告集, 2014年度, 30, 31, Mar. 2015
(公財)先進医薬研究振興財団, Japanese

Chronic Ischemia Alters Brain Microstructural Integrity and Cognitive Performance in Adult Moyamoya Disease
Kazumata Ken, Tha Khin Khin, Narita Hisashi, Stroke : journal of the American Heart Association, 10, 1, 10, 16, 2015
Blackwell Publishing, Japanese

頭部拡散強調画像における生理的変動が各種拡散指標に与える影響の検討　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
濱口 裕行, Tha Khin Khin, 杉森 博行, 中西 光広, 中川 伸, 吉田 博一, 大野 誠一郎, 田原 誠司, 日本放射線技術学会雑誌, 70, 9, 1044, 1044, Sep. 2014
(公社)日本放射線技術学会, Japanese

Ultra short echo time法を用いた脊髄靱帯評価の基礎的検討　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
濱口 裕行, 杉森 博行, Tha Khin Khin, 吉田 博一, 藤原 太郎, 高森 清華, 野畑 圭亮, 北海道放射線技術雑誌, 76, 56, 57, Mar. 2014
(公社)日本放射線技術学会-北海道部会, Japanese

Laterality of the Corticospinal Tract and the Influence of Handedness : Findings of a DTI Study
THA Khin Khin, TERAE Satoshi, HAMAGUCHI Hiroyuki, ISHIZAKA Kinya, POPY Kawser Akter, HIROTANI Makoto, SUGIMORI Hiroyuki, FUJIMA Noriyuki, YOSHIDA Atsushi, MINOWA Kazuyuki, SUZUKI Yuriko, SHIRATO Hiroki, 日本磁気共鳴医学会雑誌, 33, 1, 33, 34, 15 Feb. 2013
English

正常人における1.5T MRI T2強調横断像での被殻外側の線状高信号の検討
THA Khin Khin, 寺江聡, 塚原亜希子, 森田亮, 坂本圭太, 原田八重, 古田大介, 財津有里, 藤間憲幸, 白土博樹, Jpn J Radiol, 30, Supplement 1, 1, 1, 25 Feb. 2012
(公社)日本医学放射線学会, Japanese

全脳照射後の大脳白質障害:拡散テンソルによる経時的変化の検討
タ キンキン, 寺江聡, 小野寺俊輔, 青山英史, ポピ コサアクタ, 藤間憲幸, 財津有里, 塚原亜希子, 吉田大介, 白土博樹, 日本神経放射線学会プログラム・抄録集, 41st, 111, 2012
Japanese

3T装置での脳転移スクリーニング用の造影3D‐MRIの撮像法の検討:T1‐VISTA法とT1‐FLAIR法との比較
吉田篤司, THA Khin Khin, 塚原亜希子, 吉田大介, 曽山武士, 原田慶一, 財津有里, 藤間憲幸, 寺江聡, 白土博樹, 日本医学放射線学会総会抄録集, 70th, S243, S243, 28 Feb. 2011
(公社)日本医学放射線学会, Japanese

頭頚部癌におけるアンジオCT:Conventional CTとConebeam CTの比較検討
吉田大介, 藤間憲幸, 財津有里, THA Khin Khin, 寺江聡, 白土博樹, 工藤與亮, Jpn J Radiol, 29, Supplement 1, 4, 4, 25 Jan. 2011
(公社)日本医学放射線学会, Japanese

T1強調像で高信号を呈した脳トキソプラズマ症の1例
安井太一, 寺江聡, 藤間憲幸, 財津有里, THA Khin Khin, 吉田大介, 塚原亜希子, 白土博樹, Jpn J Radiol, 29, Supplement 1, 10, 10, 25 Jan. 2011
(公社)日本医学放射線学会, Japanese

拡散テンソルによる難治性うつ病における大脳白質障害の検討　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha Khin Khin, 寺江 聡, 藤間 憲幸, 財津 有里, 白土 博樹, 井上 猛, 中川 伸, 小山 司, 宮本 環, 相馬 広幸, 矢部 一郎, Japanese Journal of Radiology, 29, Suppl.I, 4, 4, Jan. 2011
(公社)日本医学放射線学会, Japanese

頭頸部癌におけるアンジオCT:Conventional CTとConebeam CTの比較検討
吉田大介, 工藤與亮, 藤間憲幸, 財津有里, THA Khin Khin, 寺江聡, 白土博樹, 日本医学放射線学会総会抄録集, 69th, S278-S279, S279, 28 Feb. 2010
(公社)日本医学放射線学会, Japanese

ポリグルタミン病の筋エネルギー代謝
矢部一郎, 佐藤和則, 相馬広幸, THA Khin Khin, 寺江聡, 沖田孝一, 佐々木秀直, 日本神経学会総会プログラム・抄録集, 51st, 219, 2010
Japanese

気分障害の病態解明と診断治療法の開発に関する研究 難治性うつ病のMRI研究
中川伸, 井上猛, THA Khin Khin, 鈴木克治, 田中輝明, 朴秀賢, 仲唐安哉, 寺江聡, 小山司, 厚生労働省精神・神経疾患研究委託費による研究報告集 平成21年度 (2年度班・初年度班), 479-480, 2010
Japanese

Status of Radiology in Myanmar　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha, JCRニュース, 179, 8, 9, 2010, [Invited]
Japanese

脊髄AVMにおける磁化率強詞画像(SWI)の有用性の検討
藤間憲幸, 工藤興亮, THA Khin Khin, 塚原亜希子, 寺江聡, 白土博樹, Radiat Med, 27, Supplement 1, 4, 25 Apr. 2009
Japanese

拡散テンソル画像法における多系統萎縮症のテント上白質病変の検出
タ キンキン, 寺江聡, 矢部一郎, 宮本環, 相馬広幸, 財津有里, 藤間憲幸, 佐々木秀直, 白土博樹, 日本神経放射線学会プログラム・抄録集, 38th, 142, 2009
Japanese

脳AVMの放射線治療後経過観察におけるMR perfusion studyの有用性の検討
芹澤慈子, 工藤與亮, キン キンタ, 青山英史, 塚原亜希子, 寺江聡, 宮坂和男, Radiat Med, 26, Suppl.I, 8, 8, 25 Apr. 2008
(公社)日本医学放射線学会, Japanese

