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，会因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极大地影响了患者所导致的残疾的数量和类型。目前基于核磁共振成像的脑损伤诊断定性不足，涉及医生对严重程度的主观评估和损伤预测。即使使用3D处理工具可以精确测量病变或肿瘤体积，这种方法也不足以描述对脑功能的影响。这是因为功能损伤是由损伤的程度和位置决定的，只有通过观察受损区域与大脑其他部分的纤维结构的连通性才能正确评估。提出了一种新的计算方法，该方法利用DTI和大脑的结构MR图像以及图论系统地将整个大脑连接的重要性分配给白质和灰质区域的小部分。大脑的定量重要性图将首先通过调查一大群正常患者的大脑连通性，并用一个称为图的对象表示它来创建。组织的小切片将被计算移除，并使用图距离度量来测量整个大脑连接的变化。通过与经验丰富的神经学家的现有知识进行定量比较，并通过检查该图谱对创伤性脑损伤患者损伤严重程度的预测与残疾措施的相关性，将彻底验证该图谱。以大脑的定量重要性图的形式呈现，这些信息可以极大地提高医生的知识，并具有深远而重要的影响。其中一些进展可能会改善手术计划、疾病严重程度的评估，并可能在诸如中风、多发性硬化症和创伤性脑损伤等病理状态下发展康复计划。在未来，地图可以扩展，不仅提供严重程度评分，还提供局部损伤区域的特定类型的残疾或预测的恢复概率。目前提出的研究有望成为一个更大的长期项目的开始，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。

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.