Novel MRI Techniques to Image Hippocampal Internal Architecture

描述(申请人提供)：Lawrence Ver Hoef博士是阿拉巴马大学伯明翰分校的癫痫专家和神经学助理教授。拥有工程学本科背景和生物医学工程学博士后研究生学位的Ver Hoef博士试图将自己确立为一名技术翻译神经成像研究员，以弥合MRI工程界尚未应用的尖端能力与临床神经科学界针对疾病的成像需求之间的差距，以促进合作努力。这两个高度专业化的领域将极大地受益于一位精通两门语言的研究人员，他可以将需要应用的工程能力与需要更好工具的临床研究联系起来。为了实现这一目标，Ver Hoef博士将通过一个有指导的项目和教育课程来发展他的研究能力，这些课程将完成他的工程学资质，使他掌握生物统计学和研究设计的技能，并提供管理项目的实践经验 具有工程和临床组件。该项目将优化一种新的磁共振成像技术(“3D锥体”)，以生成高分辨率的人类海马体的薄层图像，清楚地显示正常的分层海马体内部结构(HIA)。HIA在冠状MRI上的分化丧失被认为是癫痫患者海马硬化症(HS)的影像标志。HS是难治性癫痫的常见原因，但也可通过切除手术高度治愈。目前的MRI技术不一致，显示HIA的能力很差。因此，持续显示HIA或其异常的成像技术可以确定某些患有致残性、难治性癫痫的患者作为手术候选患者，具有良好的癫痫缓解预后。该项目将利用3D圆锥体成像技术与多图像平均(以提高信噪比)和扫描间联合配准(以最大限度地减少运动影响)相结合。几个特定的参数将被优化，以产生最好的HIA分化。然后，新技术将与标准的MRI技术进行比较，以展示其优越性。Ver Hoef博士将在生物医学工程和临床神经成像方面的专家的密切指导下工作。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Dr. Lawrence Ver Hoef is an epileptologist and Assistant Professor of Neurology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. With an undergraduate background in engineering and post-doctoral graduate studies in biomedical engineering, Dr. Ver Hoef seeks to establish himself as a technical translational neuroimaging researcher that bridges the gap between the unapplied cutting-edge abilities of the MRI engineering community and the disease-specific imaging needs of the clinical neuroscience community to facilitate cooperative endeavors. These two highly specialized arenas would benefit greatly from a researcher who is fluent in both languages who could connect engineering abilities in need of application with clinical investigations in need of better tools. To accomplish this goal Dr Ver Hoef will develop his research abilities through a mentored project and educational curriculum that will complete his engineering credentials, equip him with skills in biostatistics and study design, and provide hands-on experience managing a project with engineering and clinical components. The project will optimize a novel MRI technique ("3D Cones") to generate high-resolution thin-sliced images of the human hippocampus that will clearly demonstrate the normal layered hippocampal internal architecture (HIA). A loss of differentiation of HIA on coronal MRI has been suggested to be an imaging halmark of hippocampal sclerosis (HS) in epilepsy patients. HS is a common cause of medically refractory epilepsy, but is also highly remediable with resective surgery. Current MRI techniques are inconsistent and poorly able to demonstrate HIA. Therefore, an imaging technique that consistently demonstrates HIA, or abnormalities thereof, may identify certain patients with disabling, intractible epilepsy as surgical candidates with an excellent prognosis for seizure freedom. The project will utilize the 3D cones imaging technique in conjunction with multiple-image averaging (to improve signal to noise ratio) and inter-scan co-registration (to minimize movement effects). Several specific parameters will be optimized to generate the best possible differentiation of HIA. The new technique will then be compared to standard MRI techniques to demonstrate superiority. Dr. Ver Hoef will have close mentorship under experts in both biomedical engineering and clinical neuroimaging.