Ross W. Mair^1,2, Martin Reuter^2,3, and Andre J. van der Kouwe^2
1Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States, ²A.A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States, ³Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States

The multi-echo MPRAGE (MEMPRAGE) sequence was implemented to reduce signal distortion by acquiring at a higher bandwidth and averaging multiple echoes to recover SNR while providing additional T₂* information that can enhance cortical segmentation. A rapid 2-minute MEMPRAGE protocol has been implemented for large multi-center studies. Here, we investigate the impact on morphometric results for the cortex by systematically varying all the parameters modified between the rapid 2-minute scan and a conventional 6-minute structural scan. Small but significant differences in cortical thickness and gray matter volume result from a combination of the use of partial fourier acquisition and lowering the spatial resolution to 1.2mm.

Pavel Falkovskiy^1,2,3, Bénédicte Maréchal^1,2,3, Shuang Yan⁴, Zhengyu Jin⁴, Tianyi Qian⁵, Kieran O'Brien^6,7, Reto Meuli², Jean-Philippe Thiran^2,3, Gunnar Krueger^2,3,8, Tobias Kober^1,2,3, and Alexis Roche^1,2,3
1Advanced Clinical Imaging Technology (HC CMEA SUI DI BM PI), Siemens Healthcare AG, Lausanne, Switzerland, ²Department of Radiology, University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland, ³LTS5, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁴Department of Radiology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China, People's Republic of, ⁵MR Collaborations NE Asia, Siemens Helathcare, Beijing, China, People's Republic of, ⁶Centre for Advanced Imaging, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, ⁷Siemens Healthcare Pty Ltd., Brisbane, Australia, ⁸Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Boston, MA, United States

The MP2RAGE pulse sequence exhibits higher grey-matter/white-matter contrast compared to standard MPRAGE acquisitions and provides images with greatly reduced B1 bias. In theory, these qualities of MP2RAGE should lead to more accurate morphometric results. However, a major hindrance to MP2RAGE morphometric processing is the salt-and-pepper noise in the background and cavities. This poses a major problem for the skull-stripping stage of most automated morphometry algorithms. We investigated three skull-stripping strategies using the MorphoBox prototype and FreeSurfer automated-morphometry software packages and compared them to results obtained using the gold-standard MPRAGE contrast.

Martina F Callaghan¹, Siawoosh Mohammadi^1,2, and Nikolaus Weiskopf^1,3
1Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom, ²Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany,³Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany

Here we exploit the inter-dependence of quantitative MRI (qMRI) parameters via relaxometry modelling to generate synthetic quantitative maps of magnetisation transfer saturation. The utility of the new concept of synthetic quantitative data is demonstrated by improving image segmentation of deep gray matter structures for neuroimaging applications.

Mustafa Okan Irfanoglu^1,2, Amritha Nayak^1,2, Jeffrey Jenkins^1,2, Elizabeth B Hutchinson^1,2, Neda Sadeghi¹, Cibu P Thomas^1,3, and Carlo Pierpaoli^1
1NICHD, NIH, Bethesda, MD, United States, ²Henry Jackson Foundation, Bethesda, MD, United States, ³CNRM, Bethesda, MD, United States

Spatial alignment of diffusion tensor MRI data is of fundamental importance for  voxelwise statistical anaysis and creation of population specific atlases of diffusion MRI metrics. In this work, we propose DR-TAMAS, a novel diffusion tensor imaging registration method which uses a spatially varying metric to achieve accurate alignment not in only in white matter but also in gray matter and CSF filled regions. Our tests indicate that  DR-TAMAS shows excellent overall performance in the entire brain, while being equivalent to the best existing methods in white matter.

Shubharthi Sengupta¹, Ron Hellenbrand², René Finger², Chris Wiggins³, and Alard Roebroeck^1
1Dept. of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands, ²Lab Engineering & Instrumentation Department, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands, ³Scannexus, Maastricht, Netherlands

Small-bore animal scanners or spectroscopy systems have often been used for the investigation of small post-mortem human brain samples. These studies use the high field strengths and strong gradients, but are inherently limited to very small sample sizes. In this abstract, we discuss the acquisition of very high resolution anatomical images (100μm isotropic) of a full occipital sample as large as 80x80x80 mm³, using a customised RF receive coil-array in a large-bore 9.4 T human scanner.

Lisa A. van der Kleij¹, Jeroen de Bresser¹, Esben T. Petersen², Jeroen Hendrikse¹, and Jill B. De Vis^1
1Department of Radiology, UMC Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, ²Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Centre for Functional and Diagnostic Imaging and Research, Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre, Hvidovre, Denmark

We recently introduced a CSF MRI sequence to automatically measure intracranial volume (ICV) and brain parenchymal volume (BPV). This sequence with short imaging time (0:57 min) and fast post processing correlates well with qualitative brain atrophy scores. This study demonstrates that the low resolution and high resolution CSF MRI sequences perform well in the assessment of BPV and ICV, with a precision similar to the conventional brain segmentation methods FSL, Freesurfer and SPM. The CSF MRI sequence showed a good to very good correlation with the conventional segmentation methods for ICV and BPV. 

Andrew L Janke¹, Kieran O'Brian², Steffen Bollmann¹, Tobias Kober³, and Markus Barth^1
1Centre for Advanced Imaging, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, ²Siemens Healthcare Pty Ltd, Brisbane, Australia, ³Advanced Clinical Imaging Technology, Siemens Healthcare AG, Lausanne, Switzerland

7T provides a method to see detailed image contrast in the human brain; the MP2RAGE sequence allows 500um acquisition resolution.

Stephanie Bogaert¹, Michiel de Ruiter², Sabine Deprez^3,4, Ronald Peeters³, Pim Pullens^5,6, Frank De Belder⁶, José Belderbos⁷, Sanne Schagen², Dirk De Ruysscher^8,9, Stefan Sunaert^3,4, and Eric Achten^1
1Radiology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium, ²Psychosocial Research and Epidemiology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands, ³Radiology, Leuven University Hospital, Belgium, ⁴Imaging and Pathology, KU Leuven, Belgium, ⁵Radiology, University of Antwerp, Belgium, ⁶Radiology, Antwerp University Hospital, Belgium, ⁷Radiation Oncology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands,⁸Radiation Oncology, MAASTRO clinic Maastricht, Netherlands, ⁹Respiratory Oncology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Netherlands

Longitudinal multicenter MRI studies require stable and comparable measurements. We scanned two subjects in six different scanners (two vendors) at different time points and assessed hippocampal volumes manually and automatically. 

Intrascanner CV was <2.62% for both techniques; Freesurfer is a good alternative for manual delineation for longitudinal studies.

Intervendor variability was sometimes lower than intrascanner variability for the manual technique, which suggests only a modest effect of hardware differences across vendors. Freesurfer results were systematically higher for vendor B compared to A; it is not recommended to compare cross-sectional Freesurfer results between vendors in this multicenter study.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sjoerd B Vos^1,2, M Jorge Cardoso¹, Marzena Wylezinska-Arridge³, David L Thomas^1,3, Enrico De Vita^3,4, Marios C Yiannakas⁵, David Carmichael⁶, John S Thornton^3,4, Olga Ciccarelli⁵, John S Duncan^2,7, and Sebastien Ourselin^1
1Translational Imaging Group, University College London, London, United Kingdom, ²MRI Unit, Epilepsy Society, Chalfont St Peter, United Kingdom, ³Neuroradiological Academic Unit, Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom, ⁴Lysholm Department of Neuroradiology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, United Kingdom, ⁵Department of Neuroinflammation, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom, ⁶Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom, ⁷Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom

Volumetric analyses of 3D T1-weighted images has become an integral part of the clinical work-up and research studies. Variation between scanners, in both vendors and models, is a major confound in combining imaging-derived biomarkers across sites. In this work, we analyse test-retest data from different days on six 3 T scanners from three vendors to quantify this inter-scanner variability compared to intra-scanner variability. Contrast-to-noise ratios as well as volumetric analyses are performed showing between-scanner variation in total brain volumes – indicating different scanner calibrations – but also tissue-specific differences – possibly arising from different effective contrasts.

Sven Haller^1,2,3,4, Pavel Falkovskiy^5,6,7, Reto Meuli⁶, Jean-Philippe Thiran⁷, Gunnar Krueger⁸, Karl-Olof Lovblad^1,9, Alexis Roche^5,6,7, Tobias Kober^5,6,7, and Bénédicte Maréchal^5,6,7
1Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland, ²Affidea Centre de Diagnostique Radiologique de Carouge CDRC, Geneva, Switzerland, ³Department of Surgical Sciences, Radiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden, ⁴Department of Neuroradiology, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany, ⁵Advanced Clinical Imaging Technology (HC CMEA SUI DI BM PI), Siemens Healthcare AG, Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁶Department of Radiology, University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁷LTS5, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁸Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc., Boston, ME, United States, ⁹University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

Standard MR parameters, notably spatial resolution, contrast and image filtering, systematically bias results of automated brain MRI morphometry by up to 4.8%. This is in the same range as early disease-related brain volume alterations, for example in Alzheimer's disease. Automated brain segmentation software packages should therefore require strict MR parameter selection or include compensatory algorithms to avoid MR-parameter-related bias of brain morphometry results.

Subrahmanyam Gorthi¹ and Srikrishnan Viswanathan^1
1Samsung R&D Institute, Bangalore, India

This work presents a detailed investigation of two multiple-templates based fusion approaches for automated segmentation of structures in the brain MR images: (i) fusion based on direct pairwise registrations between each template and the target image, and (ii) fusion based on an intermediate groupwise template, requiring only a single onsite registration. The key finding from these evaluations is that, if computational time for automated segmentations is a major concern, then groupwise-template based registration followed by fusion is an optimal choice; if time is not a major constraint, then multiple pairwise registrations followed by fusion provides more accurate segmentations.

Ileana Hancu¹, Ek Tsoon Tan¹, Luca Marinelli¹, Nathan White², Dominic Holland², Tim Sprenger³, and Jonathan Sperl^3
1GE Global Research Center, Niskayuna, NY, United States, ²University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States, ³GE Global Research Center, Munich, Germany

The performance of four distortion correction algorithms was investigated in a cohort of normal volunteers. While all approaches reduced distortion, it was found that the reversed polarity gradient methods were inherently better than registration or B0-mapping approaches. It was likely that the limited degrees of freedom of the registration approach could not account for localized magnetic field inhomogeneity. The extrapolation of B0 maps in the distorted EPI space introduced errors that decreased the overall performance of the B0-mapping method. 

Jinghua Wang¹, Lili He², and Zhong-Lin Lu^1
1The Ohio State Univeristy, Columbus, OH, United States, ²Center for Perinatal Research, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH, United States

The 3D FLASH sequence is frequently used in structural imaging of the brain. Tissue contrast inhomogeneity, resulting from inhomogeneous transmit field and receiver sensitivity, significantly affects quantitative structural brain analyses such as classification and quantification of brain tissues in voxel-based morphometry and detection of pathological brain changes in clinical studies.  It is important to optimize the sequence to jointly improve contrast efficiency and image homogeneity.   In this work, we propose optimal imaging parameters and present methods to improve contrast efficiency and reduce or eliminate image inhomogeneity.   

Christina Andica¹, Akifumi Hagiwara^1,2, Misaki Nakazawa^1,3, Masaaki Hori¹, Saori Shiota¹, Mariko Yoshida¹, Kanako Sato¹, Yuko Takahashi¹, Kanako Kumamaru¹, Michimasa Suzuki¹, Atsushi Nakanishi¹, Kouhei Tsuruta^1,3, Ryo Ueda^1,3, and Shigeki Aoki^1
1Department of Radiology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan, ²Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, ³Department of Radiological Sciences, Graduate School of Human Health Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan

Synthetic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a technique which can be used to synthesize contrast-weighted images based on quantification of the longitudinal T1 relaxation, the transverse T2 relaxation, the proton density (PD), and the amplitude of the local radio frequency B1 field. Synthetic MRI images were useful in the evaluation of brain disorders. With Synthetic MRI, echo time (TE), repetition time (TR), and inversion time (TI) of the contrast-weighted image can be freely adjusted retrospectively to optimize image quality. Limitation of synthetic MRI is the partial volume effect.

Caitlin O'Connell¹, Leon Ho^2,3, Matthew Murphy², Yolandi van der Merwe^1,2, Ian Conner^1,2, Gadi Wollstein^1,2, Joel Schuman^1,2, Rakie Cham¹, and Kevin Chan^1,2
1Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, ²UPMC Eye Center, Eye and Ear Institute, Ophthalmology and Visual Science Research Center, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, ³Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

Human visual performance has been observed to exhibit superiority in the lower visual field and horizontal meridian compared to the upper visual field and vertical meridian, respectively, in response to many classes of stimuli, but the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. This study determines if processing of visual information is dependent on the location of stimuli in the visual field using functional MRI. The results show stronger brain responses and larger activation volumes upon flickering visual stimulation to the lower hemifield compared to upper hemifield, while only the activation size differed between visual presentations to the horizontal and vertical meridians.

Ek T Tan¹, Seung-Kyun Lee¹, Paul Weavers², Matthew Middione³, Matt A Bernstein², John Huston², and Thomas KF Foo^1
1GE Global Research, Niskayuna, NY, United States, ²Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States, ³GE Healthcare, Menlo Park, CA, United States

It is challenging to increase spatial resolution (≤1.5 mm) in whole-brain, single-shot echo-planar-imaging (ss-EPI) on conventional whole-body systems due to EPI distortion and limited SNR. A compact head 3T system with an asymmetric head gradient coil capable of high gradient amplitude and 3.5 times the slew rate of whole-body systems can enable ss-EPI acquisition with high spatial resolution and reduced spatial distortion, simultaneously. This work compares spin-echo and gradient-recalled-echo ss-EPI between the compact and whole-body systems, showing substantially reduced distortion and signal dropout, and shorter echo-times. Results with the high performance gradient were also demonstrated in multi-band-accelerated, high b-value diffusion-imaging.

Yeong-Jae Jeon^1,2, Sang-Woo Kim^1,2, Joo-Yeon Kim¹, Young-Seok Park³, and Hyeon-Man Baek^1,2
1Bio-Imaging Research Team, Korea Basic Science Institute, Ochang, Korea, Republic of, ²Bio-Analytical Science, University of Science & Technology, Daejeon, Korea, Republic of, ³College of Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju-si, Korea, Republic of

The purpose of this study was to investigate contrast enhancement difference of SWI from human brain regions at 7T, and to compare contrast enhancement between cortical, anterior septal, and hippocampal veins. Five healthy volunteers (mean±SD, 24.4±1.67 years) participating in this study were scanned on 7T. The observation in this work was the significant difference of contrast enhancement of cortical and other veins, and no significant contrast enhancement difference between anterior septal and hippocampal veins. In conclusion, contrast enhancement of human brain at 7T depends on the regions giving higher cortical vein contrast with respect to anterior septal and hippocampal veins. 

Jessica Steventon¹, Catherine Foster¹, Daniel Helme², Monica Busse³, and Kevin Murphy^1
1CUBRIC, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom, ²School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom, ³School of Healthcare Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom

Here we examine the acute effects of a single exercise session on cerebrovasculature using a multi-TI arterial spin labelling (ASL) sequence to measure cerebral blood flow (CBF), and a dual-echo ASL sequence with hypercapnia to measure cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR). We show that contrary to previous smaller studies, 20-minutes of aerobic exercise does not affect CBF or CVR in the 60-minute period after exercise. Despite this, changes in CBF after exercise were related to individually-determined systemic physiological changes associated with exercise intensity, informing on moderators of cerebral autoregulation.

Esther AH Warnert¹, Ian D Driver¹, Joseph Whittaker¹, and Kevin Murphy^1
1Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom

Due to the potential of using hyperoxia as a treatment for cerebral ischemic diseases, including stroke, it is important to fully understand the effects of hyperoxia on the cerebrovasculature. Although it is known that breathing of 100% O₂ leads to a decrease in cerebral blood flow, it is unclear where along the cerebral arterial tree vasoconstriction occurs. Here we show that, while there is expected constriction of the large arteries, smaller and more distal arteries actually show vasodilation upon hyperoxia.