脊髄AVMにおける磁化率強調画像(SWI)の有用性の検討
藤間憲幸, 工藤與亮, 寺江聡, 財津有里, THA Khin Khin, 塚原亜希子, 浅野毅, 吉田大介, 飛騨一利, 白土博樹, 日本医学放射線学会総会抄録集, 67th, S241, S241, 28 Feb. 2008
(公社)日本医学放射線学会, Japanese

ポリグルタミン病における筋エネルギー代謝測定—第2報
矢部一郎, タキン キン, 寺江聡, 沖田孝一, 佐々木秀直, 日本神経学会総会プログラム・抄録集, 49th, 239, 2008
Japanese

脳脂肪塞栓症2例におけるSWI所見
財津有里, 藤間憲幸, 塚原亜希子, ター キンキン, 工藤與亮, 寺江聡, 白土博樹, 日本神経放射線学会プログラム・抄録集, 37th, 120, 2008
Japanese

SWIによる薬物および生理的負荷に対する脊髄静脈の描出変化および定量化
藤間憲幸, 工藤與亮, 寺江聡, 財津有里, THA Khin Khin, 塚原亜希子, 吉田大介, 浅野剛, 谷津リエ, 石坂欣也, 白土博樹, 日本神経放射線学会プログラム・抄録集, 37th, 96, 2008
Japanese

High b‐value diffusion‐weighted imagingが病変の早期検出に有用であった亜急性硬化性全脳炎の一例
THA Khin Khin, 寺江聡, 工藤與亮, 宮坂和男, 濱田晋輔, 佐々木秀直, 山本徹, Radiat Med, 25, 20, 25 Apr. 2007
Japanese

Primary intramedullary spinal germinomaの2例
長野俊輔, 寺江聡, 工藤與亮, THA Khin Khin, 大川原舞, 吉田大介, 浅野剛, 宮坂和男, 飛騨一利, 岩崎喜信, 太田聡, Radiat Med, 25, 1, 25 Apr. 2007
Japanese

免疫抑制剤によると思われる無症候性脳梁病変を認めた1例
大川原舞, 工藤與亮, 寺江聡, THA Khin Khin, 吉田大介, 長野俊輔, 宮坂和男, Radiat Med, 25, 1, 25 Apr. 2007
Japanese

脳動静脈奇形定位照射におけるMR‐perfusionを用いた治療前後の血流動態の検討
芹澤慈子, THA Khin K, 青山英史, 工藤與亮, 加藤徳雄, 寺江聡, 白土博樹, 日本医学放射線学会学術集会抄録集, 66th, S225, S225, 28 Feb. 2007
(公社)日本医学放射線学会, Japanese

z‐score imageを用いたvoxel‐based morphometryによるうつ病疾患における大脳白質のFA変化の検討
ター キンキン, 寺江聡, 工藤興亮, 松山哲明, 相馬広幸, 中川伸, 佐々木秀直, 宮阪和男, 日本神経放射線学会プログラム・抄録集, 36th, 117, 2007
Japanese

ポリグルタミン病における筋エネルギー代謝測定の試み
矢部一郎, THA Khin Khin, 寺江聡, 沖田孝一, 佐々木秀直, 日本神経学会総会プログラム・抄録集, 48th, 252, 2007
Japanese

Primary intramedullary spinal cord germinoma: Case report and review of the literature
Shunsuke Onodera, Satoshi Terae, Kohsuke Kudo, Khin Khin Tha, Kazuo Miyasaka, Kazutoshi Hida, Yoshinobu Iwasaki, Satoshi Ota, European Journal of Radiology Extra, 57, 2, 41, 45, Feb. 2006
Primary intramedullary spinal cord germinoma is a rare neoplasm and sensitive to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. In this report, a 16-year-old girl presented with pain and numbness of both thighs, difficulty in walking, followed by urinary disturbance. Neurological examination revealed motor weakness, hypotonicity, reduced deep tendon reflexes of both lower limbs, and decrease in sensation below Th12 level. MR examination demonstrated intramedullary mass lesion of the lower thoracic spinal cord. On T2-weighted images, the lesion was heterogeneous but mostly slightly hyperintense. There were small cysts within the tumor. On T1-weighted images, the lesion was mostly hypointense. Mild and heterogeneous enhancement was observed on postcontrast T1-weighted images. No other neoplastic lesion has been found inside and outside the central nervous system. The patient underwent surgery, and the intramedullary lesion was almost totally resected. The lesion was diagnosed as germinoma histologically. Analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) obtained during operation revealed elevated level of beta-subunit of human chorionic gonadotrophin (beta-hCG). Literature review revealed that MRI findings of intramedullary spinal cord germinomas are frequently nonspecific, but these tumors sometimes have small intratumoral cysts. Germinomas should be included in the differential diagnosis, especially when an intramedullary spinal cord tumor is found in the thoracic or thoraco-lumbar region in a young adult patient. Elevated level of beta-hCG in CSF strongly suggests germinoma. © 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved., English, Book review

CT・MR灌流画像解析の標準化—解析アルゴリズムの統一と自動カラースケール調整—
工藤與亮, 佐々木真理, 寺江聡, 吉田有里, タ キンキン, 宮坂和男, 日本神経放射線学会プログラム・抄録集, 35th, 89, 2006
Japanese

標準化した拡散テンソル画像における大脳白質の加齢に伴う変化
THA Khin Khin, 寺江聡, 工藤與亮, 相馬広幸, 吉田有里, 佐々木秀直, 宮坂和男, 日本神経放射線学会プログラム・抄録集, 35th, 119, 2006
Japanese

慢性期内頚動脈狭窄・閉塞患者におけるCT perfusion解析:解析ソフトによるCBF定量値の違いについて
工藤与亮, 寺江聡, キンキン ター, 宮坂和男, 日本医学放射線学会雑誌, 64, 4, 256, 25 May 2004
Japanese

What can we see in a single picture?　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Miyasaka K, Brain Medical Journal, 15, 1, 89, 91, 2003, [Invited]
Japanese

What can we see in a single picture?　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Miyasaka K, British Medical Journal, 15, 2, 73, 75, 2003, [Invited]
Japanese

tumor lysis syndrome後に化学療法を行いreversible posterior leukoencephalopathyを発症した小児lymphomaの2例
海東恵美子, 寺江聡, 工藤与亮, キンキンタ, 宮坂和男, 小林良二, 依田弥菜子, 阿部なお美, 皆川公男, 日本医学放射線学会雑誌, 62, 12, 708, 25 Oct. 2002
Japanese

Navigation of Imaging Anatomy: Central Nervous System
Khin Khin Tha, Spinal cord
Gakken, Dec. 2022, 10270829, [Joint work]

