Abstract: Provided are a bovine rotavirus fusion protein and calf diarrhea multivalent vaccine. The bovine rotavirus fusion protein contains a VP6 fragment, wherein the VP6 fragment contains an amino acid sequence as represented by SEQ ID NO. 4, and at least one loop region of the following (a)˜(c) is substituted with an antigenic epitope derived from bovine coronavirus and/or an antigenic epitope derived from E. coli: (a) amino acid residues of sites 168-177; with an amino acid sequence as represented by SEQ ID NO. 1; (b) amino acid residues of sites 194-205; with an amino acid sequence as represented by SEQ ID NO. 2; and (a) amino acid residues of sites 296-316, with an amino acid sequence as represented by SEQ ID NO. 3, The bovine rotavirus fusion protein contains a plurality of antigenic epitopes, and can enable a host to generate a plurality of antibodies after immunizing the host.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and devices are described for substantially simultaneous acquisition of magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and magnetic resonance venography (MRV) data. Some embodiments provide susceptibility weighted magnetic resonance imaging of vasculature, including generating a multi-echo pulse sequence having a repetition time, and a first echo and a second echo during the repetition time; acquiring MRA data from at least the first echo; and acquiring MRV data from at least the second echo. The MRA data and/or the MRV data may also be post-processed (e.g., filtered, displayed, etc.). Various embodiments provide additional functionality, including techniques for processing data from an unsampled portion of one echo using sampled data from another echo.

Abstract: Mapping of myelin water content in white matter may provide important information for early diagnosis of multiple sclerosis and the detection of white matter abnormality in other diseases. It is disclosed here that free induction decay (FID) of each voxel at multiple slice locations is acquired in the brain using an echo-planar spectroscopic imaging (EPSI) pulse sequence. The multi-slice EPSI acquisition is designed to have a short first echo time (˜2 ms) and echo-spacing (˜1 ms) in order to acquire multiple sampling points during the fast decay of the myelin water signal. Multi-compartment analysis is then applied to the FID in each pixel using a 3-pool model of white matter to obtain quantitative maps of the myelin water fraction. Using this technique, the MR data for whole brain mapping of the myelin water can be acquired in less than 10 minutes, making this technique feasible for routine clinical applications.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and devices are described for substantially simultaneous acquisition of magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and magnetic resonance venography (MRV) data. Some embodiments provide susceptibility weighted magnetic resonance imaging of vasculature, including generating a multi-echo pulse sequence having a repetition time, and a first echo and a second echo during the repetition time; acquiring MRA data from at least the first echo; and acquiring MRV data from at least the second echo. The MRA data and/or the MRV data may also be post-processed (e.g., filtered, displayed, etc.). Various embodiments provide additional functionality, including techniques for processing data from an unsampled portion of one echo using sampled data from another echo.

Abstract: Mapping of myelin water content in white matter may provide important information for early diagnosis of multiple sclerosis and the detection of white matter abnormality in other diseases. It is disclosed here that free induction decay (FID) of each voxel at multiple slice locations is acquired in the brain using an echo-planar spectroscopic imaging (EPSI) pulse sequence. The multi-slice EPSI acquisition is designed to have a short first echo time (˜2 ms) and echo-spacing (˜1 ms) in order to acquire multiple sampling points during the fast decay of the myelin water signal. Multi-compartment analysis is then applied to the FID in each pixel using a 3-pool model of white matter to obtain quantitative maps of the myelin water fraction. Using this technique, the MR data for whole brain mapping of the myelin water can be acquired in less than 10 minutes, making this technique feasible for routine clinical applications.

Abstract: Navigator signals are acquired during a cardiac gated MRI scan to measure the position and velocity components of respiratory motion. Acquired cardiac image views are discarded and/or corrected based on the measurement of the positional and velocity components of respiratory motion to reduce motion artifacts. In one embodiment the navigator pulse sequence includes velocity encoding gradient, and in a second embodiment, velocity is determined by measuring the change in diaphragm position between successive navigator pulse sequences.