Hye Jin Jeong¹, Jong Yeon Lee², Jong Hwan Lee², Yu Jeong Kim², Eung Yeop Kim³, Young Yeon Kim⁴, Zang-Hee Cho¹, and Young-Bo Kim^1
1Neuroscience Research Institute, Incheon, Korea, Republic of, ²Gil Hospital, Department of Ophthalmology, Incheon, Korea, Republic of, ³Gil Hospital, Department of Radiology, Incheon, Korea, Republic of, ⁴Korea University College of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology, Seoul, Korea, Republic of

To investigate lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) volume of glaucoma patients compared with age-matched normal controls using ultra-high field 7.0-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). On high-resolution 7.0-T MRI, LGN volumes in POAG patients are significantly smaller than those of healthy subjects. Furthermore, in patients, LGN volume was found to be significantly correlated with ganglion cell layer and inner plexus layer (GC–IPL) thickness of the contralateral eye.

Sudhakar Tummala¹, Daniel W Kang², Bumhee Park¹, Ruchi Vig¹, Mary A Woo³, Ronald M Harper^4,5, and Rajesh Kumar^1,5,6,7
1Anesthesiology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ²Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ³UCLA School of Nursing, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ⁴Neurobiology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ⁵Brain Research Institute, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ⁶Radiological Sciences, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ⁷Bioengineering, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States

OSA subjects show brain injury in multiple areas, which may contribute to accumulation of iron in those sites. Deposition of iron in OSA subjects is unclear. We examined regional iron deposition using T2*-relaxometry procedures; R2* values were significantly increased in insular, parietal, cingulate and cingulum bundle, temporal, and cerebellar areas. The increased iron depositions in OSA subjects may result from neural and white matter injury, including myelin and glial dysfunction, with iron potentially accelerating tissue degeneration. These data suggest that interfering with the iron action may reduce the exacerbation of injury in OSA.

X. Li¹, Neil Roberts¹, M. Perrins¹, and G. Vingerhoets^2
1University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, ²Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

The human brain is structurally asymmetric and typically described as if it has been subject to a rotational moment about the vertical axis of the body, the so-called “Yakovlevian Torque”. In subjects with situs inversus totalis (SI) the internal organs of the body are transposed and it has been obvious to question whether in these subjects brain torque is also reversed? We recruited 16 subjects with SI and 16 age, sex and education matched controls (SS) and applied state of the art image analysis techniques to investigate the extent to which brain asymmetry is reversed on 3D MR images in these subjects. Analysis of the frontal and occipital petalia has confirmed previous reports of significant reversal of the latter but not the former on average in SI, and has also shown that reversed asymmetry is not present in all individuals with SI. 

Tina Seah¹, Tang Phua Hwee¹, Toh Zhe Han¹, Gu Qing Long², and Wong Weng Hang^2
1Diagnostic Imaging, KK women's and children's hospital, singapore, Singapore, ²singapore, Singapore

Quantitative study of the brain changes between young judo athletes and normal children who do not do judo, using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Study shows significant increased fractional anisotropy (FA) of the major white matter tracks (corpus callosum, corticospinal tracks, superior longitudinal fasciculus) with slight increase in N-acetylaspartate to Creatine (NAA/Cr) ratio in the parietal white matter bilaterally.  The increased FA and NAA/Cr ratios support structural changes involving grey matter volumes in the cortical cerebral grey matter described in published literatures on athletes.

Keiya Hirata¹, Osamu Tachibana², Chihiro Watari¹, Tatsunori Kuroda¹, Nanako Miyamoto¹, Saeko Tomida¹, Masaru Takahashi¹, Tomokazu Oku¹, Shigeo Miyazaki¹, Masahiro Kawashima¹, Naoko Tsuchiya³, Ichirou Toyota³, Mariko Doai³, and Hisao Tonami^3
1Division of radiology, Kanazawa medical university, Uchinada, Japan, ²Department of neurosurgery, Kanazawa medical university, Uchinada, Japan, ³Department of radiology, Kanazawa medical university, Uchinada, Japan

Transsphenoidal surgery is performed in the surgery of the pituitary region. The perforating branch which performs a nutrient of optic nerve and a mamillary body is present in the cistern around the pituitary gland. We can reduce complications of the surgery if we can identify a perforating branch before surgery.We try to visualize the perforating branch as black blood MRA using the high spatial resolution 3D-FSE sequence. We examined the optimal conditions at phantoms and normal volunteers. The optimal condition was a combination of TR2400msec/2shots, and the imaging time was 20 min and 45 s.

Ivan E Dimitrov^1,2, Qing Yuan³, Sepand Salehian³, Gaurav Khatri³, Marco Pinho³, and Ivan Pedrosa^2,3
1Philips Medical Systems, Cleveland, OH, United States, ²Advanced Imaging Research Center, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, ³Radiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States

We investigated the ability of dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) dual-echo multi-peak Dixon-based imaging to generate MR angiography of the neck, without the need of subtraction thus eliminating the possibility of errors due to motion. In six patients with multiple sclerosis, DCE MRA based on subtraction of pre-contrast from post-contrast images was compared with MRA generated solely from the post-contrast data where fat suppression was achieved using Dixon-based water imaging. While high levels of vessel-to-background contrast was observed in both methods, the subtractionless DIXON-MRA resulted in higher overall contrast for the aortic arch, the brachiocephalic arteries, and the carotid bifurcation. 

Jiliang Fang¹, Yanping Zhao¹, Sinyeob Ahn², Guiyong Liu¹, Caixia Fu³, Jin Yang¹, Xiaoling Wang¹, Bo Hou⁴, Feng Feng⁴, and Tianyi Qian^5
1Radiology, Guang An Men Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China, People's Republic of, ²MR Collaboration, Siemens Healthcare, San Francisco, CA, United States, ³APPL, Siemens Shenzhen Magnetic Resonance Ltd., Shenzhen, China, People's Republic of, ⁴Radiology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China, People's Republic of, ⁵MR Collaborations NE Asia, Siemens Healthcare, Beijing, China, People's Republic of

This study investigates the neurotransmitter basis of the negative response in the medial prefrontal cortex induced by acupuncture stimulus. The MEGA-PRESS 1H-MRS sequence was used to detect the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and Glutamine (Glu) concentration before and after acupuncture stimulation in normal subjects. The result showed that the GABA concentrations were decreased, while the Glu/Gln concentrations were increased. The task-fMRI data acquired during acupuncture stimulation showed deactivation in the same area. These results suggest that the deactivated BOLD response induced by acupuncture might be associated with the neural inhibition effects.

Sehnaz Tezcan¹, Muhtesem Agildere¹, Taner Sezer², Ozge Ozturk¹, and Aydin Sav^3
1Radiology, Baskent University Hospital, Ankara, Turkey, ²Pediatrics, Division of Neurology, Baskent University Hospital, Ankara, Turkey, ³Pathology, Acibadem Maslak Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey

Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD) is a histioproliferative disorder, rarely affects central nervous system.  A 5-year old boy presented with ptosis, diplopia. MR revealed enhancing mass in the cerebellar pedincle and pons. MR Spectroscopy (MRS) of the lesion showed increased Choline/N-acetyl aspartate ratio and lactate peak.. Histopathology was compatible with RDD. Although intracranial RDD generally presents as dural based lesions and supratentorial in location, intraparencymal lesions may be seen.. In this case report a rare form of RDD, posterior fossa parenchyma involvement presented with particular interest to brain MR, MRS and diffusion findings.

Hale Turnaoglu¹, Kemal Murat Haberal¹, Ozlem Isiksacan Ozen², and Ahmet Muhtesem Agildere^1
1Radiology, Baskent University, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey, ²Pathology, Baskent University, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey

Dialysis-related amyloidosis that occurs secondarily to the deposition of amyloid fibrils containing beta-2-microglobulin, is a type of amyloidosis affecting patients undergoing long-term hemodialysis. It involves the osteoarticular system predominantly. Destructive spondyloarthropathy, which frequently involves the cervical spine, have been reported only sporadically. CT is the best modality for detecting osseous erosion or small areas of osteolysis in cortical bone. MRI shows the extent and distribution of osseous, articular, spinal cord and soft-tissue involvement and indicates amyloid deposits in the intervertebral disk, synovium of apophyseal joints, and ligaments. The gold standart of the diagnosis is the histological identification of beta-2-microglobulin.

Virendra Kumar¹, Devender Bairwa², Surabhi Vyas³, Achal Srivastava⁴, Bimal K Das⁵, R. M. Pandey⁶, S. K. Sharma², Sanjeev Sinha², and N. R. Jagannathan^1
1Department of NMR, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India, ²Department of Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India, ³Department of Radiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India, ⁴Department of Neurology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India, ⁵Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India,⁶Department of Biostatistics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

We investigated the effect of HIV infection status on brain metabolites in HIV patients with CNS involvement and asymptomatic HIV patients. 71 subjects were studied including HIV patients with CNS involvement, asymptomatic HIV patients and healthy controls. Single voxel MRS was carried out at 3.0 Tesla MR scanner and metabolite concentrations were determined from three brain regions; left frontal, left basal ganglia and lesion in case of HIV patients with CNS involvement. Glx (Glu+Gln) and creatine were significantly increased in HIV patients in frontal region compared to healthy controls. The concentration of N-acetylaspartate in basal ganglia showed a significant decrease in HIV patients.

Sudhakar Tummala¹, Bumhee Park¹, Ruchi Vig¹, Mary A Woo², Daniel W Kang³, Ronald M Harper^4,5, and Rajesh Kumar^1,5,6,7
1Anesthesiology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ²UCLA School of Nursing, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ³Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ⁴Neurobiology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ⁵Brain Research Institute, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ⁶Radiological Sciences, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ⁷Bioengineering, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients show gray matter injury in multiple brain areas based on various MRI techniques, which can accompany subcortical and white matter myelin integrity loss in the condition. However, the extent of regional myelin changes in OSA is unclear. We examined regional myelin integrity in newly-diagnosed, treatment-naive OSA patients, and found decreased values, probably resulting from hypoxic/ischemic processes, in critical autonomic, cognitive, respiratory, and mood control sites, functions that are deficient in the condition. These findings show that myelin mapping, based on the ratio of T1- and T2-weighted images, is useful in assessing regional myelin alterations.

Franklyn Arron Howe¹, Olakunbi Harrison², Thomas Richard Barrick¹, and Nidhi Sofat^2
1Neuroscience Research Centre, St George's, University of London, London, United Kingdom, ²Institute for Infection and Immunity, St George's, University of London, London, United Kingdom

Chronic pain from osteoarthritis (OA) may be aggravated by “central sensitisation”, whereby pain-processing pathways become sensitised by inflammatory and degenerative disease processes. 1H MRS was used to investigate biochemical changes in pain processing brain areas of hand OA patients (n=32) compared to controls (n=14). There were no differences between controls and patients in the anterior cingulate gyrus, nor age related changes. In the insula cortex mI/Glx correlated with the pain score (R2 = 0.52, p = 0.018) after co-varying for age. High mI/Glx in the insula cortex was associated with high pain and may reflect inflammatory effects or neurological changes.

Caroline D Rae¹, Haider Naqvi², Andrew Vakulin^2,3, Angela D'Rozario², Michael Green¹, Hannah Openshaw², Keith Wong^2,4, Jong-Won Kim⁵, Delwyn J Bartlett⁶, Doug McEvoy⁷, and Ronald R Grunstein^6
1The University of New South Wales, Randwick, Australia, ²NHMRC Centers of Research Excellence, CIRUS and NeuroSleep, Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, ³3. Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health: A Flinders Centre of Research Excellence, School of Medicine, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia, ⁴Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, ⁵School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, ⁶NeuroSleep and Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, ⁷Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health: A Flinders Centre of Research Excellence, School of Medicine, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia

Here, we investigated the potential for MRS/MRI markers to differentiate between phenotypes of obstructive sleep apnea patients who are vulnerable, versus resistant to vigilance failure, an indicator of driving impairment and accident risk. Vulnerable patients (N = 15) and resistant patients (N = 30) were differentiated on the basis of left orbito-frontal glutamate and aspartate and also anterior cingulate glutathione levels. There was a trend towards lower orbitofrontal creatine levels in vulnerable OSA subjects, but no group differences in brain volumes.

YING XIONG^1,2, Shun Zhang¹, Qiang Zhang³, and Wenzhen Zhu^1
1Radiology Department, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, People's Republic of, ²Certer for MR Research, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States, ³Neurology Department, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, People's Republic of

This study aims at investigating brain microstructural changes in white-matter (WM) of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients using diffusional kurtosis imaging (DKI), and making a comparison with diffusion tensor metrics. Thirty T2DM patients and 28 health controls were recruited and imaged on a 3 Tesla scanner. It was found that in the whole-brain and atlas-based analysis, mean kurtosis (MK) detected more regions with WM alterations than fractional anisotropy (FA), especially in some regions including crossing fibers. DKI can complement conventional DTI and provide more information to characterize and pinpoint brain microstructural changes in WM of T2DM patients.

Cornelia Laule^1,2, Elham Shahinfard¹, Burkhard Maedler¹, Jing Zhang¹, Irene Vavasour¹, Ritu Aul³, David K.B. Li^1,4, Alex L. MacKay^1,5, and Sandra Sirrs^6
1Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ²Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ³Medical Genetics, North York General Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada, ⁴Medicine (Neurology), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁵Physics & Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁶Medicine (Endocrinology), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Late-onset Krabbe disease is a very rare demyelinating leukodystrophy. We found hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in Krabbe disease halts demyelination and axonal loss up to 4 years post-allograft. Abnormalities far beyond those visible on conventional imaging were detected, suggesting a global pathological process occurs in Krabbe disease with adult onset etiology, with myelin being more affected than axons. However, the degree of Krabbe abnormality did not increase over time for any advanced MR metrics, which supports hematopoietic stem cell transplantation as an effective treatment strategy for stopping progression associated with late-onset Krabbe disease.

Anzar Abbas¹, Waqas Majeed², Garth Thompson³, and Shella Keilholz^4
1Neuroscience Program, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States, ²School of Science and Engineering, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan, ³Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States, ⁴Biomedical Engineering, Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States

Functional organization of brain networks plays an important role in behavior. Analysis of the dynamics of two functional networks – the default mode (DMN) and task positive (TPN) networks – has shown a dependency of task performance on relative network activation. Fluctuations between these two networks have been seen to occur in humans in a continuous, quasi-periodic fashion. However, the nature of these quasi-periodic patterns (QPPs) and their effect on behavior is not well understood. We show that QPPs do not differ between resting state and task-based scans and that the phase of these QPPs can serve as predictors of performance on the psychomotor vigilance task (PVT).

Radhika Madhavan¹, Suresh E Joel¹, Sumit Niogi², John A Tsiouris², Luca Marinelli³, and Teena Shetty^2
1GE Global Research, Bangalore, India, ²Hospital for special surgery, New York, NY, United States, ³GE Global Research, Niskayuna, NY, United States

mTBI diagnosis is controversial since although the brain appears normal on CT/MRI scans,  a significant proportion of patients display persistent cognitive impairments up to 6 months post-injury. We recorded rs-fMRI in mTBI patients longitudinally over 3 months, to track functional changes in the brain as patients recovered. Symptom scores were negatively correlated with fractional power in the low-frequency band (0.01-0.1 Hz) of rs-fMRI, and this correlation was most significant in the higher visual, salience and sensorimotor networks. We suggest that low frequency power of rs-fMRI can be used as a biomarker for predicting severity of cognitive impairment in brain injury.

Radhika Madhavan¹, Hariharan Ravishankar¹, Suresh E Joel¹, Rakesh Mullick¹, Sumit Niogi², John A Tsiouris², Luca Marinelli³, and Teena Shetty^4
1GE Global Research, Bangalore, India, ²Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States, ³GE Global Research, Niskayuna, NY, United States, ⁴Hospital for Special Surgery, New York City, NY, United States

Although most mTBI patients recover by 3-6 months, they suffer serious short and long term effects. Additionally, multiple mTBIs may have serious long-term consequences. Here, we correlated brain network-level connectivity features derived from resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) with clinical symptoms, in order to identify neuroimaging biomarkers of mTBI as patients recover over 3 months. We used a machine-learning framework to select connectivity features associated with symptoms and identified functional regions with altered connectivity. These modular network-level features can be used as diagnostic tools for predicting disease severity and recovery profiles.

