Multi-Muscle Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MM-MRE): a new technique to measure non-invasively individual force of forearm muscles during fine motor tasks

多肌肉磁共振弹性成像（MM-MRE）：一种在精细运动任务期间无创地测量前臂肌肉个体力量的新技术

• 批准号: 1911683
• 负责人: Fabrizio Sergi
• 金额: $ 40万
• 依托单位: University of Delaware
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-08-15 至 2024-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1911683&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Multi; Muscle; Magnetic; Resonance; Elastography

Redundancy, defined here as having the use of multiple muscles to perform a particular task, is found everywhere in the neuromuscular system. Redundancy enables humans to perform skilled tasks, respond to environmental changes, and adapt to structural damage. The analysis of solutions to muscle redundancy, e.g., how the many muscles in the forearm (below the elbow) can co-ordinate to perform a task like rotating the wrist, could shed light on fundamental processes of motor control and provide unique insight of mechanisms of neuromotor impairment. For example, solutions to neuromuscular redundancy are expressed differently in individuals affected by the "upper motor neuron syndrome," prevalent in 40% of stroke survivors, or approximately two million United States citizens. In this population, function of the hand and wrist is most commonly affected. Unfortunately, there are no current methods capable of measuring and analyzing how the central nervous system manages and exploits redundancy at the individual muscle level for fine motor tasks involving coordinated function of muscles of the hand and wrist. To address this need, this project will develop a new technique that will enable new investigations to study muscle redundancy for fine motor tasks. The technique combines an advanced imaging method, which can measure muscle mechanics, with an instrumented handle, which can measure wrist angle and torque during isometric wrist contractions. By combining these measurements, the investigators will be able, for the first time, to noninvasively measure force in a complete set of muscles of the forearm. Once validated, the technique will be used to assess neuromotor impairment in stroke individuals during tasks involving active motor function, but that can be executed by subjects with a variety of impairment levels. The technique developed is an important step towards a quantitative understanding of basic principles of neuromuscular control and has important applications in assessing neuromotor impairment and recovery. The project will also provide training to graduate and undergraduate students in problems that require a combination of fundamental and technological knowledge/skills, contributing to the development of a multidisciplinary workforce ready to tackle the future challenges of biomedical engineering research in both academia and industry. The planned outreach activities are targeted to engage a diverse community of K-12 students in topics at the intersection between biomechanics, imaging, and robotics.This project focuses on developing multi-muscle magnetic resonance elastography (MM-MRE) that will enable new investigations to study solutions to muscle redundancy for fine motor tasks. MM-MRE combines advanced magnetic resonance elastography imaging methods, which allow 2 mm spatial resolution and volume acquisition time below 10 s for the entire forearm, with the MRE-bot, a newly developed MRI compatible instrumented handle to measure wrist angle and torque during isometric wrist contractions. By combining measurements of muscle mechanics obtained via MRE with joint position and torque measurements obtained via the MRE-bot in a subject-specific musculoskeletal modeling framework, investigators will be able to non-invasively measure in vivo force in a complete set of muscles of the forearm. The Research Plan is organized under three objectives: The FIRST Objective is to develop and validate MM-MRE, which will involve implementing a rapid data acquisition and analyses scheme to extract the wave speed involving individual forearm muscles during isometric contractions and validating wave speed measurements and calculation of muscle force from individual muscles. The outcome will be a methodology for estimating force in multiple forearm muscles simultaneously, with sufficient temporal and spatial resolution for evaluating their individual contractile behavior non-invasively and in vivo. The SECOND Objective is to use MM-MRE to test models of muscle coordination in isometric tasks of the hand/wrist. Studies, conducted with healthy individuals, are designed to determine the cost function whose minimization would lead to the "optimal" muscle coordination pattern for muscle coordination during the isometric tasks. MM-MRE measurements uniquely enable testing of the validity of currently established cost functions, global force level (GFL) and global activation level (GAL), under different task accuracy requirements, as task accuracy requirements have an effect on how individuals co-activate their muscles to stabilize interaction in presence of neuromuscular error. The THIRD Objective is to establish if MM-MRE can detect abnormal muscle coactivation of forearm muscles in neuromotor impairment and thus be used as an assessment tool to identify neuromotor impairment in tasks involving hand and wrist muscles in a pilot cohort of individuals with chronic stroke. The analysis will be based on comparisons between the paretic and non-paretic arm and will be aimed at validating the developed technique as being sensitive enough to detect expected changes in neuromotor behavior in a clinical population. In summary, the technique developed represents a novel approach and significant advancement for skeletal muscle MRE that will enable an innovative measurement scheme for the study of neuromuscular control and for characterizing pathologic muscle tissue properties during active motor function.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

