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Updated: Feb 23, 2026
Granulocyte-dependent Autoantibody-induced Skin Blistering
Published on: October 12, 2012
Autoimmune antibodies to collagen XIII in myasthenia gravis patients
Hongmin Tu1, Ritva Pirskanen-Matell2, Anne Heikkinen1
1Centre of Excellence in Cell-Extracellular Matrix Research, Faculty of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, FIN 90014, Oulu, Finland.
Introduction:
Evaluation of the nerve fascicular structure can be useful in diagnosing nerve damage, but it is a very challenging task with 3T MRI because of limited resolution. In this pilot study, we present the feasibility of high-resolution 7T MRI for examining the nerve fascicular structure.
Methods:
A 3-dimensional (3D) gradient-spoiled sequence was used for imaging peripheral nerves in extremities. Images acquired with different in-plane resolutions (0.42 × 0.42 mm vs. 0.12 × 0.12 mm), and different main field strengths (7T vs. 3T) were compared.
Results:
The individual nerve fascicles were identified at 0.12 × 0.12 mm resolution in both field strengths but not at 0.42 × 0.42 mm resolution. The fascicular structure was more sharply depicted in 7T images than in 3T images.
Discussion:
High-resolution 3D imaging with 7T MRI demonstrated feasibility for imaging nerve fascicular structures. Muscle Nerve 57: 506-510, 2018.
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