David Yen-Ting Chen^1,2, Yi-Tien Li^1,3, Chien-Yuan Eddy Lin^4,5, Chi-Jeng Chen¹, and Ying-Chi Tseng^1
1Department of Radiology, Shuang-Ho Hospital, Taipei Medical University, New Taipei City, Taiwan, ²Brain and Consciousness Research Center, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City, Taiwan, ³Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei City, Taiwan, ⁴GE Healthcare, Taipei City, Taiwan, ⁵MR Advanced Application and Research Center, GE Healthcare, Beijing City, China, People's Republic of

Mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) may cause disruption of default mode network (DMN) in patients. We found differences in both resting state DMN connectivity and task-related deactivation between MTBI patients and healthy controls. Although no significant within-network difference was found in the DMN connectivity between patients and controls, there was increased extra-network connection to the left inferior frontal gyrus in the patients. Significantly more profound task-related deactivation was found in the patients, especially in bilateral IPCs. Increased task-related deactivation may imply the patients need more attention on performing the WM tasks. Furthermore, significant correlation between resting state connectivity and task-related deactivation of DMN was found in healthy controls and this rest-task correlation was disrupted in the patients.

Suresh Emmanuel Joel¹, Radhika Madhavan¹, Rakesh Mullick¹, Sumit Niogi², John A Tsiouris², Luca Marinelli³, and Teena Shetty^4
1Diagnostic Imaging and Biomedical Technologies, General Electric Global Research, Bangalore, India, ²Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States, ³Diagnostic Imaging and Biomedical Technologies, General Electric Global Research, Niskayuna, NY, United States, ⁴Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY, United States

Patients who suffer from mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) have cognitive and behavioral deficits though MR and CT appear normal. Functional neuroimaging has high promise to provide biomarkers which may enable better prognosis and therapy of mTBI. The work here shows in a large sample (78 mTBI patients and 26 controls in 3 sessions spanning 3 months from injury), significant correlation between functional connectivity in visual, motor and default mode networks and self-reported symptom scores. Given this association, functional connectivity stands to be an important contributor to predict mTBI outcome.

Hsin-Yi Lai¹, Hui-Ching Lin^2,3, Hui-Yu Wang⁴, Jun-Cheng Weng⁵, Han-Fang Wu², and You-Yin Chen^4
1Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology (ZIINT), Zhejiang University, Hangzhou City, China, People's Republic of, ²Department and Institute of Physiology, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ³Brain Research Center, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ⁴Department of Biomedical Engineering, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ⁵Department of Medical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

 This study demonstrates changes of functional connectivity in motor related brain areas and it is age-related different in Valproate-induced rat autism model. Our results indicate that the motor cortex and striatum may be crucial areas for treatment and evolution of ASD. rsfMRI has potential to explore functional connectivity in the brain and monitor functional plasticity changes in a specific neuroanatomical pathway in vivo. 

Xiaopei Xu¹, Pek-Lan Khong¹, Nichol M. L. Wong^2,3, Rainbow T. H. Ho⁴, C. Mary Schooling⁵, Pui-sze Yeung⁶, Tatia M. C. Lee^2,3,7,8, and Edward S Hui^1
1Department of Diagnostic Radiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, ²Laboratory of Neuropsychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, ³Laboratory of Social Cognitive Affective Neuroscience, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, ⁴Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, ⁵School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, ⁶Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, ⁷Institute of Clinical Neuropsychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, ⁸The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

To better understand the importance of education, genetic, and environmental influences on brain structural connectivity, we used DTI-based tractography and brain network analysis to investigate the thereof in twin pairs.  The correlation between network properties and education was also studied in both twin and non-twin participants. We showed significant correlations between twin pairs for the topology of brain network and the nodal characteristics of brain hubs. Nodal characteristics of hubs were also significantly correlated with education level. These findings suggested that brain topology and cognitive capacity are heritable, and brain network analysis is of potential value in intelligence assessment.

Xiaopei Xu¹, Henry KF Mak¹, MY Mok², CS Lau², and Edward S Hui^1
1Department of Diagnostic Radiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, ²Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

To better understand the underlying mechanisms for various neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE), we used DTI-based tractography and graph theory approaches to investigate the change in the global configuration and nodal characteristics of the structural brain network in NPSLE and SLE patients. Our results showed impaired small-world structural network and diminished role of several brain regions as hubs in NPSLE patients, indicating the disruption of brain architecture underlying multiple neuropsychiatric manifestations present in NPSLE. Our results demonstrated that brain network analysis is a reliable method to study systemic disease like NPSLE. 

Alexandra Petiet^1,2, Gonçalo C Vilhais-Neto^3,4, Daniel Garcia-Lorenzo¹, Stéphane Lehéricy^1,2, and Olivier Pourquié^3,4,5,6,7
1Center for Neuroimaging Research, Brain and Spine Institute, Paris, France, ²UPMC/Inserm UMRS1127 / CNRS UMR7225, Paris, France, ³Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Illkirch, France,⁴Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO, United States, ⁵Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Kansas City, MO, United States, ⁶Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, MO, United States, ⁷Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School and Department of Pathology, Brigham and Woman’s Hospital, Boston, MA, United States

While humans show clear preference for right hand usage (90%), normal mice show consistent right or left paw usage (50%). We used a Rere-deficient mouse model (Rere^+/om) that shows clear right paw usage preference (80%) compared to wild-type (WT) mice (40%) to evaluate structural connectivity changes in the cortico-spinal tract (CST) using diffusion-based tractography. Our results showed significantly reduced and more asymmetric FA along the CST of the dominant hemisphere in the dextral mutant group compared to the WT group. These results show Rere-dependent structural connectivity changes in the brain that could be clinically relevant to human pathologies.

Tijiang Zhang¹, Wuchao Li¹, Quanzhong Zhou¹, Ganjun Song¹, Cong Tian¹, Zhen Zeng¹, and Xingyu Wang^1
1Department of Radiology, Affiliated hospital of Zunyi Medical College, Zunyi, China, People's Republic of

The aim of this study is to investigate FC alterations of thalamocortical network using resting-state fMRI,and correlation FC alterations with Intelligence Quotient (IQ) . 19 patients and 19 healthy volunteers took part in this research. The thalamocortical FC seeding at the left thalamus in the IGE patients showed a significant increase in left inferior temporal gyrus and right supramarginal gyrus, but decrease in left anterior cingulate, bilateral posterior cingutate, bilateral dorsolateral frontal gyrus, whereas, seeding the right thalamus as seed showed increase in right cerebellum, right supramarginal gyrus, but decrease in bilateral dorsolateral frontal gyrus, bilateral PCC and right supramarginal gyrus. Correlation analysis revealed that IQ positively correlated with FC strength between thalamus and left anterior cingulate, left dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus. The alteration of  FC may reflect the progress of long-term destruction of functional architecture, and may be served as a potential biomarker to examine subtle brain abnormalities in children and adolescence with IGE.

Fatima Nasrallah^1,2,3, Bernice OH⁴, Trina Kok², Mary Stephenson², Tony Chin-Ian Tay⁴, Edwin Kean-Hui Chiew⁴, Jiesen Wang⁵, Alexandre Schaefer⁵, Adriana Benzoic⁵, Johnson Fam⁴, and Allen Eng-Juh Yeoh^4
1Clinical Imaging Research Centre, NUS/A*STAR, St Lucia, Australia, ²Clinical Imaging Research Centre, NUS/A*STAR, Singapore, Singapore, ³Queensland Brain Institute, Queensland, Australia, ⁴National University Hospital, Singapore, Singapore, ⁵Clinical Imaging Research Centre, NUS, Singapore, Singapore

Dexamethasone is a glucocorticoid which has demonstrated clinical improvement in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia patients but has been associated with diminished memory and executive function. Because it is normally administered as a cocktail of drugs during the treatment regimen, understanding its main mechanism of action has been hindered. We investigate the effect of dexamethasone on brain function in healthy volunteers using resting state fMRI connectivity

Man Xu¹, Xiangliang Tan², Patrick Peng GAO³, Ed.X. Wu^3,4, Yingjie Mei^1,5, Xixi Zhao², Yikai Xu², and Yanqiu Feng^1,3,4
1School of Biomedical Engineering and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Medical Image Processing, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China, People's Republic of, ²Department of Medical Imaging Center, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China, People's Republic of, ³Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Signal Processing, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China, People's Republic of, ⁴Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China, People's Republic of, ⁵Philips Healthcare, Guangzhou, China, People's Republic of

The character of the brain structural connectivity in patients with non-neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (non-NPSLE) has not been well studied. The aim of the study was to investigate the alterations of the topological metrics in non-NPSLE networks and to identify the regions in which the metrics were significantly different. A structural connectivity matrix was constructed for each subject using PANDA toolbox. Then graph theoretical analysis was applied to investigate the alteration of the metrics. The results revealed that the non-NPSLE group exhibited a trend of decreased global network properties and changed betweenness and degree in several brain regions.

Patrick Schiffler¹ and Jan-Gerd Tenberge^1
1University of Münster, Münster, Germany

We present an approach that permits a fiber association based definition of white matter regions of interest, which offers region specific analysis of the white matter.

Donald W McRobbie^1,2 and Marc Agzarian^1
1Medical Imaging, Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, Australia, ²Surgery, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom

Quality Control (QC) methods for clinical MR tractography using whole-brain Constrained Spherical Deconvolution (CSD) in individual patients are used to assess the quality of the acquired data. Clinical scoring of the resulting tractograms demonstrates robust depiction of anatomically realistic tracts over a range of MR scanners, acquisitions, and with varying raw image quality. Whole brain CSD shows potential for clinical use subject to suitable QC measures.

Marco Pagani^1,2, Angelo Bifone¹, and Alessandro Gozzi^1
1Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rovereto, Italy, ²Center for Mind and Brain Sciences, Rovereto, Italy

Structural covariance MRI (scMRI) has highlighted robust gray matter networks encompassing known neuroanatomical systems of the human brain. The application of scMRI in the mouse can provide insights on the elusive neurobiological determinants underlying the emergence of this phenomenon. We show that the mouse brain contains robust inter-hemispheric anatomical covariance networks recapitulating anatomical features observed in humans. Our findings pave the way to the use of mouse genetics to investigate the biological underpinnings of scMRI networks and their aberration in brain disorders.

Sheng-Min Huang¹, Kun-I Chao¹, Kung-Chu Ho², and Fu-Nien Wang^1
1Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, ²Division of Nuclear Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan

We investigated the DMN in ADHD rats of different ages. A major difference of DMN between SHR and WKY rats was found in caudate putamen area. As age increasing, the striatal activation presented in the DMN of 6-week SHR started to decrease at 8-week and tend to fade out at 10-week. Since the volume difference of striatal region between SHR and WKY rats has been reported, our result may suggest that the structural development is followed by persisted functional network alteration. The correlation of development of striatal volume and striatal resting state activity both suggest that the timing is important. 

Peng-fei Qiao¹, Guang-ming Niu¹, Yang Gao¹, and Ai-shi Liu^1
1Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, HOHHOT, China, People's Republic of

     In order to detect the resting state fMRI (rfMRI) change of the complex partial seizures(CPS) epilepsy patients by employing the regional homogeneity(ReHo)?the amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and the functional connectivity(FC) techniques.And we found there were important values to study epilepsy using 3 above techniques at the resting state.

Isabel Wank¹, Silke Kreitz¹, and Andreas Hess^1
1Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany

Pain is a warning sign and a highly potent modulator of behavior. This naturally very useful mechanism evolves into a central healthcare problem, when pain becomes chronic and highly impacting the patient's daily life. By means of fMRI and modern graph theoretical analyses, we surveyed dynamic changes of functional connectivity within the mouse brain evoked within 7 sessions of noxious thermal stimulation of the hind paw. With no evidence of peripheral hyperalgesia, we found noticeable alterations of connectivity especially within cognitive and associative-evaluative brain structures. We hypothesize that these findings reflect profound changes that central sensitization impresses on the brain.

Guillaume Madelin¹, Jonathan M Silver², Tamara Bushnik³, and Ivan I Kirov^1
1Department of Radiology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, United States, ²Department of Psychiatry, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, United States,³Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, United States

In this pilot quantitative sodium MRI study, 4 patients in the chronic stage after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and 6 controls were scanned at 3 T. Intracellular sodium concentration (C₁) and extracellular volume fraction (α₂) were calculated in lesions, as well as in whole grey and white matters. Global C₁ skewness and kurtosis showed significant differences between patients and controls, and regional measurements in lesions presented large increases of C₁ and α₂ compared to normal tissue. The results indicate that quantitative sodium MRI shows promise as an imaging biomarker of cell death in chronic TBI.

Tsang-Wei Tu¹, Zsofia I. Kovacs¹, George Z. Papadakis¹, Neekita Jikaria¹, William Reid¹, Dima Hammoud ¹, and Joseph A. Frank^1
1Radiology and Imaging Sciences, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States

¹⁸F-FDG positron emission tomography (PET) is  used to non-invasively measure the glucose metabolism in the brain. However PET imaging is also limited on the longitudinal monitoring of glucose due low spatial and anatomical resolution. This study compares the glucoCEST and ¹⁸F-FDG PET in detecting the glucose concentration in a new traumatic brain injury model using MRI guided pulsed focus ultrasound. Our data show that the glucoCEST could deliver comparable results with the ¹⁸F-FDG PET results in detecting the event of hypo-metabolism in the traumatized brain with greater higher image resolution as compared to PET scans.

Sushanta Kumar Mishra^1,2, Subash Khushu¹, and Gurudutta Gangenahalli^2
1NMR Research Centre, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, Delhi, India, ²Division of Stem Cell and Gene Therapy Research, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, Delhi, India

Mesenchymal stem cells have been shown to be effective against neuronal degeneration through mechanisms that include both the recovery of neurometabolites and behavioural activity. This study demonstrates that intravenous administration of MSCs in traumatic brain injury mice alter the neurometabolic concentration at lesion site and improve the behavioural functional outcome. The concentrations of metabolites like phosphocholine and inositol were increased, while other metabolites like NAA, GABA, Cr+PCr, Glu+Gln and taurine were decreased at injury site after MSCs transplantation and become its normal concentrations. The functional activities like stress level, grip strength and depression index were improved in transplanted TBI mice. 

Alexander Lin¹, Jeffery K Cooper¹, Molly Charney¹, Huijun Liao¹, Benjamin C Rowland¹, Martha E Shenton², and Robert A Stern^3
1Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital / Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States, ²Psychology, Brigham and Women's Hospital / Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States, ³Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States

Repetitive brain trauma (RBT) from playing American football places athletes at risk for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).  While all confirmed cases of CTE have had exposure to RBT, not all those exposed develop the disease, suggesting the importance of factors such as impact severity in its development.  In this study we utilize magnetic resonance spectroscopy to measure brain chemistry levels in retired NFL players and compare differences in neurochemistry of different player positions and their related concussion burden.  Results show significant changes in glutamate and creatine that provide a potential mode for understanding excitoxic changes as a result of RBT.

Sujith Sajja¹, Jiangyang Zhang¹, Jeff W.M. Bulte¹, Robert Stevens², Joseph Long³, Piotr Walczak^1,4, and Miroslaw Janowski^1,5
1The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States, ²Departments of Anesthesiology/Critical Care Medicine, Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Radiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States, ³Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD, United States, ⁴Department of Radiology, University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn, Poland, ⁵NeuroRepair Department, Mossakowski Medical Research Centre PAS, Warsaw, Poland

White matter abnormalities in veterans with behavioral symptoms following blast exposure have been detected with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) without changes in T1/T2-weighted anatomical MRI. Our aim was to reproduce the battlefield scenario in a mouse model. We observed no focal anatomical changes, while diffuse white matter abnormalities were observed with DTI, and CEST MRI. They coincided with behavioral abnormalities and post-mortem neuropathological changes. The use of MRI may facilitate non-invasive and longitudinal monitoring of blast injury, and aid in developing therapeutics aimed to minimize further damage progression.

Tianhao Zhang¹, Sumit Niogi², John A. Tsiouris², Luca Marinelli³, and Teena Shetty^4
1GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI, United States, ²Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY, United States, ³GE Global Research, Niskayuna, NY, United States, ⁴Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY, United States

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a heterogeneous disease with a variety of symptoms associated with brain function alterations after the trauma. There is still limited understanding of the relationship between physiological and structural changes and recovery rate. In this work, we aim to identify structural brain changes in a mTBI population at 4 time points. The analysis is in two folds: 1) correlation analysis between brain volumes and clinical scores; and 2) longitudinal analysis across different encounters.  The results revealed significant brain volume changes over time, and at 3 months post-injury, volumes demonstrated significant negative correlations with clinical scores.