Pathways to radiomics-aided clinical decision-making for precision medicine　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Niu T, Sun X, Yang P, Cao G, Tha KK, Shirato H, Horst K, Xing L
Jul. 2019, [Joint work]

うつ病患者における脳拡散テンソル画像　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Nakagawa S, Tha KK, Koyama T.
医薬ジャーナル社出版，大阪, 2012, [Joint work]

Overview of ETP-based Clinical Studies
Khin Khin Tha
2024 Joint Workshop on MR Phase, Magnetic Susceptibility and Electrical Properties Mapping, 27 Sep. 2024, English, Invited oral presentation
27309741, [Invited]

Toward an international open JSMRM　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha
Annual Meeting of Japanese Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 21 Sep. 2024, Japanese, Nominated symposium
[Invited]

Evaluation of the relationship between temporal changes in quantitative MRI parameters of cerebral infarct and functional recovery following autologous stem cell transplantation
Kitagawa M, Kawabori M, Li X, Katscher U, Tha KK
The 10th Hokkaido University Cross-Departmental Symposium, 06 Sep. 2024, Japanese, Oral presentation
27309743

Electrical conductivity mapping in normal and disease states　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha
ISMRM-endorsed global outreach workshop in Thailand 2024, 11 May 2024, English, Public discourse
[Invited]

Time-related changes in tissue microstructure and ionic environment in subacute cerebral infarction following autologous stem cell transplantation
Kitagawa M, Kawabori M, Yang H, Li X, Katscher U, Tha KK
ISMRM-endorsed global outreach workshop in Thailand 2024, 10 May 2024, English, Oral presentation
27309743

Added Value of Electrical Conductivity Information to Apparent Diffusion Coefficient in Distinguishing Thoracic Lesions.
Wang JC, Katscher U, Kikuchi E, Kitagawa M, Kikuchi Y, Yoshino Y, Tha KK
ISMRM, 08 May 2024, English, Poster presentation
06 May 2024 - 09 May 2024, 27309738

Potential of phase-based electrical conductivity in evaluating lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration
Tha KK, Kitagawa M, Sakamoto D, Hamaguchi H, Katscher U
ISMRM, 06 May 2024, English, Oral presentation
48243329

Brain temperature and its relation to cognitive status in traumatic brain injury: a whole-brain magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging study
Kitagawa M, Abiko K, Sheriff S, Maudsley A, Sawamura D, Tha KK
ISMRM, 06 May 2024, English, Oral presentation
27309740

Electrical Conductivity Mapping of Intervertebral Disc and Its Potential Utility in Evaluating Lumbar Intervertebral Disc Degeneration.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Kitagawa M, Sakamoto D, Hamaguchi H, Katscher U
he 22nd Asian Oceanian Congress of Radiology (AOCR 2024), Mar. 2024, English, Poster presentation
22 Mar. 2024 - 25 Mar. 2024

Changes in Brain Microstructure in Schizophrenia Using Multidimensional Diffusion MRI and Inhomogeneous Magnetization Transfer Imaging (in Japanese).　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Kitagawa M, Akiyama H, Lasic S, Bryskhe K, Versluis M, Hashimoto N
The 45th Meeting of JSBP, 06 Nov. 2023, Japanese, Poster presentation

A Glimpse of the ISMRM Annual Meeting Program Construction.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK
The 8th Annual Scientific Meeting of the ISMRM Japanese Chapter, 22 Sep. 2023, English, Nominated symposium
[Invited]

Aiming to visualize changes that conventional MRI cannot capture.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK
The 51st Joint Meeting JSMRM-ISMRM,, 23 Sep. 2023, Japanese, Nominated symposium
Sep. 2023, [Invited]

Microstructural Alterations in Schizophrenia evaluated by Multidimensional Diffusion MRI (MDD-MRI) and Inhomogeneous Magnetization Transfer Imaging (ihMT-MRI)　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Kitagawa M, Lasic S, Bryskhe K, Kwon J, Versluis M, Hashimoto N
ISMRM, English, Poster presentation
03 Jun. 2023 - 08 Jun. 2023

how AI can shape diagnostic imaging practice　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK
he 29th Chinese Congress of Radiology, 28 Dec. 2022, English, Invited oral presentation
[Invited]

Biochemical Analysis of the Cerebrospinal Fluid Using Electric Properties Tomography.
Tha KK, Katscher U, Hamaguchi H, Li X, Kawasaki T, Yamaguchi S, Yabe I, Hyodoh H
2022 Joint Workshop on MR phase, magnetic susceptibility and electrical properties mapping, Oct. 2022, English, Oral presentation
16 Oct. 2022 - 19 Oct. 2022, 27309736

Electrical Conductivity in Normal and Pathological Tissues
Tha KK
16 Sep. 2022, English, Invited oral presentation
16 Sep. 2022 - 19 Sep. 2022, 27309741, [Invited]

Noninvasive Assessment of Tissue Electrical Conductivity: Potential Clinical Value
Khin Khin Tha
ICBEM-ICEBI-EIT 2022, 30 Jun. 2022, English, Invited oral presentation
27309736, [Invited]

The Role of Electric Properties Tomography in Biochemical Analysis of the Cerebrospinal Fluid and Parameter Optimization for Improved Accuracy
Tha KK, Katscher U, Hamaguchi H, Li X, Kawasaki T, Yamaguchi S, Yabe I, Hyodoh H
Joint Annual Meeting ISMRM-ESMRMB, 10 May 2022, English, Poster presentation
27309736

Noninvasive Assessment Of The Cerebrospinal Fluid Composition By MRI: Does Electric Properties Tomography Have A Role?
Tha KK, Katscher U, Yabe I, Hyodoh H
the 107th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, 28 Nov. 2021, English, Poster presentation
02 Dec. 2021, 27309736

Noninvasive Assessment of Tissue Electrical Conductivity: Potential Clinical Value
Khin Khin Tha
International Congress on MRI 2021, 06 Nov. 2021, English, Nominated symposium
27309736, [Invited]

“Radiomics” and “Radiogenomics” for Glioma Management
Khin Khin Tha
Imaging Summit 2021, 30 Oct. 2021, English, Invited oral presentation
27309739, [Invited]

Noninvasive Assessment of the Cerebrospinal Fluid and Its Composition by Electric Properties Tomography
Khin Khin Tha, Ulrich Katscher, Xinnan Li, Hiroyuki Hamaguchi, Hideki Hyodoh
The 49th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2021, English, Poster presentation
21 Sep. 2021 - 20 Oct. 2021, 27309736

