Controlling structure induced variations in non-invasive perfusion MRI of neurodegeneration

灌注成像使我们能够测量血液在向大脑输送营养物质和清除废物方面所起的重要作用。血液供应与正常的任何偏差都可能是疾病的征兆。特别是早期和细微的灌注变化可能在其他影像学迹象变得明显之前标记出受退行性疾病（如痴呆）影响的大脑区域。磁共振成像技术已经存在，并日益广泛地应用于快速、安全的灌注成像。因此，灌注磁共振成像可以成为了解痴呆症以及诊断和监测痴呆症患者的有价值的工具。仍然存在的挑战是对血液供应的细微变化进行足够具体的测量，这将是使这项技术真正对患者有用所必需的。这个项目从三个方面解决了这个问题：自动去除与不完美测量相关的错误，例如由于患者的运动。>控制患者个体脑结构差异的方法，允许个体之间或患者与相似健康成人人群的血液供应测量进行比较。这些方法消除了与灌注无关的个体大脑之间的其他差异所带来的不确定性。>为单个患者生成个性化的参考灌注图像，与他们测量的灌注进行比较，以检测该个体特有的变化。在这个项目中产生的方法和工具将使灌注磁共振成像在英国范围内更有效地用于了解痴呆症和寻找新的有效治疗方法。最终，本项目所做的工作将使灌注磁共振成像成为一种有价值的临床工具，可用于诊断和监测个体痴呆症患者。

Perfusion imaging allows us to measure the vital role played by delivery of blood to the brain in keeping it supplied with nutrients and removal of waste. Any deviations of the blood supply from normal can be a sign of disease. In particular early and subtle changes in perfusion might mark regions of the brain which are affected by degenerative diseases such as dementia before other imaging signs become obvious.The technology exists and is increasingly widely available to image perfusion quickly and safely using Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Thus perfusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging could be a valuable tool in the understanding of dementias, as well as the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with dementia. The challenge that remains is making sufficiently specific measurements of subtle changes in blood supply that would be needed to make the technology truly useful for patients. This project addresses that problem in three ways:> Automated removal of errors associated with imperfect measurement, for example due to motion of the patient.> Methods to control for differences between patients due to their individual brain structure, allowing blood supply measurements to be compared between individuals or from a patient to a population of similar healthy adults. These methods remove uncertainties introduced by other differences between the brain's of individuals that are not related to perfusion.> Generation of personalised reference perfusion images for an individual patient against which their measured perfusion can be compared to detect changes specific to that individual.The methods and tools that are to be generated in this project will enable perfusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging to be used more effectively in the UK-wide effort to understand dementia and in the search for new and effective treatments. Ultimately the work done in this project will enable perfusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging to become a valuable clinical tool that can be used in the diagnosis and monitoring of individual patients with dementia.