Yvonne W Lui¹, Yongxian Qian¹, Karthik Lakshmanan¹, Jacqueline Smith¹, Graham Wiggins¹, Steven Flanagan², and Fernando E Boada^1
1Radiology, New York University, New York, NY, United States, ²Rehabilitation Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, United States

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a growing public health problem with more than 1.5 million cases a year in the United States. The pathophysiological processes underlying mTBI are complex, including biomechanical injury induced stretching of the axons and depolarization of the normal resting voltage across the cell membrane. Sodium handling by the brain is critical to restore ionic homeostasis after injury and disordered handling is implicated in the long-term pathophysiology of concussion. With state-of-the-art sodium (23Na) MR imaging, one can obtain high quality sodium images in a clinical setting at 3T. Here we seek to observe patterns of total sodium distribution in brain in individuals with mTBI.

Mary C Stephenson^1,2, Trina Kok¹, Fatima A Nasrallah¹, Pamela Boon Li Pun³, Melissa Ai Ling Teo³, Julie Su Li Yeo³, Lu Jia³, Benjamin A Thomas¹, Mary K Enci³, and John J Totman^1
1Clinical Imaging Research Centre, A*STAR-NUS, Singapore, Singapore, ²Department of Medicine, NUS, Singapore, Singapore, ³Defense Science Organization, Singapore, Singapore

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is identified as the signature injury of soldiers involved in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Mild TBI (mTBI) often goes undetected, meaning vital opportunities for early treatment are missed. In this study we use ³¹P MRS to investigate whether changes in ³¹P metabolites can be identified in soldiers at risk of mTBI due to blast overpressure. Measurements of brain volumes and 31P MRS are made at baseline and 1, 3, 7 and 28 days following training with low level explosives. We show a tendency for decreases in Pi/PCr ratio which reach significance 28 days after training.

Jie Wen¹, Serguei V. Astafiev², Kristina L. Zinn², Anne H. Cross², Dmitriy A. Yablonskiy¹, and Maurizio Corbetta^2
1Radiology, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO, United States, ²Neurology, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO, United States

In this study we used quantitative tissue specific R2* measurements to detect brain abnormalities in chronic subjects with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). mTBI patients demonstrated decreased R2* values in frontal pole and hippocampus. Reduced R2* values in the white matter of the hippocampus were strongly related to the reported memory problems typical for mTBI. Importantly, this R2* value reduction was not accompanied by decreased volume of white matter and grey matter inside those regions, suggesting that R2* values may detect mTBI related abnormalities before detectable anatomical changes appear.

Venkata Veerendranadh Chebrolu¹, Tianhao Zhang², Hariharan Ravishankar¹, Sumit Niogi³, John A Tsiouris³, and Luca Marinelli^4
1GE Global Research, Bangalore, India, ²GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI, United States, ³Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY, United States, ⁴GE Global Research, Niskayuna, NY, United States

The purpose of this work is to derive single-subject level inferences for volumetry features in mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) at multiple time points after initial trauma using machine learning methods. 78 uncomplicated mTBI subjects were scanned three days (32 subjects), seven days (61 subjects), one month (56) and three months (42 subjects) post injury to derive volumetery features. 23 controls were also scanned. Logistic-regression models were used to identify important volumetry features that jointly describe the mTBI effects at single-subject level. Pallidus, supratentorial and whole-brain volumetry features together provide single-subject level signature for mTBI at multiple time-points after injury.

Shawn Tan¹, Nicole Keong², Ady Thien², HuiHua Li¹, Helmut Rumpel¹, EK Tan², and Ling Chan^1
1Singapore General Hospital, Singapore, Singapore, ²National Neuroscience Institute, Singapore, Singapore

Postural instability gait disorder (PIGD) is associated with predominant gait dysfunction compared to typical tremor dominant Parkinson’s disease (PD). We evaluated the periventricular longitudinal neural tracts in PIGD using DTI compared to PD and controls, and examined their clinical correlates. We showed for the first time that these neural tracts are more affected in PIGD than PD or HC, and their DTI measures correlate with clinical gait severity. It has been postulated that disconnection of motor networks served by these tracts linking brain regions involved in executive function and visuoperception with those involved in gait control leads to gait decline.  

Sadhana Kumari¹, Senthil S Kumaran¹, Vinay Goyal², Madhuri Behari², S N Dwivedi³, Achal Srivastava², and Naranamangalam R Jagannathan^1
1Department of NMR and MRI Facility, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India, ²Department of Neurology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India, ³Department of Biostatistics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

NMR techniques play a major role in understanding the metabolic changes associated with neurological disorders.  We used ¹H NMR spectra at 700 MHz for identification of biomarkers in PD from saliva samples. The data were processed using MestReNova software (version 10.0) and PLS-DA multivariate analysis using MetaboAnalyst (version 3.0) software. We observed significantly elevated level of butyrate, glycine, phenyl alanine, tyrosine and decreased level of lactate, which may be attributed to poor intestinal absorption in PD patients.

Xuan Vinh To¹, Hongjiang Wei², Reshmi Rajendran¹, Marta Garcia-Miralles³, Ling Yun Yeow¹, Chunlei Liu², Hong Xin¹, Mahmoud A. Pouladi³, and Kai-Hsiang Chuang^1
1Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore, ²Brain Imaging and Analysis Center, School of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States,³Translational Laboratory in Genetic Medicine, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore

This study looked at the potential for Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping (QSM) for longitudinal detection of demyelination and iron accumulation in YAC128 mouse model of Huntington disease. Control and YAC128 mice were scanned at 9, 12, and 15 months of age; with a number of mice sacrificed after each timepoint for histological validation and correlation (ongoing). Current results shows the potential for QSM in detecting demyelination is several white matter regions and iron accumulation in grey matter.

Yong Zhang¹, Hailong Luo², Changzheng Shi², and Li Guo^3
1GE Healthcare MR Research China, Beijing, China, People's Republic of, ²Medical Imaging Center, the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China, People's Republic of, ³Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China, People's Republic of

Tract-based spatial statistics of average and directional DTI-derived metrics were analyzed between the Parkinson's patients and age-matched healthy controls. It was found that MD increased and FA decreased across WM in accordance with previous studies. The more widespread change of MD compared with FA suggests higher sensitivity of MD to WM degenerations. Besides, it was observed that the change of perpendicular diffusivity was more profound compared with that of axial diffusivity, suggesting the existence of demyelination in PD patients

Sinan Zhao¹, Peipeng Liang^2,3,4, and Gopikrishna Deshpande^1,5,6
1AU MRI Research Center, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, United States, ²Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China, People's Republic of, ³Beijing Key Lab of MRI and Brain Informatics, Beijing, China, People's Republic of, ⁴Key Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Ministry of Education, Beijing, China, People's Republic of,⁵Department of Psychology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, United States, ⁶Alabama Advanced Imaging Consortium, Auburn University and University of Alabama Birmingham, Auburn, AL, United States

Resting state fMRI has been used to investigate connectomic alterations in Parkinson’s disease (PD). These studies used conventional connectivity analysis where in connectivity is assumed to be stationary over time. However, recent work suggests that temporal variability of connectivity is sensitive to human behavior in health and disease. Therefore, we estimated static functional connectivity (SFC), dynamic FC (DFC) from: PD, PD subjects with mild-cognitive-impairment (PDMCI), Depressed PD subjects with MCI (DPDMCI) and Normal Controls (NC). We hypothesized that increased disease burden would lead to reduced strength of SFC and the variability of DFC. We provide evidence to support this hypothesis.

Nathalie Doorenweerd^1,2, Ece Ercan¹, Melissa T Hooijmans¹, Jedrek Burakiewicz¹, Andrew Webb¹, Jos G.M. Hendriksen^3,4, Jan J.G.M. Verschuuren², Erik H Niks², Hermien E. Kan¹, and Itamar Ronen^1
1C.J. Gorter Center for High Field MRI, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands, ²Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands, ³Neurological Learning Disabilities, Kempenhaeghe Epilepsy Center, Heeze, Netherlands, ⁴Neurology, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, Netherlands

Patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) suffer from behavioural or neurocognitive problems in addition to muscle weakness. Using DTI, we previously showed reduced white matter FA and increased ADC, especially radial diffusivity, in DMD patients indicating microstructural alterations. We now apply diffusion weighted spectroscopy in temporo-parietal white matter to study if these alterations are likely intracellular or extracellular.  N-acetylaspartate, creatine and choline ADCs were higher in patients compared to controls. These results show higher diffusion both within cells and across membranes, irrespective of cell-type.

Qiuli Zhang¹, Ming Zhang¹, Jingxia Dang², Jiaoting Jin², Fang Hu², Haining Li¹, Dandan Zheng³, and Yuchen Zhang^4
1Medical Imaging, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China, People's Republic of, ²Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China, People's Republic of, ³GE Healthcare, MR Research China, Beijing, China, People's Republic of, ⁴Zonglian College, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China, People's Republic of

Clinical heterogeneity is a feature in ALS. Here we analyzed subcortical structure volume and executive function between male and female ALS patients, compared with corresponding normal controls. Our results showed that male and female patients exhibited distinct subcortical structure atrophy. The linear regression results also indicated that compared with male patients, whose cognitive status was mostly related with age and education level, the executive dusfunction in female patients may be deteriorated by emotional disorder.

Farzaneh Rahmani¹ and MohammadHadi Aarabi^1
1Students'Scientific Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

 The basis of Parkinson disease (PD) pathology is accumulation of α-synuclein particles (Lewy bodies) in the presynaptic terminal and perikaria of neocortex, cerebellum, thalamus and SN.

Features of the lipid profile specially cholesterol levels are association with PD risk. However no such data exists on the association of these plasma markers with structural brain changes in PD. The primary site of PD pathology is the nigrostriatal tract which then progresses to the cingulium. The nigrostriatal tract is extensively damaged prior to PD onset. Lower plasma levels of apoA-I is associated with earlier onset of PD and greater putaminal DAT deficit and a more rapid motor decline in PD . However apoA-I levels have never been investigated regarding changes in structural brain connectivity.  The our results show that apoA-I levels in drug_naïve patients are associated with structural changes in the even prior to pathologic involvement of cingulium.

Fei Cong¹, Jiawei Wang², Zhangyan Yang¹, Bo Wang¹, Yuqing Zhang², and Yan Zhuo^1
1Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China, People's Republic of, ²Functional neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China, People's Republic of

The pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN), as a potential Deep brain stimulation (DBS) target for the patients to improve gait and posture. Until now, only a few results of the location of PPN has been published. In this study, 7T ultra-high field MR system and high resolution MP2RAGE sequence were used to locate the PPN by a direct view, and a new coordinate designed for PPN location was introduced and test. The boundary of PPN was display and a more consistency coordinate used for localizing PPN was presented.

Ruoyun Ma^1,2, Johnathan P Dyke³, Shalmali Dharmadhikari⁴, Nora Hernandez⁵, Elizabath Zauber⁶, Elan Louis^5,7,8, and Ulrike Dydak^1,2
1School of Health Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States, ²Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States, ³Department of Radiology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States, ⁴Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States, ⁵Department of Neurology, Yale School of Medicine, New Heaven, CT, United States, ⁶Department of Neurology, Indianapolis University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States, ⁷Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health, New Heaven, CT, United States, ⁸Center for Neuroepidemiology and Clinical Neurological Research, Yale School of Medicine, New Heaven, CT, United States

Essential tremor (ET) and Parkinson’s disease (PD) are two most prevalent movement disorders. It was suggested that tremors in both diseases, though of different types, may be modulated by neuropathways involving the thalamus. We found a significant trend of elevated thalamic GABA levels from controls to ET patients to PD patients, which may be related to the increased risk of ET patients to develop PD, and thus suggesting thalamic GABA as imaging marker of preclinical parkinsonism. However, thalamic GABA is not associated with tremor of either type.

MohammadHadi Aarabi¹, Farzaneh Rahmani¹, Ahmad Shojaei², and Hamidreza Safabakhsh^2
1Students'Scientific Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, ²Basir Eye Health Research Center, Tehran, Iran., Tehran, Iran

Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder assumed to involve different areas of CNS and PNS. Thus, Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) is used to examine the areas engaged in PD neurodegeneration. We studied the relationship between local connectome alterations obtained by connectometry approach and motor severity of elderly PD as measured with Unified Parkinson's disease 3. Our findings demonstrate the fornix and cingulium fibers in limbic system have association with motor severity in elderly PD patients in onset.

Iain D Wilkinson¹, Pillai Shillo¹, Marni Greig¹, Solomon Tesfaye¹, Richard A Edden², and Dinesh Selvarajah^1
1Academic Radiology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom, ²Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MA, United States

The sensory system is affected in diabetic neuropathy (DN), a common ailment associated with diabetes mellitus. The thalamus is part of the brain’s sensory pathway. This study applies MEGA-PRESS to assess thalamic GABA in-vivo in patients with and without DN. Differences in GABA/H20 ratios were identified between those with and without DN, demonstrating potential differences in the neuronal inhibitory status of the thalamus.

Qian Sun¹, YuChuan Hu¹, LinFeng Yan¹, Ying Yu ¹, Xin-tao Hu², Yu Han¹, DanDan Zheng³, Xu-Feng Liu ⁴, Wen Wang¹, and GuangBin Cui^1
1Department of Radiology, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, China, People's Republic of, ²Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China, People's Republic of, ³MR Research China, GE Healthcare China, Beijing, China, People's Republic of, ⁴Department of Endocrinology, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, China, People's Republic of

More than 20.4% of the elderly population have diabetes in china, among which Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) accounts for 90%. T2DM is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and has been consistently associated with an increased risk of incident dementia, as well as with cognitive deficits and increased brain atrophy. T2DM related cognitive decline may be partly due to neuroanatomical alterations revealed by structural MR. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has been used to quantify microstructural alterations in white matter that may also impact cognition. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and average diffusion coefficient( DCavg ) value derived from DTI reflect verall white matter health, maturation, and organization6.Voxel-based morphometry (VBM), which reflects brain volume, can be used in early detecting brain structural abnormalities in T2DM patients. Our research aims to detect brain microstructure changes in T2DM patients both in white matter (WM) and grey matter (GM) based on global DTI and VBM.

Daniel Güllmar¹, Tabea Witting², Thomas Bitter², Orlando Guntinas-Lichius², and Jürgen R Reichenbach^1
1Medical Physics Group / IDIR, Jena University Hospital - Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany, ²Department of Otolaryngology and the Institute of Phoniatry and Pedaudiology, Jena University Hospital - Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany

In this study we have investigated neuronal changes in a longitudinal study using anatomical and structural MRI before and after pansinus surgery. Neuronal changes measured by means of DTI before and after surgery were compared to changes in olfactory performance. The analysis was carried out using a tract specific analysis involving probabilistic tractography and subsequent alignment of control points along the cingulum bundles. Patients, which showed an improvement >10 in olfactory performance measure, showed also a significant increase in radial diffusivity in the middle segment of the left cingulum bundle.

Yerfan Jiaerken¹, Xinfeng Yu¹, and Minming Zhang^1
1Radiology, The second affiliated hospital of Zhejiang university school of medicine, Hangzhou, China, People's Republic of

We used MRI IVIM technique to investigate how is microstructure in cortical gray matter (CGM) affected by white matter hyperintensity (WMH), and how does it affect cognitive function. We found that diffusion in WMH is correlated with diffusion in CGM. And diffusion in CGM is connected with cognitive state, while diffusion in WMH isn’t. This may suggest that CGM damage is secondary to microstructural damage in WMH. And CGM damage may lead to cognitive dysfunction, while WMH can only affect cognitive state by damaging gray matter.

João M.N. Duarte¹, Blanca Lizarbe¹, Rolf Gruetter^1,2,3, and Ana Francisca Soares^1
1LIFMET, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland, ²UNIL, Lausanne, Switzerland, ³UNIGE, Geneva, Switzerland

Insulin resistance has deleterious effects on memory performance, brain morphology and the neurochemical profile of the cortex and hippocampus. We now investigated the neurochemical modifications in the hippocampus, cortex and hypothalamus of mice exposed to high-fat diet, a model of obesity-associated insulin resistance. In long-term high-fat diet-exposed mice, obesity-associated insulin resistance affects the neurochemical profiles of the hippocampus, cortex and hypothalamus in a region-specific manner.

