NINDS Quantitative MRI Core Facility

NINDS 定量 MRI 核心设施

• 批准号: 10708655
• 负责人: Govind Bhagavatheeshwaran
• 金额: $ 149.62万
• 依托单位: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 至
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10708655
• 关键词: 3D Print; Algorithms; Animals; Area; Arterial Disorder; Atlases; Atrophic; Autopsy; Blood - brain barrier anatomy; Brain; Brain region; Brain scan; COVID-19 patient; COVID-19 survivors; Categories; Cerebrum; Cervical spinal cord structure; Classification; Clinical; Clinical Trials; Collaborations; Communities; Computer software; Consultations; Contrast Media; Core Facility; Custom; Cyst; Data; Data Analyses; Databases; Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine; Disease; Equipment; Extravasation; Freezing; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Functional disorder; Gadolinium; Goals; HIV; Histopathology; Human; Human Resources; Human T-lymphotropic virus 1; Image; Image Analysis; Imaging Techniques; In Situ; Individual; Inflammation; Investigation; Lead; Lesion; Liquid substance; Location; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Manuscripts; Measurement; Metastatic malignant neoplasm to brain; Methods; Microvascular Dysfunction; Mission; Multiple Sclerosis; Multiple Sclerosis Lesions; Mus; NOTCH3 gene; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease; National Institute of Mental Health; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; Neoplasm Metastasis; Neurological observations; Operative Surgical Procedures; Outcome; Outcome Measure; Participant; Pathologic; Pathologic Processes; Pathologist; Patient imaging; Patients; Peer Review; Performance; Perfusion; Persons; Phase; Physiologic pulse; Postdoctoral Fellow; Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy; Property; Protocols documentation; Relaxation; Research; Research Activity; Research Personnel; Research Project Grants; Resolution; Resources; Running; Sampling; Scanning; Sequence Analysis; Services; Slice; Spinal Cord; Spinal Cord Diseases; Study Subject; Subcortical Infarctions; Subcortical Leukoencephalopathy; Symptoms; Syringomyelia; System; Techniques; Testing; Time; Tissues; Training; Tropical Spastic Paraparesis; United States National Institutes of Health; Visualization; Work; base; brain based; brain tissue; brain volume; clinical center; clinical practice; contrast enhanced; contrast imaging; deep learning; design; disability; disease-causing mutation; falls; graduate student; high resolution imaging; imaging facilities; improved; interest; longitudinal analysis; lung cancer cell; lung small cell carcinoma; malformation; multilayer perceptron; nervous system disorder; portability; rare genetic disorder; recruit; segmentation algorithm; socioeconomics; spinal cord imaging; summer internship; technique development; tool; user-friendly; volunteer; white matter; working group

