Motion Robust Relaxometry for Infant Neuroimaging

摘要： 定量弛豫法是一种有前途的方法，用于定量脑变化与早期 发育和脑组织差异作为遗传、环境或 病理弛豫法可能有助于评估异常白色物质损害， 婴儿有患脑瘫的风险，脑瘫是儿童最主要的运动障碍。 头部运动是幼儿MRI研究的一个重大挑战， 定量成像测量中的图像伪影和误差。又长又响的扫描也 对幼儿的成像依从性产生不利影响。因此，有一个关键的 需要开发对运动鲁棒、更快和更安静的成像方法。这 该项目将开发，优化和评估新型3D径向成像技术， 睡眠研究中的多模态结构成像和定量松弛测量 婴幼儿结果将是一种快速、超安静的成像技术，能够 提供定量弛豫时间的成像图， 动议这些优化的、运动校正的定量弛豫技术将 应用于一组婴儿和幼儿，而不使用镇静剂， 0 - 2岁儿童的发育松弛测定法规范性研究模板。 规范的弛豫测量框架将被应用于病变和异常的大脑 小儿脑瘫的治疗方法有哪些？ 框架也将被用来研究大脑和大脑中的个体差异， 典型发育和脑瘫中的感觉运动发育。最后， 本项目将提供一套稳健、可靠、准确的图像采集方法， 软件工具和研究健康和异常大脑发育的策略 在临床和研究儿科人群中无镇静作用。

ABSTRACT: Quantitative relaxometry is a promising method for quantifying brain changes with early development and brain tissue differences as a function of genetics, environment or pathology. Relaxometry may be useful for assessing abnormal white matter damage in infants at risk for cerebral palsy, which is the leading movement disorder in children. Head motion is a significant challenge for MRI studies in young children, resulting in image artifacts and errors in quantitative imaging measures. Long and loud scans also adversely affect imaging compliance in young children. Consequently, there is a critical need to develop imaging methods that are robust to motion, faster, and quieter. This project will develop, optimize and evaluate novel 3D radial imaging technologies for multimodal structural imaging and quantitative relaxometry for studies in sleeping infants and toddlers. The outcome will be a fast, ultra-quiet imaging technique capable of providing imaging maps of quantitative relaxation times that are robust to nearly all motions. These optimized, motion-corrected, quantitative relaxometry technologies will be applied to a cohort of infants and toddlers without sedation to generate developmental relaxometry templates for normative studies from 0 to 2 years of age. The normative relaxometry framework will be applied to lesions and abnormal brain development of infants at risk for or diagnosed with cerebral palsy, The normative framework will also be used to investigate individual differences in brain and sensorimotor development in both typical development and cerebral palsy. Ultimately, this project will provide a set of robust, reliable and accurate image acquisition methods, software tools, and strategies for investigating healthy and abnormal brain development in both clinical and research pediatric populations without sedation.