Ryoko Yamamori¹, Tosiaki Miyati¹, Naoki Ohno¹, Mitsuhito Mase², Tomoshi Osawa², Shota Ishida¹, Hiroto Kan³, Nobuyuki Arai³, Harumasa Kasai³, and Yuta Shibamoto^3
1Division of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan, ²Department of Neurosurgery, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya, Japan,³Department of Radiology, Nagoya City University Hospital, Nagoya, Japan

Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in brain significantly changed during the cardiac cycle, and this change (ΔADC) in patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) characterized by low intracranial compliance was significantly higher than those in control subjects. Shunt surgery is the most common treatment for iNPH. In this study, we determined and compared ΔADC values of the white matter in iNPH before and after shunt surgery. ΔADC in the frontal white matter decreases with the shunt surgery. ΔADC analysis makes it possible to noninvasively provide detailed information on change in the intracranial condition due to the shunt surgery.

Mauro Costagli¹, Graziella Donatelli², Laura Biagi³, Elena Caldarazzo Ienco², Gabriele Siciliano², Michela Tosetti³, and Mirco Cosottini^2
1Imago7, Pisa, Italy, ²University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy, ³IRCCS Stella Maris, Pisa, Italy

3D gradient-recalled multi-echo sequences were used on a 7 Tesla MR system for Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping (QSM) targeting M1 at high spatial resolution in patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Healthy Controls (HC). The magnetic susceptibility of the deep cortical layers of patients’ M1 subregions corresponding to Penfield's areas of the hand and foot significantly correlated with the clinical scores of UMN impairment. QSM might therefore prove useful in measuring M1 iron concentration, as a possible in vivo biomarker of UMN burden and neuroinflammation in ALS patients.

Heather Gray-Edwards¹, Nouha Salibi², Anne Maguire¹, Taylor Voss¹, Lauren Ellis¹, Ashley Randle¹, Ronald Beyers¹, Miguel Sena-Esteves³, Thomas Denney¹, and Douglas Martin^1
1Auburn University, Auburn, AL, United States, ²Siemens Healthcare, Malvern, PA, United States, ³University of Massachusetts, Worcester, MA, United States

GM1 gangliosidosis is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder of children and currently only palliative care is available to patients.  Preclinical gene therapy experiments in the GM1 cat resulted in >5 fold increased lifespan, prompting human clinical trials, however objective markers are lacking.   7T MR spectroscopy reliably predicts feline GM1 neurodegeneration with several alterations occurring presymptomatically and worsening with disease progression.  Gene therapy results in partial correction of several parameters and changes correlate with clinical assessment scores.  Post-mortem analyses included assessment of microgliosis and demyelination, and these findings also correlated with MRS.

Silvia Basaia¹, Federica Agosta¹, Alexandra Tomic², Elisabetta Sarasso¹, Nikola Kresojevic², Sebastiano Galantucci¹, Marina Svetel², Vladimir S. Kostic², and Massimo Filippi^1,3
1Neuroimaging Research Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, ²Clinic of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, ³Department of Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy

We investigated structural neural pathways in asymptomatic and symptomatic mutation carriers with several dystonia (DYT) genotypes using a network approach. Both symptomatic and asymptomatic mutation carriers showed an alteration of structural connectivity compared to controls, beyond the basal ganglia/sensorimotor cortex regions. No differences were found between symptomatic and asymptomatic DYT subjects. The structural connectome offered the possibility of identifying genotype-related trait characteristics, even in the preclinical phase of the disease, providing new insights into understanding DYT generation.

Aditya N Bade¹, Katherine Olson¹, Charles Schutt¹, Jingdong Dong², R Lee Mosley¹, Howard E Gendelman¹, Michael D Boska^1,3, and Yutong Liu^1,3
1Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Omaha, NE, United States, ²Second Affiliated Hospital, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China, People's Republic of, ³Department of Radiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Omaha, NE, United States

This study showed that neuronal loss in 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) injected mice as confirmed by immunohistology caused signal change in manganese-enhanced MRI (MEMRI). Both gliosis and neuronal loss occur in the progress of neurodegenerative diseases. Previous studies have shown that MEMRI signal is associated with he gliosis in rodents. With the findings in this study, it is demonstrated the combined pathologic effects of neuronal damage and gliosis determine MEMRI results. The study suggested that MEMRI is an in vivo imaging tool to study the progress of neurodegenerative disease in rodents.

Tianyi Qian¹, Yi Shan², Peipei Wang², Bénédicte Maréchal^3,4,5, Jie Lu², and Kuncheng Li^2
1MR Collaborations NE Asia, Siemens Healthcare, Beijing, China, People's Republic of, ²Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, beijing, China, People's Republic of, ³Advanced Clinical Imaging Technology (HC CMEA SUI DI BM PI), Siemens Healthcare, Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁴Radiology, University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁵LTS5, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

Quantitative measurement of hippocampal volume using high-resolution MRI provides morphological and clinically relevant information in medial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis. In this study we applied an inline morphometry package in temporal-lobe HS epilepsy patients to investigate the degenerative patterns of this patient group. The volume computed by the inline segmentation tool could provide accurate information about the brain volume changes of temporal-lobe HS epilepsy patients. The tool also provided whole-brain structure volumetric information which was valuable for surgical or treatment planning.

Se-Hong Oh¹, Irene Wang², Stephen E. Jones¹, and Mark J. Lowe^1
1Imaging Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH, United States, ²Epilepsy Center, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH, United States

This is an initial study of epilepsy patient scan using 7T. This study serves as a starting point toward 7T clinical scanning. In addition, it gives some insight as to current challenges and future work.

Amanda K.W. Buck^1,2, Lauren M. Severence², Benjamin N. Conrad¹, Bennett A. Landman^1,3, Adam W. Anderson^1,2, Bassel Abou-Khalil⁴, Monica L. Jacobs⁵, and Victoria L. Morgan^1,2
1Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ²Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ³Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ⁴Neurology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ⁵Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is associated with changes in regional brain structure, function, and cognition. This study demonstrates an indirect link between right hippocampal volume reductions and extratemporal cognition in right TLE. As hippocampal volume decreases, the right uncinated fasciculus (RUF) axial diffusivity (AD) increases.  This increase is correlated with verbal comprehension index (VCI) score decrease. Considering that VCI deficits are related to inferior frontal cortex lesions, these results imply that the RUF, which structurally connects the hippocampus to the frontal lobe, is the mediator of impairment between the seizure focus in the hippocampus and VCI deficits in right TLE.

Enrico De Vita^1,2, Andrew Melbourne³, Marie-Claire Porter^4,5, David L Thomas⁶, Sebastien Ourselin³, Tarek Yousry^1,2, Xavier Golay², Rolf Jager^1,2, Simon Mead^4,5, and John S Thornton^1,2
1Lysholm Department of Neuroradiology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, United Kingdom, ²Academic Neuroradiological Unit. Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom, ³Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London, United Kingdom, ⁴National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, United Kingdom, ⁵MRC Prion Unit, Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom, ⁶Dementia Research Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom

Perfusion in Prion disease has only been explored with SPECT, except in 2 single-case studies.

We aimed to evaluate perfusion abnormalities with ASL-MRI in prion patients and compare the findings with clinically diagnostic high b-value diffusion weighted MRI. We observed high correlation between diffusion abnormalities and hypoperfusion. ASL-MRI could help to shed light non-invasively on the neurovascular aspects of prion disease

Hosung Kim¹, Yee-Leng Sung Tan², Tarik Tihan³, Anthony James Barkovich¹, Duan Xu¹, and Robert C Knowlton^2
1Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, University california San francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States, ²Neurology, University california San francisco, SAN FRANCISCO, CA, United States, ³Pathology, University california San francisco, SAN FRANCISCO, CA, United States

Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) is an epileptogenic developmental malformation. Identification of this lesion can lead to a successful surgery.  We propose to analyze a combined feature-set extracted from MRI and PET. Studying 29 FCD patients and 23 controls, classification using the combined MRI and PET features demonstrated superior performance to the analysis of MRI as it resulted in a lower false positive (FP) rate in controls (1.3% lower) and a higher sensitivity in FCD (7% higher). Analysis of the combined MRI and PET revealed a larger FP rate in FCD compared to MRI-only, suggesting the presence of extralesional pathology.

Xin Chen¹, Tianyi Qian², Bénédicte Maréchal^3,4,5, Nan Chen¹, and Kuncheng Li^1
1Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China, People's Republic of, ²MR Collaborations NE Asia, Siemens Healthcare, Beijing, China, People's Republic of, ³Advanced Clinical Imaging Technology (HC CMEA SUI DI BM PI), Siemens Healthcare AG, Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁴LTS5, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Swaziland, ⁵Radiology, University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland

       In order to explore the potential of volume-based morphometry for computer-aided diagnosis on an individual level, we evaluated a volume-based morphometric MRI analysis prototype for detection of cortical abnormalities in individual focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) patients for whom no lesion was reported after routine MR exam. Using intracranial EEG as the gold standard, the results of a performed ROC analysis show good detection performance with AUC=0.882, sensitivity =93.88%, and specificity 79.57% at the optimal cut-off point. These results suggest that such automated methods provide additional value for MR-based diagnostics.

Eleni Demetriou¹, Mohamed Tachrount², Karin Shmueli³, Mark Farrow⁴, and Xavier Golay^1
1Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom, ²Brain repair and rehabilitation, Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom, ³Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College of London, London, United Kingdom, ⁴MRC prion unit, University College of London, London, United Kingdom

The neurochemical profile of prion disease in mice at different disease stages was evaluated using high-quality MR spectra obtained in thalamus. Seven metabolites were measured in vivo and longitudinally providing substantial metabolic information.  Metabolic changes were obtained throughout the disease course, however only glutamate and myo-inositol were significantly different at all stages of the disease. We conclude that MR spectroscopy provides additional information over previous histological studies [1].

Arzu Ceylan Has¹, Irsel Tezer², Burcak Bilginer³, Serap Saygi², and Kader Karli Oguz^4
1National Magnetic Resonance Research Center (UMRAM), Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey, ²Department of Neurology, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey, ³Department of Neurosurgery, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey, ⁴Department of Radiology, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

Temporal lobe epilepsy with unilateral hippocampal sclerosis patients benefit from the medial temporal lobectomy. Since the hippocampus is involved in many cognitive tasks, we hypothesized that resting-state(rs) network alterations would occur in these patients following temporal lobectomy. All patients had pre- and post-operative neurocognitive tests, rs-fMRI and structural T1-weighted imaging . Post-operative studies were performed at 1-year-follow-up. Following temporal lobectomy, left- and right-HS patients showed significantly decreased and increased activations in default-mode-network and fronto-parietal-network. A pre-operative extent of tissue damage or dominancy of the epileptic hemisphere may be responsible for the different patterns of adaptation/change of brain networks after lobectomy.

Kyung Mi Lee¹ and Hyug-Gi Kim^2
1Radiology, Kyung Hee University Hospital, Seoul, Korea, Republic of, ²Biomedical Engineering, College of Electronic Information Engineering, Kyung Hee University, Gyeonggi-do, Korea, Republic of

Nigrosome-1 region that is affected to the loss of dopaminergic neurons is one of the important characteristics of Parkinson’s disease (PD). To evaluate the early stage of PD and investigate the main mechanisms of nigrosome degeneration using MR images, the susceptibility based MRI techniques were performed: R2* (=1/T2*) map, SWI and QSM map in seven elderly healthy subjects that are reference subjects for PD.

Vincent Perlbarg^1,2, Benjamin Butler³, Justine Lambert³, Romain Valabrègue³, Anne-Laure Privat³, Chantal François³, Stéphane Lehéricy^4,5, and Alexandra Petiet^4,5
1Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Platform, Brain and Spine Institute, Paris, France, ²UPMC/Inserm UMRS1146 / CNRS UMR7371, Paris, France, ³Brain and Spine Institute, Paris, France, ⁴Center for Neuroimaging Research, Brain and Spine Institute, Paris, France, ⁵UPMC/Inserm UMRS1127 / CNRS UMR7225, Paris, France

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by neurodegeneration of the dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc), which can be recapitulated in the 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) rat model. To evaluate structural and functional cerebral reorganization after induction of the lesion, we performed a longitudinal study up to 6 weeks using diffusion and resting-state functional MRI. Our results showed increased fractional anisotropy in the striatum ipsilateral to the lesion and increased bilateral functional connectivity between the striatum, the globus pallidus and the sensorimotor cortex in the 6-OHDA group. These results will help improve our understanding of cerebral alterations and reorganization in PD pathology.

Christopher Bird¹, Sarah Banks¹, and Dietmar Cordes^1
1Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center For Brain Health, Las Vegas, NV, United States

We report relationships between cortical thickness as assessed with Freesurfer, and performance on three tests: Judgment of Line Orientation (JOLO), Brief Visuospatial Memory Test Copy Trial (BVMT-C), and Block Design (BD) in 122 consecutive memory clinic patients. Geometric construction tests (BD) was more sensitive to right sided thickness, while judgment of angles and simple construction of shapes was more sensitive to the left parietal lobe.

Artit Rodkong¹, Nuttawadee Intachai¹, Suwit Saekho^1,2, Apinun Aramrattana³, Kanok Uttawichai⁴, Mekkla Thomson⁵, Bangorn Sirirojn⁶, Daralak Thavornprasit⁶, Sineenart Taejaroenkul⁶, Kamolrawee Sintupat⁶, Victor Valcour⁷, Robert Paul⁸, and Napapon Sailasuta^9
1Radiological Technology, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand, ²Biomedical Engineering Center, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand, ³Family Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand,⁴Thanyarak Hospital, Chiang Mai, Thailand, ⁵Westat, Rockville, MD, United States, ⁶Research Institute for Health Sciences, Chiang Mai, Thailand, ⁷Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States, ⁸Psychology, University of Missouri, St. Louis, MO, United States, ⁹Huntington Medical Research Institute, Pasadena, CA, United States

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies show evidence of brain alteration in Methamphetamine (MA) users. We compare brain structures including gray matter (GM), white matter (WM) and cortical thickness between MA abusers and Healthy control (HC) group, and explore relationship between brain structures and neuropsychological performance (NP) in MA compared with HC. The results demonstrated that MA group revealed poorer cognitive function and reduced volumetrics in critical brain regions that underlie cognitive performance compared to that of the HC group.

Elisabetta Pagani¹, Maria Assunta Rocca^1,2, Roberta Messina¹, Bruno Colombo², Giancarlo Comi², Andrea Falini³, and Massimo Filippi^1,2
1Neuroimaging Research Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, ²Department of Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, ³Department of Neuroradiology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy

Aim of the study was to explore longitudinal gray matter (GM) changes over a four-year follow up in migraine patients and their association with patients’ clinical characteristics and disease activity. Brain dual-echo and 3D T1-weighted scans were acquired from 25 patients with migraine and 25 healthy controls at baseline and after 4 years. At follow up, compared to controls, migraine patients had an increased volume of fronto-parietal regions, whereas they developed atrophy of the right thalamus and occipital areas. The migraine brain changes dynamically over time. Various pathophysiological mechanism might affect different brain regions in migraineurs after 4 years.

Prashant Nair¹, Lalit Gupta², Rajagopal K.V.¹, Praveen Mathew¹, Rolla Narayana Krishna², and Indrajit Saha^3
1Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, KMCH, Manipal University, Manipal, India, ²Philips Healthcare, Bangalore, India, Bangalore, India, ³, Philips India Ltd., Gurgaon, India, Gurgaon, India

The purpose of this study was to make an image processing marker using 3D SHINKEI based MR Neurography images of brachial plexus to identify nerve conditions and establish the condition for normalcy and abnormality by extracting the contrast property from the second order gray level Co-occurrence Matrix. The images from fourteen healthy volunteers and three patients were studied. The contrast in perpendicular direction of nerve anatomy was twice as high as other contrasts among normal subjects, while in patients, there was no such difference. Our ongoing work has the potential to classify the severity of the detected nerve lesion.

Eo-Jin Hwang¹, Hyug-Gi Kim¹, Chanhee Lee¹, Hak Young Rhee², Chang-Woo Ryu¹, Dal-Mo Yang¹, Tian Liu³, Yi Wang³, and Geon-Ho Jahng^1
1Department of Radiology, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea, Republic of, ²Department of Neurology, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea, Republic of, ³Biomedical Engineering and Radiology, Cornell University, New York, NY, United States

To investigate QSM textures in the subjects with cognitively normal (CN), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and to compare the QSM texture results with those of 3D T1W images, 18 elderly CN, 18 MCI, and 18 AD subjects were scanned both 3D multi-echo gradient-echo and 3D T1-weighted sequences. The 1st and 2nd ordered texture parameters of the QSMs and 3DT1W images were calculated and compared among the three subject groups to differentiate the subject groups. Our results suggest that the demyelination effect could be more dominant than the metal accumulations in AD progression.

