Far-field analysis of axially symmetric three-dimensional directional cloaks.

Axisymmetric radiating and scattering structures whose rotational invariance is broken by non-axisymmetric excitations present an important class of problems in electromagnetics. For such problems, a cylindrical wave decomposition formalism can be used to efficiently obtain numerical solutions to the full-wave frequency-domain problem. Often, the far-field, or Fraunhofer region is of particular interest in scattering cross-section and radiation pattern calculations; yet, it is usually impractical to compute full-wave solutions for this region. Here, we propose a generalization of the Stratton-Chu far-field integral adapted for 2.5D formalism. The integration over a closed, axially symmetric surface is analytically reduced to a line integral on a meridional plane. We benchmark this computational technique by comparing it with analytical Mie solutions for a plasmonic nanoparticle, and apply it to the design of a three-dimensional polarization-insensitive cloak.

POCS-based reconstruction of multiplexed sensitivity encoded MRI (POCSMUSE): A general algorithm for reducing motion-related artifacts.

PURPOSE: A projection onto convex sets reconstruction of multiplexed sensitivity encoded MRI (POCSMUSE) is developed to reduce motion-related artifacts, including respiration artifacts in abdominal imaging and aliasing artifacts in interleaved diffusion-weighted imaging. THEORY: Images with reduced artifacts are reconstructed with an iterative projection onto convex sets (POCS) procedure that uses the coil sensitivity profile as a constraint. This method can be applied to data obtained with different pulse sequences and k-space trajectories. In addition, various constraints can be incorporated to stabilize the reconstruction of ill-conditioned matrices. METHODS: The POCSMUSE technique was applied to abdominal fast spin-echo imaging data, and its effectiveness in respiratory-triggered scans was evaluated. The POCSMUSE method was also applied to reduce aliasing artifacts due to shot-to-shot phase variations in interleaved diffusion-weighted imaging data corresponding to different k-space trajectories and matrix condition numbers. RESULTS: Experimental results show that the POCSMUSE technique can effectively reduce motion-related artifacts in data obtained with different pulse sequences, k-space trajectories and contrasts. CONCLUSION: POCSMUSE is a general post-processing algorithm for reduction of motion-related artifacts. It is compatible with different pulse sequences, and can also be used to further reduce residual artifacts in data produced by existing motion artifact reduction methods.

A Diffusion MRI Tractography Connectome of the Mouse Brain and Comparison with Neuronal Tracer Data.

Interest in structural brain connectivity has grown with the understanding that abnormal neural connections may play a role in neurologic and psychiatric diseases. Small animal connectivity mapping techniques are particularly important for identifying aberrant connectivity in disease models. Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging tractography can provide nondestructive, 3D, brain-wide connectivity maps, but has historically been limited by low spatial resolution, low signal-to-noise ratio, and the difficulty in estimating multiple fiber orientations within a single image voxel. Small animal diffusion tractography can be substantially improved through the combination of ex vivo MRI with exogenous contrast agents, advanced diffusion acquisition and reconstruction techniques, and probabilistic fiber tracking. Here, we present a comprehensive, probabilistic tractography connectome of the mouse brain at microscopic resolution, and a comparison of these data with a neuronal tracer-based connectivity data from the Allen Brain Atlas. This work serves as a reference database for future tractography studies in the mouse brain, and demonstrates the fundamental differences between tractography and neuronal tracer data.