Development of a method for functional aspect identification in parotid using dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging and concurrent stimulation

Figures & data

Figure 1. A typical spatially averaged voxel C(t) demonstrating temporal stages of the protocol. From left: pre-contrast agent injection window (left-most gray box); rapid uptake period, where high concentrations of contrast rapidly perfuse into parotid tissues, peak, and begin to drain; stimulatory period running from 230 to 240 s from scan commencement, and a stimulatory response manifest as a modest contrast agent concentration increase; and continued slow washout. An empirical fit omitting the stimulatory period and Bezier spline interpolation are shown as visual guides.

Figure 2. An example 2D image map slice. At left: a temporallyaveraged T₁ -weighted image with the difference of changes in slope map overlaid on the parotids; at right: enlarged parotid maps. In the latter, voxels showing no stimulatory response are midtone. Those that responded positively (negatively) are brighter (darker).