Ling Yun Yeow¹, Xuan Vinh To¹, Xin Hong¹, Boon Seng Wong², and Kai-Hsiang Chuang^1,2
1Neuro Imaging Group, Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, A*STAR, Singapore, Singapore, ²Department of Physiology, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

To understand the genetic influence of ApoE isoforms on the brain aging, we conducted longitudinal diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) on transgenic mice expressing human ApoE3 (hApoE3) or hApoE4 gene. Mean FA showed a general trend of hApoE4 » WT > hApoE3 from 12 to 18 months of age. There was age-dependent reduction of FA in all the animals, which was due to increased radial diffusivity. The hApoE4 mice also showed larger increase of parallel diffusivity. These indicate ApoE isoform dependent axonal change with aging.  

Maged Goubran¹, Audrey Peiwan Fan¹, Praveen Gulaka¹, David Douglas¹, Steven Chao², Andrew 5 Graduates of Quon¹, Greg Zaharchuk¹, Minal Vasanawala¹, and Michael Zeineh^1
1Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, ²Department of Neurology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States

Hippocampal subfields are selectively affected in AD, however the hippocampus is assessed as a whole in PET studies. In this work we investigate the metabolic, perfusion and diffusion changes within the subfields of patients with MCI and AD using a simultaneous PET-MR scanner. Our preliminary results demonstrate significant reduction in metabolism and perfusion that are appreciated on the subfield level but not when assessing the hippocampus as a whole. This work suggests that subfield assessment is potentially more sensitive to pathological changes in AD than whole hippocampus analysis, and highlights the utility of simultaneous PET-MR as a tool for discovering novel biomarkers in neurodegenerative diseases. 

Amir Fazlollahi^1,2, Pierrick Bourgeat¹, Ashley I. Bush^3,4, Fabrice Meriaudeau ², David Ames⁴, Colin L. Masters^3,4, Christopher C. Rowe^4,5, Victor L. Villemagne^3,4,5, and Olivier Salvado^1
1Australian e-Health Research centre, CSIRO, Brisbane, Australia, ²University of Burgundy, Le Creusot, France, ³Florey Institute of Neuroscience & Mental Health, Melbourne, Australia, ⁴The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, ⁵Austin Health, Melbourne, Australia

MRI susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) has shown a promising sensitivity in visualizing iron deposits, while less effort is made to establish a pseudo-quantitative estimate of iron. In this study, an image processing framework was employed to normalize the uncalibrated intensity of SWI with respect to the corresponding value of cerebrospinal fluid. After excluding large detectable veins, the resulting pseudo-quantitative image along with a standard brain atlas, were used to compute regional concentrations of iron in a cohort of Alzheimer’s disease. A group-wise analysis was then showed a stepwise increment in SWI-iron along the progression of the disease.

Long Xie^1,2, Sandhitsu R. Das^1,3, Arun Pilania^3,4, Molly Daffner^3,4, Grace E. Stockbower^3,4, Sudipto Dolui^3,5,6, John A. Detre^3,5,6, and David A. Wolk^3,4
1Penn Image Computing and Science Laboratory (PICSL), Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States, ²Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States, ³Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States, ⁴Penn Memory Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States, ⁵Center for Functional Neuroimaging, Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States, ⁶Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States

In this study, we compared regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) measured by arterial spin labeled perfusion MRI (ASL-MRI) with baseline hippocampal volume from structural MRI in predicting likely Alzheimer’s disease (AD) progression measured by longitudinal hippocampal atrophy. Stepwise linear regression analyses demonstrated that CBF measurements were significantly associated with longitudinal hippocampal atrophy in entire cohort, as well as just within the MCI patients, while baseline hippocampal volume does not provide complementary information. Our results indicate ASL-MRI could potentially have important utility in identifying candidates for AD related therapeutic intervention studies and clinical trials.

Giovanni Giulietti¹, Mara Cercignani², and Marco Bozzali^1
1Neuroimaging Laboratory, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy, ²Clinical Imaging Sciences Centre, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom

The current study is an application of nested support vector machine (SVM) to distinguish healthy subjects and patients with Alzheimer’s disease using very few features coming from structural (T1) and diffusion (DWI) MR. After having segmented the T1 images in GM, WM and CSF, mean values of fractional_anisotropy, mean_diffusivity, radial_diffusivity and axial_diffusivity were computed in GM and WM; volume of GM and WM as percentage of total_intracranial_volume were also assessed. Therefore we computed 1023 different SVMs, one for each possible combination of the 10 features. Surprisingly, the WM diffusion measuresresulted to be the most specific of dementia status.

Hyug-Gi Kim¹, Chan-Hee Lee¹, Chang-Woo Ryu², Soonchan Park², Hak Young Rhee³, Kyung Mi Lee⁴, Wook Jin², Dal-Mo Yang², Soo Yeol Lee¹, Tian Liu⁵, Yi Wang⁵, and Geon-Ho Jahng^2
1Biomedical Engineering, Kyung Hee University, Gyeonggi-do, Korea, Republic of, ²Radiology, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, Seoul, Korea, Republic of, ³Neurology, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, Seoul, Korea, Republic of, ⁴Radiology, Kyung Hee University Hospital, Seoul, Korea, Republic of, ⁵Biomedical Engineering and Radiology, Cornell University, New York, NY, United States

One of the important characteristics of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the iron accumulations in the brain. To estimate the quantitative susceptibility effects in AD brain, the susceptibility changes were investigated in subjects with 19 cognitive normal (CN), 19 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 19 AD. Seven-echo 3D gradient-echo images were obtained to map quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and 3D T1-weighted images using the MPRAGE sequence were also obtained to map gray matter volume (GMV). Both voxel-based and ROI-based analyses were performed to evaluate the group differences. The result showed that QSM can be useful to evaluate the AD brain.

Ranganatha Sitaram¹, Josué Luiz Dalboni da Rocha^2,3, Ivanei Bramati⁴, Gabriel Coutinho⁴, and Fernanda Tovar Moll^4
1Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and Department of Psychiatry, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile, ²Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States,³University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States, ⁴Instituto D'Or de Pesquisa e Ensino, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The proposed novel approach is based on three levels of analyses of DTI data: 1) voxel level analysis of Fractional Anisotropy, 2) connection level based on fiber tracks between brain regions, and 3) network level based connections among multiple brain regions. This novel approach was applied to differentiate between AD, MCI and controls. We achieved accuracy of 93% between AD and controls, 90% between AD and MCI. Main discriminative areas were Hippocampal Cingulum and Parahippocampal Gyrus. The results suggest that our multilevel DTI analysis not only informs difference between brain conditions, but also shows strong potential as diagnostic tool.

Anne Rijpma^1,2, Marinette van der Graaf^3,4, Olga Meulenbroek^1,2, Marieke Lansbergen⁵, John Sijben⁵, Marcel Olde Rikkert^1,2, and Arend Heerschap^3
1Geriatric Medicine, Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen, Netherlands, ²Radboud Alzheimer Centre, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen, Netherlands, ³Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen, Netherlands, ⁴Paediatrics, Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen, Netherlands, ⁵Nutricia Research, Nutricia Advanced Medical Nutrition, Utrecht, Netherlands

Loss of neuronal membranes and synaptic integrity are major factors that contribute to the development of cognitive impairment in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Membrane phospholipid metabolism can be investigated non-invasively using phosphorus Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (³¹P-MRS). Here we report on the results of a double-blind randomised controlled study investigating the effects of the medical food Souvenaid on brain phospholipid metabolism in patients with mild AD. 3D ³¹P-MRS imaging was performed at baseline and after 4 weeks intervention. 

Joanna Su Xian Chong¹, Yng Miin Loke¹, Saima Hilal^2,3, Mohammad Kamran Ikram^3,4, Xin Xu^2,3, Boon Yeow Tan⁵, Narayanaswamy Venketasubramanian⁶, Christopher Li-Hsian Chen^2,3, and Juan Zhou^1,7
1Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuroscience and Behavioural Disorders Programme, Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School, Singapore, Singapore, ²Department of Pharmacology, National University Health System, Clinical Research Centre, Singapore, Singapore, ³Memory Ageing & Cognition Centre, National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore, ⁴Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School, Singapore, Singapore, ⁵St. Luke's Hospital, Singapore, Singapore, ⁶Raffles Neuroscience Centre, Raffles Hospital, Singapore, Singapore, ⁷Clinical Imaging Research Centre, The Agency for Science, Technology and Research and National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

Cerebrovascular disease (CVD) frequently co-occurs with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), however its effects on the organization of brain networks in AD patients remain unknown. This study aimed to examine the influence of CVD on grey matter (GM) structural covariance (SC) networks in prodromal and early AD patients. Divergent changes in GM volumes and SC of higher-order networks were found between CVD and non-CVD subtypes. Specifically, the default mode network showed changes in non-CVD subtypes but was spared in CVD subtypes. These findings highlight the different pathophysiology underlying AD patients with CVD and those without CVD.

Liang Gong¹, Hao Su¹, Cancan He¹, Qing Ye¹, Feng Bai¹, Chunming Xie¹, and Zhijun Zhang^1
1Department of Neurology, Affiliated ZhongDa Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China, People's Republic of

A cross-sectional resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study was conducted with 84 aMCI subjects (including 9 APOE ε2, 45 ε3, 28 ε4 carriers) and well-matched 124 cognitively normal (CN) healthy elders (including 35 APOE ε2, 43 ε3, 46 ε4 carriers). The finding revealed that the ε2 carriers and ε4 carriers showed convergent effects on right AFC but divergent effects on left AFC network when CN compared to aMCI patients. Interactive effects of APOE genotypes and age on AFC network further revealed neural basis of ten years earlier on the age of onset in aMCI patients. Further, mediation analysis suggested that connectivity strength mediated the effects of APOE genotypes and age on the cognitive function in aMCI patients.

Yanjia Deng¹, Lin Shi^2,3, Defeng Wang^1,4,5, and ADNI Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative^6
1Imaging and Interventional Radiology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, People's Republic of, ²Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, People's Republic of, ³Chow Yuk Ho Technology Centre for Innovative Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, People's Republic of, ⁴Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China, People's Republic of, ⁵Research Center for Medical Image Computing, Department of Imaging and Interventional Radiology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, People's Republic of, ⁶Los Angeles, CA, United States

In order to extend the knowledge on the impaired pattern of “where” visual perception in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients, we investigated the connectivity of the “where” visual networks in terms of intrinsic interaction in early and late MCI patients. Resting-state functional MRI data of late MCI, early MCI and matched healthy controls from Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative dataset were analyzed to investigate the alterations of interregional connections of “where” visual networks. Significant increased interregional connectivties in late MCI patients were found, which may extend the current knowledge on the pattern of visual perceptual impairment in MCI patients.

Helen Beaumont¹, Aimee Pearson², Matthias J van Osch³, and Laura M Parkes^1
1Centre for Imaging Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom, ²Dept of Physics, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom, ³C.J. Gorter Center for High Field MRI, Dept of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, Netherlands

This study investigates the possibility of estimating water exchange across the blood-brain barrier by manipulating the T₁ of blood using a gadolinium-based contrast agent, together with pre- and post-contrast Arterial Spin Labelling measurements. Gadolinium lowers the T₁ of blood, but not of tissue, allowing the proportions of label in intra- and extra-vascular tissue to be estimated. A Look-Locker readout was used to measure the temporal evolution of the ASL signal at four doses of contrast agent. Even with T₁ of approximately 500ms, an ASL subtraction signal was still detected at an inversion time of 2s, indicating that labelled blood water has exchanged with tissue water.

Nicole Chwee Har Keong^1,2, Alonso Pena³, Stephen J Price⁴, Marek Czosnyka⁴, Zofia Czosnyka⁴, Elise DeVito⁵, Charlotte Housden⁶, Jonathan H Gillard⁷, Barbara Sahakian⁶, and John D Pickard^4
1Neurosurgery, National Neuroscience Institute, Singapore, Singapore, ²Neurosurgery, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, ³SDA Bocconi School of Management, Milan, Italy, ⁴Neurosurgical Division, Dept of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, United Kingdom, ⁵Dept of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States,⁶Department of Psychiatry and MRC/Wellcome Trust Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, ⁷Department of Radiology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is a confounding condition of gait disturbance, cognitive decline and urinary incontinence remediable with surgical intervention.  We have used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to demonstrate patterns of white matter injury pre- and post-surgical intervention

Hao Shu¹, Guangyu Chen¹, Gang Chen¹, B. Douglas Ward¹, Piero G. Antuono², and Shi-Jiang Li^1
1Department of Biophysics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States, ²Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States

Aging and the apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele are two established factors advancing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) progression; however, the extent to which these factors effect AD remains unclear. In this study, we employed the event-based probabilistic model to develop an index for characterizing Alzheimer’s disease risk event (CARE); we then used the CARE index to quantify the effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele on AD progression. This study demonstrated an aging-related increase in CARE index scores and its exacerbation by the APOE ε4 allele, thus providing a surrogate to quantitatively assess aging and the APOE ε4 allele modulations on AD progression.

Anant Bahadur Patel¹, Niharika Rajnala¹, and Kamal Saba^1
1NMR Microimaging and Spectroscopy, CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India

The population of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is increasing due to increased longevity in human. The dementing condition associated with AD is reported to be more in female than male. In this study, we explored the neurotransmitter metabolism in APP-PS1 female mice, and compared with age matched males, using ¹H-[¹³C]-NMR spectroscopy following an administration of [1,6-¹³C₂]glucose. The cerebral metabolic rates of glucose oxidation by glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons was found to be reduced in the cerebral cortex, striatum and hippocampus of the transgenic male mice. In contrary, transgenic female mice did not show change in metabolic rates when compared with wild type controls.

Yafei Wang¹, Yu Sun¹, Lingyi Xu¹, Yue Zhang¹, Jiaming Lu², Bing Liu³, Bing Zhang², and Suiren Wan^1
1The Laboratory for Medical Electronics, School of Biological Sciences and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China, People's Republic of, ²Department of Radiology, The affiliated Drum Tower hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China, People's Republic of, ³National Laboratory of Pattern Recognition, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China, People's Republic of

The functional connectivity between hippocampus subfields and perirhnial cortices (PRC)/parahippocampal cortices (PHC) among normal cognition controls (NC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was investigated in this study. The result shows the significant differences of functional connectivity in 3 pairs of ROIs among NC, AD and MCI. It may reveal that the difference of functional connectivity can be the marker to diagnosis AD and MCI.

Sudipto Dolui^1,2, Long Xie^3,4, David A. Wolk², and John A. Detre^1,2
1Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States, ²Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States, ³Penn Image Computing and Science Laboratory (PICSL), Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States, ⁴Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States

We evaluated longitudinal changes in regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) for patients at different stages of Alzheimer’s disease and correlated CBF with cognition assessed by the clinical dementia rating scale sum of boxes (CDR-SB). Mean CBF in precuneus, posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and hippocampus were statistically significantly correlated with CDR-SB. However, longitudinal changes in CDR-SB only correlated with CBF change in PCC. There was a statistically significant group difference in baseline PCC-CBF between incipient Alzheimer’s patients whose cognitive function deteriorated versus those who didn’t, demonstrating that CBF can be used as a predictor of disease progression.

Pavel Falkovskiy^1,2,3, Bénédicte Maréchal^1,2,3, Tobias Kober^1,2,3, Philippe Maeder¹, Reto Meuli¹, Jean-Philippe Thiran³, and Alexis Roche^1,2,3
1Department of Radiology, University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland, ²Advanced Clinical Imaging Technology (HC CMEA SUI DI BM PI), Siemens Healthcare AG, Lausanne, Switzerland, ³LTS5, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

We investigate the potentially confounding effect of using different image acquisition systems (field strength, manufacturers) on automated Alzheimer's disease detection using standardized Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) data. Disease classifiers based on brain volumetric markers computed by FreeSurfer and the MorphoBox prototype were evaluated with and without correcting for variations in acquisition systems. While the correction overall had limited impact on Alzheimer's disease detection, it enabled significant error reduction for the classification of mildly cognitively impaired patients versus both healthy controls and Alzheimer's patients.