Technique Development Projects within Core: - Brain segmentation algorithms: Neurological diseases can alter the brain volumes, and the core has focused on robust automated brain segmentation and volumetric methods. Over the past year, core personnel (postbac, Henry Dieckhaus) have improved the performance of the atlas-free segmentation (C-DEF) technique developed in-house through implementing a multi-layer perceptron. Extensive testing was carried out on various neurological diseases, using images acquired on various 3T scanners. This new version is being used in several neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis (MS), cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL), and HIV. In addition, the core has developed a deep learning-based method for segmenting the brain scans from 7T MRI. There are no algorithms currently available that can segment the various brain tissue types and lesions acquired on 7T, and this new method will fill the need; a manuscript is being submitted for peer review. Major equipment needed for these techniques include GPU servers, and 50% effort from a professional programmer is needed to maintain/improve the techniques and train users. - Imaging of postmortem brain tissue: We have previously developed high-resolution imaging techniques for the postmortem fixed brain. The core also has expertise to implement MRI-guided histopathology utilizing sample-specific or individualized 3D-printed cutting boxes. These are widely used in collaborative projects, such as identifying regions of brain metastasis in small-cell lung cancer, identifying pathological features in various brain regions of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), and locating lesions in MS. The core is also working on methods to image other tissue obtained during autopsy, including unfixed tissue (postbac, Kendyl Bree). Major equipment needed for this technique is custom designed tissue chambers, recirculating chiller, portable freezer, fomblin, and 3D printer. - Spinal cord imaging: The core has previously developed high resolution spinal cord imaging techniques at 3T and 7T. The analysis software was packaged for distribution to collaborators, and the atrophy imaging sequence is being used by various collaborators within and outside the NINDS. Recently, the fMRI Facility purchased a dedicated cervical spinal cord coil for use with their new 7T system at the request of the qMRI core facility. This coil will be used in imaging patients with diseases such as MS and HTLV-1 associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), but also will be used to image postmortem spinal cord tissue from various labs in NINDS. - Image database: An image database with querying capability becomes very important, especially for groups with large amounts of imaging data spanning multiple decades. Dr. John Ostuni has developed an image management and viewer for such groups that can reside behind the NIH authentication servers. Testing is currently underway, and we hope to implement it for specific labs soon. - Contrast enhancements on ultra-low field MRI systems: Visualization of MRI contrast agent (CA) extravasation in the brain is important to increase the clinical utility of mobile and economical ultra-low field MRI scanners. Over the past year, the core has been involved in determining the relaxation properties of various CAs that could be used in clinical practice at 64mT. Based on these relaxation properties, we have designed and successfully implemented a pulse sequence to visualize contrast enhancement in white matter lesions of MS and PML patients. We hope to improve this approach and extend it to image CA extravasation into CSF, as well as to study newly developed CAs that are expected to be more effective at ultra-low fields. Collaborative Research Projects: - MRI of HIV-infected individuals (Dr. Avindra Nath, NINDS): We are investigating longitudinal and cross-sectional changes in the brain of aviremic people infected with HIV, in comparison with socioeconomically matched control subjects. We have collected over 900 scans from 200+ individuals in this study. This year we have found differences in brain volumes between people living with HIV and control individuals. C-DEF, FreeSurfer, AFNI, and TORTOISE software are among those that have been used in these investigations. A special volunteer (Alice Chien) from the investigators group works closely with the core personnel to analyze data for this project. - Volumetric markers for syrinx and cord atrophy (Dr. John Heiss, NINDS): Chiari I malformation can lead to the formation of fluid-filled cysts in the spinal cord called syrinx, and the clinical condition of syringomyelia, which can cause clinical disability. Decompression surgery can facilitate improvements in clinical symptoms. We have developed techniques to derive quantitative measurements of spinal cord cross-sectional area and aim to use this to evaluate changes to the volumes of syrinx and spinal cord before and after corrective surgery. A postbac IRTA (Faraz Zia) from the investigators group worked closely with the core personnel to analyze data from patient scans, and correlation with clinical outcomes are underway. - Brain volumetrics in CADASIL (Dr. Manfred Boehm, NHLBI): CADASIL is a rare genetic disease caused by mutations in the NOTCH3 gene that result in small vessel disease in the brain. The core has aided in the longitudinal analysis of brain and lesion volumes in the clinical trial run by the Boehm group. We plan to investigate this further using DTI and correlate with clinical outcomes in the participants. The investigators group plans to recruit a postbac IRTA to carry out the project, and a lot of this work was performed by a summer intern and special volunteer (Lekha Kasukurthi) assigned to the core facility. - Imaging COVID survivors (Dr. Dima Hammoud, NIAID & NIHCC): Persistent neurological findings in COVID-19 patients may be a result of changes to microstructure, perfusion, and inflammation. MRI protocols have been set up through the core facility to perform detailed study in these patients, which includes imaging to detect blood-brain-barrier dysfunction and gadolinium enhancement. A postbac IRTA (Cynthia Kim) from the investigators group performed most of this work in close collaboration with core personnel. - MRI-guided histopathology in small-cell lung cancer (Dr. Anish Thomas, NCI): Small-cell lung cancer cells metastasize to the brain at a very high rate. We use postmortem MRI to identify the locations of these metastasis and use MRI-guided histopathology. We estimate to receive 25 brain samples over the next 3 years. A pathologist (Dr. Parth Desai) from the investigators group works in close collaboration with core personnel on this project.

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