在这里定义为使用多块肌肉来执行特定任务的Redembryos在神经肌肉系统中随处可见。Redundancy使人类能够执行熟练的任务，对环境变化做出反应，并适应结构损坏。肌肉冗余解决方案的分析，例如，前臂（手肘以下）的许多肌肉如何协调来执行像旋转手腕这样的任务，可以揭示运动控制的基本过程，并提供对神经运动损伤机制的独特见解。例如，神经肌肉冗余的解决方案在受“上运动神经元综合征”影响的个体中表现不同，该综合征在40%的中风幸存者或大约200万美国公民中普遍存在。在这个人群中，手和手腕的功能最常受到影响。不幸的是，目前还没有能够测量和分析中枢神经系统如何管理和利用个体肌肉水平上的冗余来完成涉及手和手腕肌肉协调功能的精细运动任务的方法。为了满足这一需求，该项目将开发一种新技术，使新的调查能够研究精细运动任务的肌肉冗余。该技术结合了一种先进的成像方法，可以测量肌肉力学，与一个仪器化的手柄，可以测量手腕的角度和扭矩在等距手腕收缩。 通过结合这些测量，研究人员将能够第一次非侵入性地测量前臂完整肌肉的力量。一旦验证，该技术将用于评估中风个体在涉及主动运动功能的任务期间的神经运动损伤，但可以由具有各种损伤水平的受试者执行。 该技术的发展是一个重要的一步，对神经肌肉控制的基本原理的定量理解，并在评估神经运动损伤和恢复的重要应用。 该项目还将为研究生和本科生提供培训，解决需要基础知识和技术知识/技能相结合的问题，促进多学科劳动力的发展，以应对学术界和工业界生物医学工程研究的未来挑战。计划中的外展活动旨在吸引K-12学生的多元化社区参与生物力学，成像和机器人之间的交叉主题。该项目专注于开发多肌肉磁共振弹性成像（MM-MRE），这将使新的调查能够研究精细运动任务的肌肉冗余解决方案。 MM-MRE结合了先进的磁共振弹性成像方法，该方法允许整个前臂的2 mm空间分辨率和低于10 s的体积采集时间，以及MRE-bot，一种新开发的MRI兼容仪器手柄，用于测量手腕等长收缩期间的手腕角度和扭矩。通过将通过MRE获得的肌肉力学测量与通过特定对象肌肉骨骼建模框架中的MRE-bot获得的关节位置和扭矩测量相结合，研究人员将能够非侵入性地测量前臂完整肌肉中的体内力。 研究计划分为三个目标：第一个目标是开发和验证MM-MRE，这将涉及实施快速数据采集和分析方案，以提取等长收缩期间涉及个体前臂肌肉的波速，并验证波速测量和个体肌肉肌肉力量的计算。结果将是一种方法，用于同时估计多个前臂肌肉中的力，具有足够的时间和空间分辨率，用于非侵入性和体内评估其个体收缩行为。 第二个目标是使用MM-MRE来测试手/腕等长任务中的肌肉协调模型。 与健康人进行的研究，旨在确定成本函数，其最小化将导致“最佳”肌肉协调模式的肌肉协调等长任务。 MM-MRE测量独特地使得能够在不同的任务精度要求下测试当前建立的成本函数、全局力水平（GFL）和全局激活水平（GAL）的有效性，因为任务精度要求对个体如何共同激活他们的肌肉以在存在神经肌肉错误的情况下稳定相互作用有影响。 第三个目的是建立MM-MRE是否可以检测神经运动损伤中前臂肌肉的异常肌肉共激活，从而作为一种评估工具，用于识别慢性卒中患者试点队列中涉及手部和腕部肌肉的任务中的神经运动损伤。 该分析将基于轻瘫和非轻瘫臂之间的比较，旨在验证开发的技术是否足够灵敏，以检测临床人群中神经运动行为的预期变化。 总之，开发的技术代表了一种新的方法和骨骼肌MRE的重大进展，这将使一个创新的测量方案的神经肌肉控制的研究和表征病理肌肉组织的属性在主动motorfunction.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

项目成果

Individual Muscle Force Estimation in the Human Forearm Using Multi-Muscle MR Elastography (MM-MRE)

使用多肌肉 MR 弹性成像 (MM-MRE) 估计人体前臂的个体肌肉力量

• DOI: 10.1109/tbme.2023.3283185
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering
• 影响因子: 4.6
• 作者: Smith, Daniel R.;Helm, Cody A.;Zonnino, Andrea;McGarry, Matthew D.J.;Johnson, Curtis L.;Sergi, Fabrizio
• 通讯作者: Sergi, Fabrizio