Carles Falcon^1,2, Alan Tucholka¹, Juan Domingo Gispert^1,2, Gemma Cristina Monte-Rubio³, Lorena Rami^3,4, and Jose Luis Molinuevo^3,4
1BarcelonaBeta Brain Research Center. Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain, ²CIBER-BBN, Barcelona, Spain, ³Institut d'Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain,⁴Neurology, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

We report the correlation of two-year gray matter (GM) changes with basal levels of Aβ42, p-tau and p-tau/Aβ42 in CSF on a sample of 62 cognitively normal subjects (18 Aβ42 positive and 26 p-tau positive), aged 60-80. GM volume decrease was correlated with Aβ42 in medial and orbital frontal, precuneus, cingulate, medial temporal regions and cerebellum. Correlations with p-tau were located in left hippocampus, parahippocampus and striatal nuclei and with p-tau/Aβ42 in ventral and medial temporal areas. We conclude that diverse pathological mechanisms in the preclinical stage could underpin atrophy rates in different regions known to be altered in AD

Dushyant Kumar^1,2, Patrick Borchert¹, Jens Fiehler¹, Susanne Siemonsen^1,2, and Jan Sedlacik^1
1Dept. of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany, ²Institute of Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany

Problem: The clinical utility of myelin imaging based on “gold standard” multi echo spin echo (MESE) T2 relaxometry is currently impeded due to requirement of high SNR and need to account for contributions from stimulated pathways. We compare faster GRASE based myelin quantification against those from MESE. Methods: 3D non-selective GRASE and MESE were optimized. Implemented post processing method combines T2-decay model based extended phase graph with spatial regularization framework to improve on noise robustness and accurately account for B1-error. Results & Conclusions: Results demonstrate good consistency between MWF-maps from both sequences, except in left part of frontal brain.

Fang Liu¹, Andrew Alexander², and Alexey Samsonov^1
1Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States, ²Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States

Myelin, a thin layer of sheath-like cell, provides an important role in protecting nerve axon and accelerating neural impulse transmission. Myelin water fraction (MWF) mapping has been recently proposed for assessing myelin content in-vivo. One quantitative MR method called mcDESPOT has shown promising results for assessing myelin content. However, this method is lack of consideration of magnetization transfer (MT) effect leading to the complication of interpretation for MWF values. In this study, we proposed a method called mcRISE to account for MT effect and investigate the feasibility of assessing myelin content with MT-insensitive MWF as well as additional MT parameters.

Cheng Li¹, Alan C. Seifert², Suzanne L. Wehrli³, and Felix W. Wehrli^1
1Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States, ²Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States, ³NMR Core Facility, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Myelin is a lamellar liquid crystal consisting of a variety of phospholipids and cholesterol, water and proteins. So far quantitative information on myelin density has been obtained primarily indirectly via myelin water quantification or quantitative magnetization transfer. Here, we examined 3D UTE and ZTE methods at 400 MHz demonstrating the feasibility of MRI quantification of reconstituted myelin suspended in D2O as well as of myelin in lamb spinal cord in situ. Results show the magnitude signal amplitude to be linearly correlated with actual myelin content, allowing estimation to be made of myelin fraction in neural tissues. 

Joon Yul Choi¹, In Hye Jeong², Se-Hong Oh³, Chang-Hyun Oh^4,5, Ho Jin Kim², and Jongho Lee^1
1Laboratory for Imaging Science and Technology, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, Republic of, ²Department of Neurology, Research Institute and Hospital of National Cancer Center, Goyang, Korea, Republic of, ³Imaging Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH, United States, ⁴Department of Electronics and Information Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, Korea, Republic of, ⁵ICT Convergence Technology Team for Health&Safety, Korea University, Seoul, Korea, Republic of

This study investigated the applicability of ViSTa-MWI for the detection of myelin damage in MS. The results show ViSTa-MWI sensitively detects normal appearing white matter damage with better reliability than SE-MWI. Additionally, ViSTa-MWI can discriminate T₁ isointense lesions from T₁ hypointense lesions.

Qun He^1,2, Vipul Sheth¹, Hongda Shao¹, Jun Chen¹, Graeme Bydder¹, and Jiang Du^1
1University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States, ²Ningbo Jansen NMR Technology Co., Ltd., Cixi, Zhejiang, China, People's Republic of

Phase images have been a valuable source of contrast in applications such as venography and for depicting gray-white matter differences with high contrast in high field MR imaging. Phase differences evolve during typical TEs of 10 - 30ms in brain studies. It has been uncertain whether it would be possible to detect signal and obtain phase maps from ultrashort non-water protons in myelin which have typical mean T₂s of 0.2 - 0.5 ms. In this study single and bicomponent T₂* were measured in bovine myelin lipid, brain extract, and myelin basic proton and synthetic myelin and high quality phase maps were produced in each case.

Rong Luo¹, Soorena Azam ZAnganeh¹, Hongda Shao¹, Jun Chen¹, Graeme Bydder¹, and Jiang Du^1
1Radiology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States

MS is a disease that relatively specifically affects myelin which is invisible with conventional sequences. Adiabatic inversion recovery prepared ultrashort echo time (IR-UTE) sequences have been proposed to directly image myelin protons and suppress the long T2 water signal by adiabatic inversion and signal nulling. However, water signal contamination is a major challenge. T1 variation in long T2 white matter, and thus imperfect choice of TI is a potential source of error in direct myelin imaging. We aimed to investigate the T1 variation in long T2 white matter in volunteers, and the effects of this on IR-UTE imaging of myelin.

Lauri J Lehto^1,2, Alejandra Sierra¹, Aloma Albors¹, Shalom Michaeli², Antti Nurmi³, Laura Tolppanen³, Lynn E Eberly⁴, Silvia Mangia², and Olli Gröhn^1,2
1A. I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland, ²Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States, ³Charles River Laboratories, Kuopio, Finland, ⁴Division of Biostatistics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States

An MRI contrast sensitive to demyelination would be invaluable in assessing a multitude of neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we demonstrate the benefits of a novel rotating frame method entitled Relaxation Along a Fictitious Field in the rotating frame of rank n (RAFFn) in detection of demyelinating lesions induced by lysophosphatidyl choline (LPC) injections in the rat corpus callosum (CC) and dorsal tegmental tract (DTG). RAFFn performed better than magnetization transfer in CC and DTG, and clearly outperformed diffusion tensor imaging in DTG, an area with heterogeneous fiber orientation distribution. Our results demonstrate high potential of RAFFn for imaging demyelinating lesions.

Raveena Dhaliwal^1,2,3, Daniel J. Korchinski^1,2,3, Samuel K. Jensen^1,2, V. Wee Yong^1,2, and Jeff F. Dunn^1,2,3
1Neuroscience, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada, ²Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Calgary, AB, Canada, ³Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

Multiple Sclerosis requires treatments that stimulate remyelination and reduce demyelination. Currently, both T1 and the quantitative magnetization transfer parameter bound pool fraction (f) have been found to correlate strongly with myelin content but little is known about the sensitivity of these techniques at different signal to noise ratios. This work demonstrates that T1 is highly sensitive to changes in myelin content but f can miss significant differences in tissue myelin content at a standard signal to noise. MS treatments should be developed using a multi-modal approach that combines techniques with high sensitivity (T1) and those that have high specificity (f).

Irene Vavasour¹, Kimberley Chang², Anna Combes³, Sandra Meyers⁴, Shannon Kolind², Alexander Rauscher⁵, David Li¹, Anthony Traboulsee², Alex MacKay^1,4, and Cornelia Laule^1,6
1Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ²Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ³Neuroimaging, King's College London, London, United Kingdom, ⁴Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁵Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁶Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Myelin water fraction (MWF) is a useful technique for measuring myelination changes in vivo. However, since MWF is the fraction of myelin water over the total water, changes in water content (WC) can influence this measurement. This is particularly relevant in new multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions which may have demyelination but also show significant increases in WC at first appearance that resolve at later times. We compared MWF and myelin water content (MWC=MWF×WC) in new MS lesions. Similar patterns of change were seen with both MWF and MWC indicating that changes in WC had minimal effect on the MWF.

Tina Pavlin^1,2, Vanja Flatberg³, Renate Gruner^2,4, Erlend Hodneland^5,6, and Stig Wergeland^7,8
1Molecular Imaging Center, Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway, ²Department of Radiology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway, ³Department of Physics, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway, ⁴Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway, ⁵Christian Michelsen Research, Bergen, Norway, ⁶MedViz Research Cluster, Bergen, Norway, ⁷KG Jebsen Centre for MS-Research, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway, ⁸The Norwegian Multiple Sclerosis Competence Centre, Department of Neurology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway

We have applied a biophysical model of diffusion to study dendrite density and diffusion in cortex and deep gray matter in an animal model of MS. We have performed DTI on mice brains ex-vivo at baseline, after 3 and 5 weeks of cuprizone exposure, and 4 weeks after termination of exposure. We observed a significant drop in neurite density and an increase in intra-axonal diffusion at 3 and 5 weeks of exposure, and a recovery to baseline values after remyelination. Our study shows the potential of DTI to detect subtle changes in myelin content in gray matter, thereby improving out understanding of the disease.  

Hagen H Kitzler¹, Köhler Caroline¹, Wahl Hannes¹, Eisele C Judith², Sean C Deoni³, Brian K Rutt⁴, Tjalf Ziemssen², and Jennifer Linn^1
1Neuroradiology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany, ²Neurology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany, ³Children's Hospital, Colorado, University of Colorado Medical School, Denver, CO, United States, ⁴Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States

Myelin Imaging is a potential tool to study demyelination and remyelination in inflammatory central nervous system diseases. This work presents a specific approach of tracking the individual myelination in single Multiple Sclerosis lesions and their pattern in Clinically Isolated Syndrome and early MS. Within n = 137 lesions of n = 15 patients we found 25% constant myelin loss, 14% permanent myelin regain, 56% fluctuating myelin content, and, 5% stable myelin reduction. These findings demonstrate an in vivo measurable highly dynamic individual lesion myelination status in inflammatory early disease. This method may facilitate to observe damage and reparative mechanism distribution in individual patients.

Serguei Liachenko^1
1National Center for Toxicological Research, US FDA, Jefferson, AR, United States

The baseline behavior of T₂ relaxation at 7 tesla in different parts of the rat brain was studied to provide the foundation for possible biomarker performance evaluation.

Se-Hong Oh¹ and Mark J. Lowe^1
1Imaging Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH, United States

Recently, a new high quality myelin water imaging method, direct visualization of short transverse relaxation time component (ViSTa) has been developed. The ViSTa signal is primarily from short T₂* in the range of myelin water. In this study, we assessed 3D ViSTa sequence for 7T MR imaging which can cover the whole brain. Taking advantage of higher SNR at 7T, ViSTa using 7T MRI provided high-resolution and high-quality myelin water images generating a whole brain volume in clinically reasonable time. And the method successfully detected demyelinated MS lesions.

Kathryn L West^1,2, Nathaniel D Kelm^1,2, Daniel F Gochberg^2,3, Robert P Carson⁴, Kevin C Ess⁴, and Mark D Does^1,2
1Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ²Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ³Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ⁴Neurology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States

Multiexponential T₂ and quantitative magnetization transfer experiments provide quantitative measures of myelin water fraction (MWF) and bound pool fraction (BPF), respectively. These measures are known to correlate with myelin content in white matter; however discrepancies between the two have been shown. We display that by correcting for all proton pools contributing to MWF and BPF in white matter, we are able to show similar absolute measures of myelin content from MWF and BPF that are nearly equal to each other and close to myelin content measured by quantitative histology.

Mário João Fartaria^1,2, Guillaume Bonnier^1,2, Tobias Kober^1,2,3, Alexis Roche^1,2,3, Bénédicte Maréchal^1,2,3, David Rotzinger², Myriam Schluep⁴, Renaud Du Pasquier⁴, Jean-Philippe Thiran^2,3, Gunnar Krueger^2,3,5, Reto Meuli², Meritxell Bach Cuadra^2,3,6, and Cristina Granziera^1,4,7
1Advanced Clinical Imaging Technology (HC CMEA SUI DI BM PI), Siemens Healthcare AG, Lausanne, Switzerland, ²Department of Radiology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lausanne, Switzerland, ³Signal Processing Laboratory (LTS 5), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁴Neuroimmunology Unit, Neurology, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁵Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc., Boston, MA, United States, ⁶Signal Processing Core, Centre d'Imagerie BioMédicale (CIBM), Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁷Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States

Magnetic Resonance Imaging(MRI) plays an important role for lesion assessment in early stages of Multiple Sclerosis(MS). This work aims at evaluating the performance of an automated tool for MS lesion detection, segmentation and tracking in longitudinal data, only for use in this research study. The method was tested with images acquired using both a "clinical" and an "advanced" imaging protocol for comparison. The validation was conducted in a cohort of thirty-two early MS patients through a ground truth obtained from manual segmentations by a neurologist and a radiologist. The use of the "advanced protocol" significantly improves lesion detection and classification in longitudinal analyses.

Simon Mure¹, Charles Guttmann², Thomas Grenier¹, Hugues Benoit-Cattin¹, and François Cotton^3
1CREATIS, Villeurbanne cedex, France, ²Center for Neurological Imaging, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States, ³CREATIS - HCL, Villeurbanne cedex, France

In this paper, we take advantage of a unique longitudinal MRI dataset acquired at weekly intervals on untreated multiple sclerosis patients. We study the signal dynamics of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis lesions on SWI MRI and show, thanks to an unsupervised spatiotemporal clustering algorithm, that specific signal intensity behaviors exist between the veins and the lesions that are synchronous with contrast enhancement on gadolinium-enhanced T1-weighted MRI. Our study shows that vein narrowing depicted on SWI is an early event that appears to precede blood-brain barrier disruption signified by contrast-enhancement.

Yohan Boillat¹, Kieran O'Brien^2,3, Mário João Fartaria de Oliveira^4,5, Guillaume Bonnier^1,5,6, Gunnar Krueger^5,7, Wietske van der Zwaag^1,8, and Cristina Granziera^1,5,6,9
1Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, ²Siemens Healthcare Pty Ltd., Brisbane, Australia, ³University of Queensland, St-Lucia, Australia, ⁴University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland,⁵Advanced Clinical Imaging Technology Group, Siemens, Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁶Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁷Healthcare Sector IM&WS S, Siemens Schweiz AG, Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁸Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging, Amsterdam, Switzerland, ⁹Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States

We compared ultra-high field, high resolution quantitative T₁ and T₂* measurements in the cerebellum of MS patients to that of healthy controls. A correlation between the multiple sclerosis functional scale scores and local T₂* values was found for several motor and cognitive related lobules. No significant differences between groups were found.

Marcel Warntjes^1,2, Anders Tisell^1,3, Irene Håkansson⁴, and Peter Lundberg^1
1Center for Medical Imaging Science and Visualization, Linköping, Sweden, ²SyntheticMR AB, Linköping, Sweden, ³Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Radiation Physics, Linköping, Sweden, ⁴Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Neurology, Linköping, Sweden

The rate of brain atrophy in neuro-degenerative diseases is monitored using the brain parenchymal fraction (BPF, the ratio of brain volume and intracranial volume). The true atrophy, however, may be obscured by the simultaneous brain swelling due to inflammatory processes, disease activity and medication. Measurement of the average relaxation rates and proton density of the brain allows correction for the presence of edemic water. The edema-corrected BPF showed a higher rate of atrophy, 0.495%/year (p = 0.003), in comparison to the uncorrected BPF, 0.175%/year (p = 0.12), in a group of early-onset Multiple Sclerosis patients.

Jay V Gonyea¹, Richard Watts¹, Angela Applebee², Trevor Andrews^1,3, Scott Hipko¹, Joshua P Nickerson¹, Lindsay Thornton⁴, and Christopher G Filippi^5
1Radiology-MRI Center for Biomedical Imaging, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT, United States, ²Neurological Sciences, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT, United States, ³Philips Health Tech, Cleveland, OH, United States, ⁴Radiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States, ⁵Radiology, North Shore University Hospital-Long Island Jewish, New York, NY, United States

Quantitative MRI measures such as T₂ are limited in their ability of staging MS progression. T_1ρ may be sensitive to low-frequency chemical exchange between proteins and extracellular water. A 3D TSE with whole-brain coverage, spin-lock times of 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 ms spin-lock times was acquired at 500 Hz. We found that T_1ρ provides better contrast-to-noise-ratio (CNR) than T₂.

Yulin Ge¹, Olga Marshall¹, Ilya Kister¹, Jean-Christophe Brisset¹, Louise Pape¹, Jacqueline Smith¹, and Robert I Grossman^1
1Radiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York City, NY, United States

Cerebral blood flow (CBF) is an important characteristic of the brain since it reflects the availability of blood to enable healthy neuronal function. Previous studies in multiple sclerosis (MS) have shown regional hemodynamic changes indicating a state of both increased or decreased perfusion, which may reflect underlying neuroinflammatory activity and impaired vascular perfusion of the disease, respectively. However, it is still unclear how the whole brain blood supply or blood flow changes in MS. This study was to investigate whether global CBF levels are effected in MS compared to controls, while evaluating with two different imaging techniques to confirm the findings.