The Role of MRI in the Evaluatiion of Parkinsonsm
Khin Khin Tha
The 57th Autumn Assembly of the Japan Radiological Society, Sep. 2021, Japanese, Public discourse
17 Sep. 2021 - 19 Sep. 2021, 10270830, [Invited]

A Few Lessons Learned from “Radiomics” and “Artificial Intelligence” Researches
Khin Khin Tha
The 18th Asian-Oceanian Congress of Radiology, 17 Apr. 2021, English, Nominated symposium
27309739, [Invited]

Diurnal Variation in Intervertebral Disc Compositions and The Performance of Quantitative MRI Indices　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha, Hiroyuki Hamaguchi, Ulrich Katscher, Xinnan Li, Katsuhisa Yamada, Hideki Sudo
the 48th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (JSMRM 2020), Oral presentation
11 Sep. 2020 - 04 Oct. 2020

The potential of noninvasive MRI indices in evaluation of diffuse glioma
Kitagawa M, Yamaguchi S, Li X, Kudo K, Tha KK
JASTRO, Oct. 2020, English, Oral presentation
27309741

Electrical Conductivity of Lung and Mediastinal Masses: Feasibility of Noninvasive Assessment by MRI
Tha KK, Kikuchi E, Kikuchi Y, Yoshino Y, Ishizaka K, Katscher U
JASTRO2020 annual meeting, Oct. 2020, English, Invited oral presentation
27309738, [Invited]

In Vivo Myelin Quantification by T1w/T2w: Its Relationship with Other MRI Quantifiers of Myelin and Specificity　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Hiroyuki Hamaguchi, Nina Patzke, Yuta Urushibata, Xinnan Li, Isabel Fernandez, Khin Khin Tha
2020 ISMRM & SMRT VIRTUAL CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION, English, Poster presentation
08 Aug. 2020 - 14 Aug. 2020

Microstructural Attributes of Hemispheric Lateralization: A Combined Evaluation of Diffusion Spectrum Imaging and MR Spectroscopic Imaging
Xinnan Li, Kagari Abiko, Yuta Urushibata, Hiroyuki Hamaguchi, Sinyeob Ahn, Khin Khin Tha
2020 ISMRM & SMRT VIRTUAL CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION, English, Poster presentation
08 Aug. 2020 - 14 Aug. 2020, 27309740

Diffusion Imaging Correlates of Neurocognition in Healthy Adults: The Potentials of Sequences with Multiple Diffusion Encoding Schemes
Khin Khin Tha, Daisuke Sawamura, Xinnan Li, Yuta Urushibata, Kohsuke Kudo, Hiroki Shirato
2020 ISMRM & SMRT VIRTUAL CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION, English, Poster presentation
08 Aug. 2020 - 14 Aug. 2020, 27309737

Combined Working Memory and Attention Training Improves Cognition via Task-Specific and Transfer Effects
Daisuke Sawamura, Ryusuke Suzuki, Keita Ogawa, Xinnan Li, Hiroyuki Hamaguchi, Shinya Sakai, Khin Khin Tha
2020 ISMRM & SMRT VIRTUAL CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION, 13 Aug. 2020, English, Oral presentation
27309737

Noninvasive Assessment of Electrical Conductivity of Lung and Mediastinal Mass Lesions: Feasibility and Potential Clinical Value
Khin Khin Tha, Ulrich Katscher, Eiki Kikuchi, Yasuka Kikuchi, Yuki Yoshino, Kinya Ishizaka, Noriko Manabe, Kohsuke Kudo, Hiroki Shirato
2020 ISMRM & SMRT VIRTUAL CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION, 11 Aug. 2020, English, Oral presentation
27309738

My Academic Career in Japan　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK
The 79th Japan Radiology Congress, English, Nominated symposium
15 May 2020 - 04 Jun. 2020, [Invited]

Radiomics and Machine Learning in Cancer Research and Therapy
Tha KK
The 9th Imaging Summit, Sep. 2019, English, Invited oral presentation
27309739, [Invited]

Radiomics in cancer
Tha KK
The 7th GI-CoRE Medical Science and Engineering Symposium, Aug. 2019, English, Nominated symposium
27309739, [Invited]

A Clinician's View on DL-EPT
Tha KK
The 27th Annual Meeting of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, May 2019, English, Nominated symposium
27309741, [Invited]

MR-Based Electrical Conductivity Imaging of the Brain in Normal & Pathological States
Tha KK
The 2nd International Workshop on MR-based Electrical Properties Mapping, Mar. 2019, English, Nominated symposium
27309741, [Invited]

Potential Clinical Applications of Phase-based Electrical Conductivity Imaging
Tha KK
The 5th International Workshop on MRI Phase Contrast & Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping, 2019, English, Nominated symposium
27309741, [Invited]

Recent advances and new trends in glioma imaging
Tha KK, Harada D, Fujima N, Kudo K, Shirato H
The 12th Asian-Oceanian Congress of Neuroradiology, Mar. 2018, English, Poster presentation
27309741

Electric Properties Tomography: A New Tool for Noninvasive Measurement of Tissue Electrical Conductivity　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Katscher U, Kudo K, Shirato H
Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, 2018, English, Poster presentation

Gender Dimorphism in Cerebral White Matter Architecture: Insights from Diffusion Spectrum Imaging and Whole Brain Echo-Planar Spectroscopic Imaging
Tha KK, Abiko K, Urushibata Y, Ahn S, Manabe O, Hattori N, Kudo K, Shirato H
The 25th Annual Meeting of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2017, English, Poster presentation
27309740

The Relationship between Diffusivity and Electrical Conductivity: Initial Results of an In Vivo Assessment by MRI
Tha KK,, Katscher U, Yamaguchi S, Terasaka S, Shirato H
The 25th Annual Meeting of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2017, English, Poster presentation
27309741

Tumors of the Cerebral White Matter
Tha KK
The 14th Annual Meeting of Myanmar Radiological Society, Nov. 2016, English, Invited oral presentation
27309741, [Invited]

Role of major diffusion metrics in distinguishing lymphomas and gliobastomas　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Yamaguchi S, Terasaka S, Fujima N, Kudo K, Shirato H
The 75th Annual Meeting of Japan Radiological Society, 16 Apr. 2016, English, Oral presentation
[Domestic Conference]

