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

描述(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，由于细胞死亡而导致脑损伤和身体或精神残疾。受影响区域的位置和大小对患者所致残疾的数量和类型有很大影响。目前基于MRI的脑损伤诊断还不够定性，涉及到医生对损伤程度的主观评估和损伤的预测。即使加上3D处理工具，可以准确测量病变或肿瘤的体积，这种方法也不足以表征对大脑功能的影响。这是因为功能损伤是由损伤的程度和位置决定的，只有通过观察受影响区域通过其纤维结构与大脑其他部分的连接才能正确评估。提出了一种新的计算方法，该方法利用脑的DTI和结构磁共振图像以及图论来有条不紊地将整个大脑的连通性重要性分配给小部分的白质和灰质区域。这个大脑的定量重要性图将通过首先调查一大群正常患者的大脑连接并用一个称为图表的对象来表示来创建。一小部分组织将被计算移除，由此产生的整体大脑连接的变化将使用图形距离度量来衡量。这一地图将通过与经验丰富的神经学家的现有知识进行定量比较，并检查该地图预测的损伤严重程度与创伤性脑损伤患者的残疾测量之间的相关性，来彻底验证。这些信息以大脑的量化重要性图的形式呈现，可以极大地提高医生的知识水平，并具有深远而重大的影响。其中一些进展可能会导致改进手术计划，评估疾病的严重性，并可能开发出针对中风、多发性硬化症和创伤性脑损伤等病理状态的康复计划。在未来，地图可以扩展到不仅提供严重程度的评分，而且还提供局部损害区域的特定类型的残疾或预测的康复概率。目前提出的这项研究预计将是一个更大、更长期项目的开始，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。 与公共健康相关：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体大脑连接中的重要性，这可以极大地增加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进手术计划，评估疾病的严重性，并可能改善康复计划的发展。在未来，地图可以扩展到不仅提供严重程度的评分，而且还提供局部损害区域的特定类型的残疾或预测的康复概率。

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.