Construction of a connectivity importance map of white and gray matter in the hum

描述（由申请人提供）：许多脑部疾病，如中风，多发性硬化症和创伤性脑损伤，导致脑损伤和身体或精神残疾的细胞死亡。受影响区域的位置和大小极大地影响了患者所患残疾的数量和类型。目前基于MRI的脑损伤诊断是不充分的定性，涉及主观评估的严重程度和预测的损害由医生。即使通过允许精确测量病变或肿瘤体积的3D处理工具进行增强，这种方法也不足以表征对脑功能的影响。这是因为功能障碍是由损伤的程度和位置决定的，并且只能通过观察受影响区域通过其纤维结构与大脑其余部分的连接来正确评估。提出了一种新的计算方法，利用DTI和结构MR图像的大脑，以及图形理论，有条不紊地分配一个整体的大脑连接的重要性，小部分的白色和灰质区域。这个大脑的定量重要性地图将通过首先调查一大群正常患者的大脑连接并用称为图形的对象表示来创建。将通过计算移除小部分组织，并使用图形距离度量来测量整体大脑连接的变化。通过与经验丰富的神经科医生的现有知识进行定量比较，并通过检查创伤性脑损伤患者损伤严重程度与残疾措施的地图预测的相关性，将彻底验证该地图。以大脑重要性定量图的形式呈现，这些信息可以极大地增强医生的知识，并产生深远而重大的影响。一些发展可能导致改善手术计划，评估疾病的严重程度，并可能在病理状态，如中风，多发性硬化症和创伤性脑损伤的康复计划的发展。将来，地图可以扩展到不仅提供严重程度的评分，而且还提供局部损伤区域的特定残疾类型或预测的康复概率。目前提出的研究预计将是一个更大和长期项目的开始，该项目将分析影响大脑的许多不同病理状态下的大脑连接。 公共卫生相关性：该项目将产生一个大脑的三维地图，以定量的方式表明小部分脑组织在整个大脑连接中的重要性，这可以大大增强医生在治疗导致脑损伤的疾病时的资源，包括中风，多发性硬化症和创伤。特别是，这张地图可以帮助医生改善手术计划，评估疾病的严重程度，并可能改善康复计划的发展。将来，地图可以扩展到不仅提供严重程度的评分，而且还提供局部损伤区域的特定残疾类型或预测的康复概率。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Many brain diseases such as stroke, multiple sclerosis and traumatic brain injury result in brain damage and physical or mental disability from cell death. The location and size of the affected area greatly influences the amount and type of disability that the patient incurs. Current MRI-based diagnosis of brain injury is inadequately qualitative, involving subjective assessment of severity and prediction of impairment by the physician. Even when augmented by 3D processing tools that allow for accurate measurement of lesion or tumor volume, this approach is insufficient in characterizing the effect on brain function. This is because functional impairment is determined by both the extent and location of damage, and can be properly assessed only by looking at the connectivity of the affected region to the rest of the brain via its fiber architecture. A new computational methodology is proposed that utilizes DTI and structural MR images of the brain as well as graph theory to methodically assign an overall brain connectivity importance to small sections of white and gray matter regions. This quantitative importance map of the brain will be created by first investigating the brain connectivity of a large group of normal patients and representing it with an object called a graph. Small sections of tissue will be computationally removed and the resulting change in overall brain connectivity will be measured using graph distance metrics. This map will be validated thoroughly with quantitative comparison to existing knowledge of experienced neurologists and by checking the correlation of the map's prediction of injury severity with disability measures in patients with traumatic brain injury. Presented in the form of a quantitative importance map of the brain, this information could greatly enhance a physician's knowledge and have far-reaching and significant impact. Some of the developments could lead to improved surgical planning, assessment of disease severity and possibly the development of a rehabilitation program in pathological states such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, and traumatic brain injury. In the future, the map could be extended to provide not only a score of severity, but also a specific type of disability for a localized region of damage or a predicted probability of recovery. The currently proposed research is expected to be the beginning of a much larger and long-term project that will analyze brain connectivity in many different pathological states affecting the brain. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This project will result in a 3-dimensional map of the brain that indicates in a quantitative manner the importance of small sections of brain tissue in overall brain connectivity, which could greatly bolster a physician's resources when treating diseases that result in brain injury, including stroke, multiple sclerosis, and trauma. In particular, this map could help physicians to improve surgical planning, assess disease severity and possibly improve the development of rehabilitation programs. In the future, the map could be extended to provide not only a score of severity, but also a specific type of disability for a localized region of damage or a predicted probability of recovery.