Electrical Conductivity Characteristics of Glioma: Noninvasive Assessment by MRI and Its Validity
Tha KK, Katscher U, Stehning C, Yamaguchi S, Terasaka S, Yamamoto T, Kudo K, Shirato H
ISMRM 24th Annual Meeting & Exhibition, Apr. 2016, English, Poster presentation
27309741

Electrical conductivity characteristics of noninvasive electrical conductivity measurement in evaluation of glioma　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Katscher U, Stehning C, Yamaguchi S, Terasaka S, Shirato H
RSNA 101st Annual Meeting, Dec. 2015, English, Oral presentation
[International presentation]

The Electrical Conductivity Characteristics of Glioma and Potential Usefulness of Noninvasive Electrical Conductivity Measurement in Evaluation of Glioma.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Katscher U, Stehning C, Yamaguchi S, Terasaka S, Yamamoto T, Kudo K, Shirato H
JSMRM 43rd Annual Meeting, Oct. 2015, English, Poster presentation
[Domestic Conference]

Electrical Conductivity Characteristics of Meningioma: Noninvasive Assessment by using Electric Properties Tomography　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Katscher U, Stehning C, Yamaguchi S, Terasaka S, Sugimori H, Yamamoto T, Fujima N, Kudo K, Suzuki Y, van Cauteren M, Shirato H
International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 03 Jun. 2015, English, Poster presentation
[International presentation]

Identification of Noninvasive Biomarkers for Glioblastoma: The Role of Radiomics
Tha KK
NeuroImaging Summit, Taipei, 2015, English, Invited oral presentation
27309739

Electrical conductivity characteristics of meningiomas: noninvasive assessment using electric properties tomography
Tha KK, Katscher U, Stehning C, Yamaguchi S, Terasaka S, Sugimori H, Yamamoto T, Fujima N, Kudo K, Suzuki Y, Cauteren MV, Shirato H
ISMRM 23rd Annual Meeting, 2015, English, Poster presentation
27309741

: Electrical conductivity characteristics of noninvasive electrical conductivity measurement in evaluation of glioma
Tha KK, Katscher U, Stehning C, Yamaguchi S, Terasaka S, Yamamoto T, Kudo K, Shirato H
RSNA 101st Annual Meeting, 2015, English, Oral presentation
27309741

Cerebellar White Matter　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha
NeuroImaging Refresher Club, 23 Nov. 2014, Japanese, Invited oral presentation
[Invited], [Domestic Conference]

The MR imaging features of multiple system atrophy　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha
北海道神経難病研究会, 13 Sep. 2014, Japanese, Public discourse
[Invited], [Domestic Conference]

Diffusion kurtosis imaging　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha
Advanced Imaging Seminar, 10 Jun. 2014, English, Public discourse
[Domestic Conference]

Noninvasive Evaluation of Electrical Conductivity of the Normal Brain and Brain Tumors　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha, Christian Stehning, Yuriko Suzuki, Ulrich Katscher, Jochen Keupp, Ken Kazumata, Shunsuke Terasaka, Marc Van Cauteren, Kohsuke Kudo, Hiroki Shirato
Joint Annual Meeting ISMRM-ESMRMB 2014, 13 May 2014, English, Poster presentation
[International presentation]

Regional DTI metrics of the cervical spinal cord in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Khin Khin Tha
The 73rd Annual Meeting of Japan Radiological Society, 13 Apr. 2014, English, Oral presentation

Noninvasive evaluation of electrical conductivity of the brain tumors by MRI
Khin Khin Tha
Japan Society of Neuroradiology 43rd Annual Meeting, 21 Mar. 2014, English, Poster presentation

Noninvasive evaluation of electrical conductivity of the normal and diseased brain tissues: the results of a preliminary study　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Stehning C, Suzuki Y, Ulrich K, Terasaka S, Kazumata K, Kudo K, Shirato H
The 1st GI-CoRE Medical Science and Engineering Symposium, 24 Feb. 2014, English, Poster presentation
[International presentation]

Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging of Brain Tumors　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha
第18回北海道脳腫瘍治療会, 30 Nov. 2013, Japanese, Public discourse
[Invited], [Domestic Conference]

My research activities as a female researcher
Khin Khin Tha
JSMRM 41st Annual Meeting, 20 Sep. 2013, Japanese, Public discourse
[Invited], [Domestic Conference]

Noninvasive evaluation of electrical conductivity of the normal and diseased brain tissues: the results of a preliminary study
Khin Khin Tha
JSMRM 41st Annual Meeting, 19 Sep. 2013, English, Poster presentation

Recent topics in brain tumor imaging　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha
Advanced Imaging Multimodality Symposium, 10 Jul. 2013, English, Nominated symposium
[Invited], [International presentation]

Detection of motion of water molecules noninvasively by using MRI
Khin Khin Tha
Apr. 2013, Japanese, Public discourse
[Domestic Conference]

Diffusion tensor imaging characteristics of the normal human corticospinal tract　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha
Japan Society of Neuroradiology 42nd Annual Meeting, 15 Feb. 2013, English, Poster presentation

Laterality of the corticospinal tract and influence of handedness: a diffusion tensor imaging observation　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Terae S, Hamaguchi H, Ishizaka K, Hirotani M, Minowa K, Suzuki Y, Shirato H
ISMRM 21st Annual Meeting & Exhibition, 2013, English, Poster presentation
[International presentation]

The ascending sensory pathways may not be spared in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Yabe I, Terae S, Hirotani M, Hamaguchi H, Ishizaka K, Suzuki Y, Okuaki T, Minowa K, Sasaki H, Shirato H
The 11th International Symposium for Future Drug Discovery and Medical Care, 2013, English, Poster presentation
[Domestic Conference]

Laterality of the corticospinal tract and influence of handedness: a diffusion tensor imaging observation　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha
JSMRM 40th Annual Meeting, 06 Sep. 2012, English, Poster presentation
[Domestic Conference]

Evaluation of longitudinal changes in cerebral white matter integrity following whole-brain radiation therapy by using diffusion tensor imaging
Khin Khin Tha
Japan Society of Neuroradiology 40th Annual Meeting, 02 Feb. 2012, English, Poster presentation

Impaired white matter integrity in major depression revealed by histogram analysis of DTI　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha
The 33rd Annual Meeting of Japanese Society of Biological Psychiatry, 11 May 2011, English, Poster presentation

Diffusion Tensor Imaging Characteristics of Normal Human Cervical Spinal Cord at 3T　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha
The 38th annual meeting of Japanese Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 30 Sep. 2010, English, Poster presentation

