Ingenia 3.0t scanner

The resting-state fMRI data were collected using a Philips Ingenia 3.0T scanner at the First Hospital of Jilin University. During this process, each participant was required to avoid head movement and close their eyes without thinking or falling asleep. It took 8 min for each scan of the 240 functional volumes to acquire the fMRI data. The specific parameters were as follows: repetition time (TR) = 2000 ms; echo time (TE) = 30 ms; flip angle (FA) = 90°; field-of-view (FOV), 224 × 224 × 138 mm³; matrix size, 64 × 63 mm²; slice thickness = 3.5 mm, and 33 slices. All original image files were available for subsequent analysis.

Scanning was performed using an Ingenia 3.0 T scanner (Philips, Amsterdam, Netherlands) with an 8-channel phase-array head coil at the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center. For the resting-state scan, subjects were instructed to stay awake and to remain as still as possible while keeping their eyes closed. Resting-state fMRI images were acquired via an echo-planar imaging sequence (echo time = 25 ms, repetition time = 2,000 ms, flip angle = 75°, field of view = 224 × 224 mm, axial slices = 34, slice thickness = 4 mm, and voxel size = 1.0 × 1.0 × 1.0 mm, 200 time points). T1-weighted structural images were obtained on a sagittal orientation employing a magnetization-prepared rapid gradient-echo sequence (echo time = 3.8 ms, repetition time = 1,900 ms, flip angle = 8°, field of view = 240 × 240 mm, 170 slices per slab, voxel size = 1.0 × 1.0 × 1.0 mm, and matrix = 256 × 256).

All experiments were performed on a Philips Ingenia 3.0T scanner (Philips, Eindhoven, Netherlands), equipped with a 32-channel head coil. All the images were collected through a same MRI machine to keep homogeneity of images. Head motion was minimized using foam padding, and scanner noise were reduced using a pair of earplugs. Resting-state functional imaging was obtained using a gradient-echo echo-planar imaging (GRE-EPI) sequence, and the imaging parameters were as follows: repetition time (TR) = 2000 ms, flip angle (FA) = 90°, echo time (TE) = 30 ms, matrix = 64 × 64, thickness = 4.0 mm, voxel size = 3 × 3 × 3 mm, field of view = 192 × 192 mm, number of slices = 35, and gap = 0 mm. The scan process totally continued for 8 min and 7 s, and subjects received an instruction to keep still during the whole procedure. The three-dimensional T1-weighted sagittal imaging were acquired by turbo fast echo sequence: TR = 9.8 ms, FA = 8°, TE = 4.6 ms, matrix = 256 × 256, thickness = 1.0 mm, voxel size = 1 × 1 × 1 mm, field of view = 256 × 256 mm, number of slices = 192, and gap = 0 mm. The three-dimensional FLAIR sagittal imaging was acquired by the following sequence: TR = 4,500 ms, FA = 90°, TE = 344 ms, matrix = 272 × 272, thickness = 1.0 mm, number of slices = 200, and gap = 0 mm.

In this study, lumbar MR Images and clinical diagnosis reports were collected from the Medical Imaging Department of Xi’an Number 3 Hospital, which is a large-scale grade 3A general hospital in Xi’an, China. The sagittal and axial T₂-weighted lumbar MR images of 500 patients were acquired by using a Philips Ingenia 3.0T scanner and exported in the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) format. The main diagnosis was based on axial images, as they display the morphology of IVDs more clearly than other images. For each subject, midsagittal images were used to locate IVDs in axial images. A total of 3555 axial images were used in this study. These images were labeled as normal disk, disk bulge, and disk herniation according to diagnosis reports and rechecked by an experienced radiologist, as shown in Table 1. Examples of midsagittal lumbar images and axial images of normal disks, disk bulge, and disk herniation are shown in Figure 1.

An Ingenia 3.0 T scanner (Philips, Amsterdam, Netherlands) equipped with a standard head coil was used to perform rs-fMRI scanning for all study participants. Scanning was conducted while participants remained still while lying down with their heads fixed in place with a belt. Foam padding and earplugs were used to mitigate scanner-related noise and head movements. Participants were directed to remain awake and not think about anything specific. rs-fMRI scans were performed with the following settings: repetition time = 2,000 ms, echo time = 25 ms, 36 axial slices, slice thickness = 3 mm, gap = 1 mm, 90° flip angle, field of view = 220 mm × 220 mm. The duration of rs-fMRI scanning for each participant was 8 min, with 240 volumes being obtained per participant.