Exploring magnetohydrodynamic voltage distributions in the human body: Preliminary results

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: T. Stan Gregory, University of Georgia; Jonathan Richard Murrow, Emory University; John Oshinski, Emory University; Zion Tsz Ho Tse, University of Georgia
• Language: English
• Date: 2019-03-06
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2019 Gregory et al.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0213235
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: PLoS ONE
• ISSN: 1932-6203
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 3
• Start Page: e0213235
• End Page: e0213235
• Grant/Funding Information: This study was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Bench-to-Bedside Award, the NIH Center for Interventional Oncology Grant, the National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps Team Grant (1617340), NSF REU site program 1359095, the UGA-AU Inter-Institutional Seed Funding, the American Society for Quality Dr. Richard J. Schlesinger Grant, the PHS Grant UL1TR000454 from the Clinical and Translational Science Award Program of the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.
• Keywords: MRI; ELECTROCARDIOGRAM; ACCURATE; Science & Technology; BLOOD-FLOW; ECG; MAGNETIC-FIELD; Multidisciplinary Sciences; Science & Technology - Other Topics; VICINITY
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Radiology; Engineering, Electronics and Electrical

Abstract

Background The aim of this study was to noninvasively measure regional contributions of vasculature in the human body using magnetohydrodynamic voltages (V MHD ) obtained from electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings performed inside MRI’s static magnetic field (B 0 ). Integrating the regional V MHD over the S wave -T wave segment of the cardiac cycle (V segment ) provides a noninvasive method for measuring regional blood volumes, which can be rapidly obtained during MRI without incurring additional cost. Methods V MHD was extracted from 12-lead ECG traces acquired during gradual introduction into a 3T MRI. Regional contributions were computed utilizing weights based on B 0 ’s strength at specified distances from isocenter. V segment mapping was performed in six subjects and validated against MR angiograms (MRA). Results Fluctuations in V segment , which presented as positive trace deflections, were found to be associated with aortic-arch flow in the thoracic cavity, the main branches of the abdominal aorta, and the bifurcation of the common iliac artery. The largest fluctuation corresponded to the location where the aortic arch was approximately orthogonal to B 0 . The smallest fluctuations corresponded to areas of vasculature that were parallel to B 0 . Significant correlations (specifically, Spearman’s ranked correlation coefficients of 0.96 and 0.97 for abdominal and thoracic cavities, respectively) were found between the MRA and V segment maps (p < 0.001). Conclusions A novel non-invasive method to extract regional blood volumes from ECGs was developed and shown to be a rapid means to quantify peripheral and abdominal blood volumes.