Translation of novel imaging techniques into clinical use for patients with epilepsy

癫痫是一种常见而严重的神经系统疾病。三分之一的患者尽管接受了药物治疗，但仍会癫痫发作，通常是由颞叶引起的。手术切除这部分大脑可以控制60-70%的癫痫发作，但可能导致记忆、语言、视觉和情绪受损。我将使用一种新颖的MRI脑部扫描技术来观察颞叶和大脑其他部分之间的联系，以确定癫痫和神经外科手术对大脑这些区域的影响。通过这个，我将展示术前MRI扫描如何预测患者是否会遭受这些不良后果，因此患者在决定是否进行手术时可以更好地了解情况。对于那些决定做手术的人，我会将手术前的扫描结果与3个月和12个月后的扫描结果进行比较，看看大脑是如何进行补偿的。这些信息还可以告知在脑损伤等相关领域工作的同事。最后，我将开发可以在手术中使用的成像技术，专门帮助外科医生避免损伤与视力有关的大脑部分，从而改善患者的临床结果。

Epilepsy is a common and serious neurological condition. A third of patients have seizures despite medication, which often arise from the temporal lobe. Surgical removal of this part of the brain can control the seizures in 60-70% but may result in impairments of memory, language, vision and mood.I will use a novel MRI brain scanning technique to look at connections between the temporal lobe and other parts of the brain to determine the effects of epilepsy and neurosurgery on these areas of the brain. Through this I will show how MRI scans before surgery can predict whether a patient will suffer these adverse consequences, so patients can be better informed when making a decision on whether to have surgery.For those deciding to have surgery, I will compare scans before surgery with those taken 3 and 12 months later to look at how the brain compensates. This information may additionally inform colleagues working in related fields such as brain injury. Finally, I will develop imaging techniques that can be used during surgery specifically to help the surgeon avoid damage to parts of the brain dealing with vision and so improve clinical outcome for the patient.