Hyperintense putaminal rim in normal subjects at 1.5T　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha
The 122nd Annual meeting of North Japan Radiological Society., 25 Jun. 2010, Japanese, Oral presentation

High b-value diffusion-weighted imaging in diseases of central nervous system　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha
Hokkaido Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2010, Japanese, Keynote oral presentation
[Invited], [Domestic Conference]

Impaired frontal white matter integrity in treatment-resistant depression detected by DTI
Khin Khin Tha
The 37th annual meeting of Japanese Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 01 Oct. 2009, English, Poster presentation
[Domestic Conference]

In vivo topographical illustration of white matter abnormalities in multiple system atrophy　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Terae S, Yabe I, Miyamoto T, Soma H, Zaitsu Y, Fujima N, Sasaki H, Shirato H
The 6th symposium for future drug discovery and medical care and symposium of the research center for coorperative projects, Jul. 2009, English, Poster presentation
[International presentation]

Abnormalities of supratentorial white matter in multiple system atrophy: Diffusion tensor imaging observation　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Terae S, Yabe I, Miyamoto T, Soma H, Zaitsu Y, Fujima N, Sasaki H, Shirato H
ISMRM 17th scientific meeting and exhibition, Apr. 2009, English, Poster presentation
[International presentation]

Abnormalities of supratentorial white matter in multiple system atrophy: Diffusion tensor imaging observation
Khin Khin Tha
The 38th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Neuroradiology, 04 Feb. 2009, English, Poster presentation
[Domestic Conference]

Voxel-based diffusion tensor imaging analysis with z-score images for evaluation of fractional anisotropy alterations in major depressive illness　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Terae S, Inoue T, Nakagawa S, Miyamoto T, Kitaichi Y, Masui T, Boku S, Fujima N, Zaitsu Y, Koyama S, Shirato H
Joint Annual Meeting ISMRM – ESMRMB, May 2007, English, Poster presentation
[International presentation]

Peripheral primitive neuroepidermal tumour　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha
The Annual meeting of North Japan Radiological Society, 05 Nov. 2006, Japanese, Others
[Domestic Conference]

High b-value diffusion-weighted imaging of the brain: principle, advantages, clinical application and pitfalls　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Terae S, Yamamoto T, Kudo K, Miyasaka K
RSNA 92nd Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, Nov. 2006, English, Poster presentation
[International presentation]

Age-related alterations of cerebral white matter: analysis of normalized diffusion tensor images of subjects grouped in narrow age ranges　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Terae S, Kudo K, Yamamoto T, Soma H, Yoshida Y, Yabe I, Sasaki H, Miyasaka K
International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 14th Scientific Meeting and Exhibition, May 2006, English, Poster presentation
[International presentation]

High b-value diffusion-weighted imaging of the brain: advantages and pitfalls　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Terae S, Yamamoto T, Kudo K, Miyasaka K
XVIII Symposium Neuroradiologicum, Mar. 2006, English, Poster presentation
[International presentation]

Age-related alterations of cerebral white matter: analysis of normalized diffusion tensor images of subjects grouped in narrow age ranges　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha
The 35th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Neuroradiology, 23 Feb. 2006, English, Poster presentation
[Domestic Conference]

Imaging spectrum of hyperintense cerebrospinal fluid on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images of the brain　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Terae S, Kudo K, Miyasaka K
Nov. 2005, English, Poster presentation
[International presentation]

Early detection of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis by high b-value diffusion-weighted imaging: a case report　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha
The 112nd Annual meeting of North Japan Radiological Society, 05 Jun. 2005, Japanese, Oral presentation
[Domestic Conference]

High b-value diffusion-weighted imaging of encephalitis　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Terae S, Kudo K, Miyasaka K
The14th Japan Korean Radiological Congress, Jun. 2005, English, Oral presentation
[International presentation]

Role of high b-value (b=3000 s/mm2) diffusion-weighted MR imaging in detection of acute global cerebral anoxia: comparison with diffusion-weighted imaging (b=1000 s/mm2), T2-weighted imaging and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery imaging　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Terae S, Kudo K, Yamamoto T, Takahashi C, Oka M, Uegaki S, Miyasaka K
RSNA 90th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, Nov. 2004, English, Oral presentation
[International presentation]

Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging findings in adult patients with global cerebral anoxia　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Terae S, Kudo K, Yamamoto T, Takahashi C, Oka M, Uegaki S, Miyasaka K
RSNA 90th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, Nov. 2004, English, Poster presentation
[International presentation]

Alexander disease　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha
The 107th Annual meeting of North Japan Radiological Society, 03 Jun. 2004, Japanese, Others
[Domestic Conference]

Role of high b-value diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in early global cerebral anoxia
Khin Khin Tha
The 62nd Annual Meeting of Japan Radiological Society, 11 Apr. 2003, English, Oral presentation
[International presentation]

Hyperintense CSF on FLAIR images in patients with renal dysfunction: delayed gadolinium enhancement of CSF　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha
The 32nd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Neuroradiology, 26 Feb. 2003, English, Poster presentation
[Domestic Conference]

Delayed enhancement of cerebrospinal and intraocular fluid in patients with renal dysfunction　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Khin Khin Tha
The 107th Annual meeting of North Japan Radiological Society, 01 Nov. 2002, English, Oral presentation
[Domestic Conference]

Functional Imaging Techniques for Biomedical Science and Engineering　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Hokkaido University Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering
Oct. 2017 - Present

Radiologic Anatomy for Biomedical Science and Engineering　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Hokkaido University Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineeing
Apr. 2017 - Present

Diagnostic Radiology for Biomedical Science and Engineering　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering
Apr. 2017 - Present

Radiologic Anatomy　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Hokkaido University School of Medicine
Apr. 2015 - Present

A deep look into the brain with MRI　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Hokkaido Summer Institute
Aug. 2024

Applied physics to explore the anatomy and pathology of the brain　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Hokkaido Summer Institute
Aug. 2023 - Aug. 2023

Imaging analytics for in vivo assessment of tumor biology: radiomics and radiogenomics　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Summer School for Molecular Biomedical Science and Engineering School 2020
Feb. 2021

MRI techniques for in vivo assessment of tumor environment: diffusion imaging and beyond　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Summer School for Molecular Biomedical Science and Engineering School 2020
Feb. 2021

FA database　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Tha KK, Terae S, Kudo K, Miyasaka K, Apr. 2005 - Apr. 2007, [Database]

ATLAS https://atlas.cira-s.jp/Atlas/　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Codeveloped with PSP Co. Ltd, [Educational materials]