Abstract: A method is disclosed for providing a time efficient and accurate measure of the absolute positional displacements of a reference structure in navigator echo MR imaging. The method comprises the steps of operating an MR system to acquire a reference navigator echo associated with the object at a specified reference position, and applying an MR sequence to the object to acquire a set of MR image data when the object is selectively displaced from the reference position. The data set includes an acquired navigator echo having a specified field of view. The method further comprises truncating the acquired navigator echo by means of a selectively positioned truncation window, calculating the difference between linear phase shifts respectively associated with acquired and reference navigator echoes, and displacing the truncation window by an amount representing or corresponding to the phase shift difference in spatial units.

Abstract: An MRI system acquired NMR data from which a three-dimensional image of a patient's heart is reconstructed. The NMR data is acquired as a plurality of three-dimensional slabs that are concatenated to reconstruct the image. A plurality of respiratory gating windows are established and NMR data for each slab is acquired during a different one of the respiratory gating windows.

Abstract: In an MR imaging system, a method is provided for operating an MR gradient coil to provide a pulse sequence which comprises first and second sub-sequences. During the first sub-sequence, the coil is operated to produce a pair of diffusion-weighted imaging pulses, each having a gradient amplitude and a slew-rate. During the second sub-sequence the coil is operated to produce a train of echo-planar imaging pulses, each having a gradient amplitude which is selectively less than the amplitude of the diffusion-weighted pulses, and a slew-rate which is selectively greater than the slew-rate of the diffusion-weighted pulses. Thus, the invention is directed to a gradient system which can provide optimal performance for both diffusion-weighted imaging and echo-planar imaging, while using only a single coil for a given gradient axis.

Abstract: NMR data required to reconstruct an image is divided into central k-space views and peripheral k-space views. NMR navigator signals are acquired during a scan to indicate patient respiration and a first gating signal is produced when respiration is within a narrow acquisition window and a second gating signal is produced when respiration is within a wider acquisition window. Central k-space views are acquired when the first gating signal is produced and peripheral k-space views are acquired when the second gating signal is produced.

Abstract: Two methods are disclosed to remove the image artifacts produced by Maxwell terms arising from the imaging gradients in an echo planar imaging pulse sequence. In the first method, the frequency and phase errors caused by the Maxwell terms are calculated on an individual slice basis and subsequently compensated during data acquisition by dynamically adjusting the receiver frequency and phase. In the second method, two linear phase errors, one in the readout direction and the other in the phase-encoding direction, both of which arise from the Maxwell terms, are calculated on an individual-slice basis. These errors are compensated for in the k-space data after data acquisition.

Abstract: A method is disclosed to remove the image artifacts produced by Maxwell terms arising from the imaging gradients in an echo planar imaging pulse sequence. The frequency and phase errors caused by the Maxwell terms are calculated on an individual slice basis. During the subsequent data acquisition these errors are compensated by dynamically adjusting the receiver frequency and phase.

Abstract: A method for correcting Maxwell field induced distortion, ghosting, and blurring artifacts in non-axially oriented EPI images is disclosed. In one embodiment phase corrections are calculated and used to offset Maxwell term errors during the image reconstruction process, and in another embodiment corrections are made after the image is reconstructed.

Abstract: An MRI system includes an MR cylinder, a radio frequency (RF) coil (or antenna), preliminary processing circuitry, and a computer processing system. The RF receiver produces an electrical signal to the preliminary processing circuitry representative of the sensed magnetic field. The preliminary processing circuitry provides a measurement data signal S (which is in the frequency domain) to the computer processing system, which includes a computer processor and a memory. The computer processor stores measurement data signal S as a data matrix M.sub.2 in a larger data matrix M.sub.3 that contains zero values in memory locations surrounding data matrix M.sub.2. This is referred to as zero-padding. The computer processor performs (zero-padded) Fourier transformation on data matrix M.sub.3 to produce an interpolated image data matrix I.sub.D. Interpolated image data matrix I.sub.D is processed through enhancement filtering to provide an enhanced image data matrix I.sub.E that has improved visibility of vessels.