3.0 tesla ge scanner

Sagittal and axial T2-weighted (TR:3800, TE:98) and IDEAL (Lava-flex, 2 echo sequence, TE:4.5, TE: minimum full, flip angle:5) fat and water images of the entire lumbar spine (L1-L5) were obtained using a 3.0 Tesla GE scanner (Milwaukee, WI, USA) for a total acquisition time of about 7 min. A standard phased-array body coil with 16 channels was used, with 4-mm slice thickness, 180-mm² field of view and 512 × 512 matrix.

MRI scans were conducted on each subject before and after 12 weeks of treatment. The fMRI brain imaging acquisition was conducted on a 3.0 Tesla GE scanner (General Electric, Milwaukee, WI, USA) with an 8-channel phased-array head coilin the Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Fuzhou, China). Magnetization-prepared rapid gradient echo (MPRAGE) T1-weighted images were acquired for registration purposes with the following parameters:164 contiguous coronal slices covering the whole brain, slice thickness = 1 mm; field-of-view (FOV) = 240 mm; flip angle = 15 degree. For the BOLD resting-state fMRI, data was acquired using a T2 weighted GE-EPI sequence with the following parameters: TR = 2100 ms; TE = 30 ms; acquisition matrix = 64 × 64, FOV = 200 × 200 mm; flip angle 90 degrees; slice thickness = 3 mm, gap = 0.6 mm; voxel size = 3.125 × 3.125 × 3.6 mm³; axial slices = 42 and phases per location = 160. 5 min 36 s resting state fMRI scans were applied. During RS fMRI data acquisition, the subjects were required to keep their eyes closed and were asked to stay awake.

Structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data were collected using a 3.0 Tesla GE scanner at the Banner Alzheimer Institute in Phoenix, AZ, USA. High-resolution T1-weighted gradient images were acquired sagittally using a BRAVO pulse sequence (interleaved, bottom-up acquisition; 0.9 mm slice thickness, field of view = 230 mm). Resting-state functional blood-oxygen level dependent (BOLD) gradient echo-planar images were then acquired (sequential, bottom-up acquisition; 3 mm slice thickness, field of view = 200 mm, repetition time = 2000 ms, echo time = 30 ms, flip angle = 84°). Padding was used to minimize head movement during the scans, and participants received earplugs and headphones to protect against the scanner noise. The resting-state scans were collected over 7 min, and participants laid with eyes open looking at a fixed crosshair on the screen.