椎間板保水能評価のための非侵襲的イメージングシステム開発
科学研究費助成事業
01 Apr. 2024 - 31 Mar. 2027
Tha KhinKhin, 須藤 英毅
日本学術振興会, 基盤研究(C), 北海道大学, 24K15693

慢性期外傷性脳損傷患者における認知機能トレーニングプログラムの確立
科学研究費助成事業
01 Apr. 2022 - 31 Mar. 2025
澤村 大輔, Tha KhinKhin, 境 信哉
今年度は、北海道道大学病院リハビリテーション科、リハビリテーション部との連携体制を整え、脳損傷患者のリクルートを開始するための準備に取り組んできた。また、北大病院の協力のもと、パイロットスタディーとして、3例の脳損傷患者のデータを取得した。3例に対して1日1時間，週5回，4週間のcomputerized cognitive trainingを施行し、その前後でトレーニングと同じ認知機能（注意、ワーキングメモリ）および異なる認知機能を評価する神経心理学的検査（記憶、遂行機能、情報処理速度など）を実施した。
トレーニング内容としては、トレーニング課題の成績に応じて課題難易度が自動調整されるシステムを構築しており、当初懸念していた課題難易度の問題（対象者において課題難易度が高く、トレーニング開始時から終了時まで難易度が変化しない）は参加者3例に共通して生じなかった。結果として、トレーニング終了後においてトレーニング課題の成績の向上（課題特異的効果）だけでなく、同じ注意、ワーキングメモリを評価する神経心理学的検査の成績向上（近位転移効果）が認められた。一方で、異なる認知機能を評価する検査の成績（遠位転移効果）は症例によりばらつくことが確認された。
今後は研究分担者、研究協力者と連携して円滑な症例リクルートを目指していきたいと考えている。また、症例リクルートの状況を共有するための会議を頻回に開催し、できる限り早期に目標症例数を達成できるよう努めていきたい。
日本学術振興会, 基盤研究(C), 北海道大学, 22K11442

Noninvasive analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid composition by MRI
Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
01 Apr. 2020 - 31 Mar. 2023
THA KHIN KHIN
Since changes in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) composition reflect the function and abnormalities of the central nervous system (CNS), biochemical analysis of CSF collected by lumbar puncture forms an essential investigation for diagnosing various CNS diseases and determining the effectiveness of treatment. This study aimed to analyze the CSF composition using MRI and investigate the possibility of establishing a noninvasive CSF analysis system.
The sensitivity of electrical conductivity and chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) imaging for CSF analysis was tested, and the corresponding scan and image processing parameters were optimized. Finally, the performance was tested using clinical studies. The electrical conductivity and CEST imaging index, derived by MRI, correlated with CSF protein concentration and cell count, suggesting potential usefulness in the noninvasive assessment of CSF biochemical composition.
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), Hokkaido University, 20K12590

Establishment of neurocognitive training to improve frontal lobe function in moyamoya disease
Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
01 Apr. 2019 - 31 Mar. 2022
Sawamura Daisuke
We developed a computer-based attention and working memory training program as a self-management training program for patients with Moyamoya disease and examined its effectiveness. The research flow consisted of the development of the training program, evaluation of its effectiveness in healthy subjects, and evaluation of its effectiveness in patients with Moyamoya disease.
The results showed that both healthy subjects and patients with Moyamoya disease showed improved performance in neuropsychological tests after training. In addition, training-derived functional and structural alterations in the brain were observed.
The results of this study demonstrate the effectiveness of cognitive training for patients with Moyamoya disease, and suggest the possibility of clinical application due to the simplicity of its introduction, which can be conducted under self-management.
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), Hokkaido University, 19K11317

Development of A Noninvasive Electrical Conductivity Measurement System for Lung Tumors
Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
01 Apr. 2017 - 31 Mar. 2020
Tha Khin Khin
Electrical conductivity is a property of materials to conduct electric current. Different materials have different electrical conductivity values, ranging from almost zero (insulators) to several million siemens per meter (S/m) (conductors). Living tissues are also reported to have variable electrical conductivity values - fat and bone have lower values, whereas the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood have higher values. Tumors, especially malignant ones, are reported to have higher values than the normal tissues. This study aimed at the establishment of an MRI technique to noninvasively measure electrical conductivity of lung lesions and to evaluate the accuracy of this technique in distinguishing lung tumors.
We established an MRI technique for noninvasive electrical conductivity measurement for lung lesions. Tumor contrast, which is a texture characteristic of electrical conductivity distribution, can be useful in distinguishing between benign and malignant lung tumors.
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), Hokkaido University, 17K10390

Personalized Proton Beam Thearpy for Liver Cancers
Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
01 Apr. 2016 - 31 Mar. 2020
Norio Katoh
The purpose of this study is to develop a method to identify radioresistance of liver cancers from imaging information before proton beam therapy and to establish personalized proton beam therapy for each patient. Analysis of clinical outcomes of radiotherapy for liver cancer has shown that tumors smaller than 2 cm rarely recur even when treated with high doses. Analysis of the association between ADC images of MRI before proton beam therapy and local recurrence of tumors larger than 2 cm suggests that tumors with low ADC values are more likely to recur and that ADC values are effective in predicting treatment efficacy before proton beam therapy.
Considering that the selection of treatment with X-ray or proton beam therapy is necessary for personalized proton beam therapy for tumors smaller than 5 cm, we created a selection model and found three factors related to the tumors (size, location, and number of tumors) that are necessary to consider for the selection criteria.
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), Hokkaido University, 16K10379

Brain function analysis for neurobehavioral disability using IMZ SPECT and MRI diffusion imaging
Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
01 Apr. 2015 - 31 Mar. 2018
Ikoma Katsunori
We performed imaging of 123-I-Iomazenil SPECT (IMZ SPECT) and MRI diffusion imaging for 11 patients with neurobehavioral disability due to traumatic brain injury. We evaluated by comparing Diffusion Spectrum Imaging(DSI), which is one of diffusion images, between the patient group and the healthy control. As a result, several abnormalities were detected including normal region by conventional MRI.
DSI may be able to visualize brain damage which can not be detected by conventional image inspection. We will analyze the relationship between IMZ SPECT and other diffusion images.
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), Hokkaido University, 15K01358

Noninvasive Electrical Conductivity Imaging By Using Brain MRI
Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
01 Apr. 2014 - 31 Mar. 2017
Tha KhinKhin
Electrical conductivity is a property of a material to conduct electric current. Different materials are known to have different electrical conductivity values, ranging from almost zero (insulators) to several million siemens per meter (S/m) (conductors). Living tissues are also reported to have variable electrical conductivity values -- fat and bone have lower values, whereas the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood have higher values. Tumors, especially malignant ones, are reported to have higher values than the normal tissues. This study aimed at the establishment of noninvasive electrical conductivity measurement technique by using MRI and to evaluate the accuracy of this technique.
It was observed that the noninvasive electrical conductivity measurement by MRI was highly repeatable and valid. In addition, the results suggested that information about electrical conductivity can be useful in distinguishing glioblastoma from lower grade gliomas.
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), Hokkaido University, 26461817

Detectability of protein concentration changes in MRI
Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
01 Apr. 2012 - 31 Mar. 2015
YAMAMOTO Toru, TSUTSUMI Kaori, THA Khin Khin
To investigate the possibility of noninvasive MR detection of pathologic changes in protein concentration, we measured the protein concentration dependency of permittivity, longitudinal and transverse relaxation rate. The transverse relaxation rate showed most accurate dependency. We also measured the transverse relaxation rate of cerebrospinal fluid in lateral ventricle and showed enough accuracy to detect pathologic―bacterial meningitis etc.―changes of protein concentration by developing a method to derive pixels that are free from cerebrospinal fluid flow.
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research, Hokkaido University, 24650246

MRI複素誘電率画像は細胞内水分子のネットワーク構造を反映するか?
Apr. 2012 - Mar. 2015
Toru Yamamoto, Khin Khin Tha
Japan Society for Promotion of Science, Competitive research funding

脳と脊髄の拡散テンソルを用いた神経難病の早期診断、治療効果判定の指標の開発
Grant-in-aid
Apr. 2011 - Mar. 2014
Khin Khin Tha
Japanese Society for Promotion of Science, Competitive research funding

Development of noninvasive imaging biomarker for early diagnosis and prediction of outcome of intractable diseases of the central nervous system
Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
2011 - 2013
THA KHIN KHIN, TERAE Satoshi, YABE Ichiro
This study evaluated if the major diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics of the brain and the spinal cord can become the quantitative metrics for noninvasive evaluation of intractable diseases of the central nervous system.
Significant alterations in the major DTI metrics were observed in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders, despite no abnormality on the routine MRI sequences. The abnormalities detected on DTI are thought to reflect axonal loss and/ or demyelination. In sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the DTI abnormalities correlated strongly with the scores which determine disease severity or progression. In conclusion, DTI is considered a sensitive technique to detect the microstructural abnormalities of the brain and the spinal cord in the intractable diseases of the central nervous system; and can be used to noninvasively quantify the severity or progression of these diseases.
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B), Hokkaido University, 23791380

賦活領域の微細構造解析　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Apr. 2009 - Mar. 2011
Yamamoto T, Kida I, Tha KK
Japan Society for Promotion of Science, Competitive research funding

Analysis of microstructure in brain activation area
Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
2009 - 2011
YAMAMOTO Toru, KIDA Ikuhiro, THA Khin khin
We performed the same fMRI(functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) study for different head positions by tilting the volunteer's head and showed that the activation area is strongly influenced by the orientation of the draining vein from the activation focus where the neurons are activated. And we showed that the MR signal from the cortex capillary bed contains signal from interstitial fluid which may depend on oxygen concentration in tissue, and that the sum of the BOLD(Blood oxygenation level-dependent) signals from the activation focus correlates quantitatively with the sum of the peak-to-peak amplitude of the evoked potential responses.
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), Hokkaido University, 21613001

Development of Diffusion tensor imaging database for normal human brain
Apr. 2005 - Apr. 2007
Khin Khin Tha
The Japanese Society for Promotion of Science, Competitive research funding

Tips for Neuroimage Interpretation　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Feb. 2019
Lecturer
Visiting lecture
Radiological Society of North America
International Visiting Professor Program

Recent Updates in Brain Tumor Imaging
Feb. 2019
Lecturer
Visiting lecture
Radiological Society of North America
International Visiting Professor Program
27309739

Toxic & Metabolic Diseases of the CNS: How to Arrive at Correct and Timely Imaging Diagnosis　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Feb. 2019
Lecturer
Visiting lecture
Radiological Society of North America
International Visiting Professor Program

Imaging Spectrum of Demyelinating & Neurodegenerative Diseases　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Feb. 2019
Lecturer
Visiting lecture
Radiological Society of North America
International Visiting Professor Program

CT and MRI Findings in Infectious & Inflammatory Diseases of the CNS　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Feb. 2019
Lecturer
Visiting lecture
Radiological Society of North America
International Visiting Professor Program

Stroke Imaging & Beyond　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Feb. 2019
Lecturer
Visiting lecture
Radiological Society of North America
International Visiting Professor Program

The Role of CT & MRI in Traumatic Brain Injury　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Feb. 2019
Lecturer
Visiting lecture
Radiological Society of North America
International Visiting Professor Program

Radiologic Neuroanatomy: Know the Anatomy to Know the Pathology　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Feb. 2019
Lecturer
Visiting lecture
Radiological Society of North America
International Visiting Professor Program

Radiomics: A quantitative approach for high precision diagnostic imaging
Mar. 2019
Tackling Global Issues vol.2 New Era of Radiation Therapy to Fight Cancer
https://www.global.hokudai.ac.jp/blog/tgi02-radiomics-a-quantitative-approach-for-high-precision-diagnostic-imaging/, 27309739, [Paper]

Representative (Physician section）　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
10 Sep. 2021 - Present
Planning etc, Others
Academic society etc
Japanese Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine

Annual Meeting Program Committee　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
19 May 2021 - Present
Planning etc
Academic society etc
International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine

Member of Scientific Editorial Board　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
01 Jan. 2021 - Present
Review
Peer review etc
European Radiology

Moderator of Educational Session
21 Sep. 2024
Panel chair etc
Others
Japanese Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine
45310940

Committee member, Regional Committee for Asia-Oceania　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
26 Nov. 2017 - 28 Nov. 2021
Planning etc, Review
Academic society etc
Radiological Society of North America

Safety Committee Member　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Jun. 2018 - May 2021
Planning etc
Academic society etc
International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine

Member of Board of Editors　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
31 Jul. 2020
Peer review
Peer review etc
American Society of Neuroradiology

The 7th GI-CoRE Medical Science and Engineering Symposium (Poster Session)　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Aug. 2019
Panel chair etc
Competition etc