Mário João Fartaria^1,2, Guillaume Bonnier^1,2, Tobias Kober^1,2,3, Kieran O'Brien^4,5, Alexis Roche^1,2,3, Bénédicte Maréchal^1,2,3, Reto Meuli², Jean-Philippe Thiran^2,3, Gunnar Krueger⁶, Meritxell Bach Cuadra^2,3,7, and Cristina Granziera^1,7,8,9
1Advanced Clinical Imaging Technology (HC CMEA SUI DI BM PI), Siemens Healthcare AG, Lausanne, Switzerland, ²Department of Radiology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lausanne, Switzerland, ³Signal Processing Laboratory (LTS 5), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁴Centre for Advanced Imaging, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, ⁵Siemens Healthcare Pty Ltd., Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, ⁶Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc., Boston, Switzerland, ⁷Signal Processing Core, Centre d'Imagerie BioMédicale (CIBM), Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁸Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States, ⁹Neuroimmunology Unit, Neurology, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lausanne, Switzerland

In this work, we assessed the sensitivity of MP2RAGE at 7T MRI to detect focal cerebellar pathology, both in grey and white matter. To do this, we compared cerebellar lesion count in 7T and 3T MP2RAGE images in a cohort of MS patients. Lesion detection rate at 7T MRI was higher than the one at 3T, yet the total lesion volume was comparable at different field strengths. Lesion volumes calculated on 7T MP2RAGE images showed higher correlations with clinical scores than the ones at 3T, pointing at a clinical value of 7T MRI for complex regions such as cerebellum.

Manoj K Sammi¹, Rebecca Spain², Bharti Garg³, Kerry Kuehl³, and William D Rooney^1
1Advanced Imaging Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States, ²Department of Neurology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States, ³Department of Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States

Moderate exercise has been shown to benefit several aspects of brain health.  We investigate the feasibility of aerobic exercise in subjects with Multiple Sclerosis and use of ³¹P MR spectroscopic imaging as a biomarker.

Robert Stobbe¹, Penny Smyth², Roxane Billey², Leah White², Fabrizio Giuliani², Derek Emery³, and Christian Beaulieu^1
1Biomedical Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, ²Neurology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, ³Radiology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

Two different relaxation-weighted ²³Na sequences were compared to density-weighted ²³Na imaging in the context of multiple sclerosis (MS) and the lesion contrast produced by each sequence was significantly different, thus identifying the presence of substantial ²³Na relaxation change. Given that macromolecular density and structure directly influence the electric field gradients driving orientation of the nuclear electric quadrupole moment and ²³Na relaxation, exploration of ²³Na relaxation change may help in the assessment of MS including axonal loss and demyelination. The use of relaxation-weighted sequences and their relative combination to eliminate sodium concentration dependence is a starting point for ²³Na relaxation exploration.

Harsha Battapady¹, Jacqueline Chen¹, and Bruce D Trapp^1
1Neurosciences, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, United States

Multiple sclerosis (MS) features demyelination of the brain and spinal cord, resulting in impaired and eventual loss of neuronal function. Approximately 65% of MS patients experience cognitive impairment and memory dysfunction. Postmortem analyses reveal hippocampal demyelination and glutamate receptor loss in MS patients, suggesting impaired synaptic function in this brain region critical for memory and learning. Using a mouse model of reversible demyelination, we demonstrate that MRI can detect the loss and restoration of myelin and neuronal function in the hippocampus. Our results suggest that MRI is a powerful pre-clinical tool for testing neuroprotective and reparative therapies targeting the hippocampus.

Elisabetta Pagani¹, Maria Assunta Rocca^1,2, Alessandro D'Ambrosio^1,3, Gianna Carla Riccitelli¹, Bruno Colombo², Mariaemma Rodegher², Andrea Falini⁴, Giancarlo Comi², and Massimo Filippi^1,2
1Neuroimaging Research Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, ²Department of Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, ³I Division of Neurology, Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic and Aging Sciences, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy, ⁴Department of Neuroradiology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy

Aim of the study was to assess the role of cerebellar global and sub-regional involvement on motor and cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Cerebellar segmentation and lobular parcellation was performed on T1 weighted images from 95 MS patients and 32 healthy controls using SUIT tool. The Nine Hole Peg Test was obtained as a measure of motor performance; patients also underwent cognitive evaluation. Cerebellar posterior-inferior volume accounted for variance in cognitive measures in MS patients, whereas anterior cerebellar volume accounted for variance in motor performance, supporting a critical contribution of regional cerebellar damage to clinical manifestations of MS.

Paola Valsasina¹, Maria Assunta Rocca¹, Filippo Savoldi¹, Marta Radaelli², Paolo Preziosa¹, Giancarlo Comi², Andrea Falini³, and Massimo Filippi^1
1Neuroimaging Research Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, ²Department of Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, ³Department of Neuroradiology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy

This study gives a comprehensive description of sensory and motor resting state functional connectivity abnormalities in patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) fulfilling the new 2015 diagnostic criteria. Functional connectivity abnormalities found in these patients were compared with isolated optic neuritis and myelitis. Our results suggest different mechanisms of brain reorganization in NMOSD vs isolated optic neuritis and myelitis, with a more evident cross-modal plasticity between sensory systems in NMOSD patients. This result might help to better characterize the different pathophysiological mechanisms occurring in these conditions.

Pallab K Bhattacharyya¹, Robert Fox², Jian Lin¹, Ken Sakaie¹, and Mark Lowe^1
1Imaging Institute, Cleveland Clnic, Cleveland, OH, United States, ²Neurological Institure, Cleveland Clnic, Cleveland, OH, United States

Resting state functional connectivity (fcMRI) between left and right primary motor cortices in  MS patients on Fingolimod treatment was studied at baseline (just before the start of the treatment), 6 months and 12 months after start of treatment. Since such fcMRI metric has been previously reported to be reduced, changes in fcMRI over every 6 months  interval were correlated with changes in clinical score as measured by 9 hole peg test duing the treatment course. A significant difference in the correlation was observed between dominant and non-dominant hand performance in between 6 and 12 months. 

Tobias Granberg^1,2,3,4, Russell Ouellette^1,2, Constantina Andrada Treaba^1,2, Celine Louapre^1,2, Sindhuja T Govindarajan^1,2, Costanza Giannì^1,2, Elena Herranz^1,2, Revere P Kinkel⁵, and Caterina Mainero^1,2
1Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States, ²Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States, ³Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, ⁴Department of Radiology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden, ⁵Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, CA, United States

Grey matter pathology contributes to disability in multiple sclerosis (MS), but in vivo sensitivity for cortical lesions is low with conventional MRI. The role of cortical pathology in the dynamic atrophy processes in MS is, therefore, uncertain. Using 7T MRI and longitudinal 3T imaging (mean follow-up 1.9 years), we showed, in a small MS cohort, that cortical lesion volumes at follow-up correlated with cortical thinning in areas known to be predilection sites for cortical demyelination in MS, while thalamic atrophy was more strongly associated with white matter lesions. No effect of cortical lesions was found on corpus callosal atrophy. 

Phil Lee^1,2, Peter Adany¹, Douglas R. Denney³, Abbey J. Hughes³, Sharon G. Lynch⁴, and In-Young Choi^1,2,4
1Hoglund Brain Imaging Center, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, United States, ²Molecular & Integrative Physiology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, United States,³Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, United States, ⁴Neurology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, United States

Diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) techniques were used to evaluate microstructure changes multiple brain regions as well as gray and white matter in patients with multiple sclerosis at various disease stages and types. DKI/DTI parameters in various brain regions were able to distinguish MS subtypes, and to discriminate patients from controls. Microstructure alterations measured by DKI/DTI were region-specific and correlated with cognitive function and clinical status of patients, providing promising metrics in clinical applications to assess disease status and progression. 

Mark J Lowe¹, Wanyong Shin¹, Balu Krishnan², Lael Stone², and Andreas Alexopoulos^2
1Imaging Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, United States, ²Neurlogic Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, United States

Recent reports indicate that cerebrovascular reactivity (CR) may be impaired in multiple sclerosis (MS). Here we report initial studies to use simultaneous measurements of electroencephalography (EEG), regional cerebral blood flow, and BOLD during performance of a motor task. We show that it is possible to produce EEG estimators of a healthy control subject that correlate very highly with BOLD measurements, while the same measurements in an age and gender matched MS patient have a much lower correspondence. Although inconclusive due to the small sample, the methodology shows promise for helping to understand possible CR issues in MS.

Sonia Waiczies¹, Laura Boehmert¹, Jason M. Millward², Stefanie Kox¹, Joao dos Santos Perquito¹, Till Huelnhagen¹, Carmen Infante-Duarte², Andreas Pohlmann¹, and Thoralf Niendorf^1,3
1Berlin Ultrahigh Field Facility (B.U.F.F.), Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, Berlin, Germany, ²Institute for Medical Immunology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany, ³Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), a joint cooperation between the Charité Medical Faculty and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, Berlin, Germany

Previously, we observed an enlargement of cerebral ventricles, prior to clinical disease manifestation, in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). In this study we investigated the kinetics of blood brain barrier (BBB) leakage in relation to changes in ventricle size during EAE progression using pre- and post-contrast T₁-weighted imaging and T₁-mapping. We show that BBB integrity is compromised even earlier than ventriculomegaly, which already occurs prior to the occurrence of neurological symptoms. Furthermore, a partial renormalization and reappearance of BBB disruptions was observed throughout the disease course and these changes appear to occur prior to the normalization and re-expansion of ventricle size. 

Sarah Wood¹, Emilyrose Havrilla^1,2, Ekaterina Dobryakova³, Zhiguo Jiang⁴, and Bing Yao^1,5
1Rocco Ortenzio Neuroimaging Center, Kessler Founadation, West Orange, NJ, United States, ²Department of Psychology, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, United States, ³Traumatic Brain Injury Laboratory, Kessler Founadation, West Orange, NJ, United States, ⁴Human Performance Engineering Laboratory, Kessler Founadation, West Orange, NJ, United States, ⁵Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, United States

Basal ganglia play important roles in cognitive fatigue, which is one of the most common symptoms in multiple sclerosis. This study examined the correlation between brain iron concentration measured by MR susceptibility contrast imaging in the basal ganglia and the severity of fatigue in the individuals with multiple sclerosis. 

Adnan A.S. Alahmadi^1,2, Carmen Tur¹, Matteo Pardini^1,3, Peter Zeidman⁴, Rebecca S. Samson¹, Egidio D'Angelo^5,6, Ahmed T. Toosy^1,7, Karl J. Friston⁴, and Claudia Angela Michela Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott^1,6
1NMR Research Unit, Queen Square MS Centre, Department of Neuroinflammation, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom, ²Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Faculty of Applied Medical Science, KAU, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, ³Department of Neurosciences, Ophthalmology and Genetics, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy, ⁴Wellcome Centre for Imaging Neuroscience, UCL, Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom, ⁵Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy, ⁶Brain Connectivity Center, C.Mondino National Neurological Institute, Pavia, Italy, Pavia, Italy, ⁷NMR Research Unit, Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, Queen Square MS Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom

This study investigated changes in functional and effective connectivity with M1 and anterior cerebellum using psychophysiological interaction (PPI) and resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI), applied to a motor task fMRI dataset in healthy subjects and multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.  Results show that M1 in MS patients has reduced long-range connectivity to the contra-lateral hemisphere and the cerebellum and vice versa. Furthermore, MS patients lose visuo-motor integration with parietal areas. This is in contrast to rsfMRI functional connectivity, where connectivity of M1 to areas identified by the PPI network is increased. Results indicate a task-specific disconnection reflecting increased disability, associated also with low frequency maladaptive increased rsfMRI connectivity. 

Adnan A.S. Alahmadi^1,2, Matteo Pardini^1,3, Rosa Cortese¹, Niamh Cawley¹, Rebecca S. Samson¹, Egidio D'Angelo^4,5, Karl J. Friston⁶, Ahmed T. Toosy^1,7, and Claudia Angela Michela Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott^1,5
1NMR Research Unit, Queen Square MS Centre, Department of Neuroinflammation, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom, ²Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Faculty of Applied Medical Science, KAU, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, ³Department of Neurosciences, Ophthalmology and Genetics, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy, ⁴Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy, ⁵Brain Connectivity Center, C.Mondino National Neurological Institute, Pavia, Italy, Pavia, Italy, ⁶Wellcome Centre for Imaging Neuroscience, UCL, Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom, ⁷NMR Research Unit, Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, Queen Square MS Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom

We investigated simple and complex (non-linear) relationships between BOLD signals and different applied grip forces in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and healthy volunteers (HV). Using a power grip event-related paradigm and modelling BOLD responses with a polynomial expansion of force, we show profound and distributed functional network reorganizations in sensorimotor, associative and cerebellar areas, probably indicating compensatory mechanisms in MS.

Elisabetta Pagani¹, Maria Assunta Rocca^1,2, Paolo Preziosa¹, Sarlota Mesaros³, Jelena Drulovic³, and Massimo Filippi^1,2
1Neuroimaging Research Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, ²Department of Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, ³Clinic of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Yugoslavia

In this study we investigated the regional patterns of atrophy progression over a five year follow-up in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and their association with clinical and cognitive deterioration. Clinical (EDSS and phenotype changes), neuropsychological (Rao’s battery) and brain MRI assessment were performed at baseline and after 5 years from 66 MS patients. Compared to stable MS patients, those with clinical and cognitive worsening showed a left-lateralized pattern of atrophy. A different vulnerability of the two brain hemispheres to irreversible structural damage may be among the factors contributing to clinical and cognitive worsening in these patients.

Elisabetta Pagani¹, Maria Assunta Rocca^1,2, Laura Vacchi¹, Bruno Colombo², Mariaemma Rodegher², Lucia Moiola², Angelo Ghezzi³, Giancarlo Comi², Andrea Falini⁴, and Massimo Filippi^1,2
1Neuroimaging Research Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, ²Department of Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, ³Multiple Sclerosis Study Center, Hospital of Gallarate, Gallarate, Italy, ⁴Department of Neuroradiology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy

Aim of the study was to explore the extent and distribution of brain gray matter (GM) atrophy and white matter (WM) microstructural abnormalities in adult multiple sclerosis (MS) patients according to their age at disease onset. High-resolution T1-weighted and diffusion tensor MRI scans were acquired from 58 pediatric-onset MS patients, 58 age-matched and 58 disease duration-matched adult-onset MS patients, and 58 healthy controls. The distribution of atrophy and microstructural WM damage were assessed using voxel-wise approaches. Neurodegenerative and inflammatory-demyelinating processes seemed less pronounced in pediatric-onset MS patients. However, with increasing disease duration, an accelerated normal appearing WM damage occurred.

Md. Nasir Uddin¹, Kelly C. McPhee², Gregg Blevins³, and Alan H. Wilman^1
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, ²Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, ³Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

Proton density and T₂-weighted images are frequently used in clinical MS exams.  These two images can be used to obtain accurate T₂ by fitting them with prior knowledge of RF pulse shapes and refocusing flip angles in order to compensate for indirect and stimulated echo contributions.  After demonstrating feasibility in healthy controls, we investigate 7-year changes in T₂ in subcortical grey matter in 14 relapsing remitting MS patients and related these with disease severity and brain atrophy.

Wendy Oakden¹, Nicholas A Bock², Alia Al-Ebraheem³, Michael J Farquharson³, and Greg J Stanisz^1,4,5
1Physical Sciences, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada, ²Psychology, Neuroscience and Behavior, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada, ³Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada, ⁴Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada, ⁵Neurosurgery and Pediatric Neurosurgery, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland

The cuprizone mouse model of demyelination is widely used. While initial histological studies in rats reported only spongiform encephalopathy, more recent work has also demonstrated demyelination. In this study we use a high-resolution myelin-contrast optimized MRI protocol to identify regions of altered myelin content in the rat brain. Wistar rats were imaged after 2, 4, and 6 weeks on a cuprizone diet. Luxol fast blue was used to assess demyelination, and X-Ray fluorescence for quantification of transition metals which also affect MRI contrast.  This study demonstrates that cuprizone-induced demyelination in the rat brain can be observed in vivo using MRI.

Da Shi¹, Jiachen Zhuo¹, Su Xu¹, Mary C. McKenna², and Rao P. Gullapalli^1
1Diagnostic Radiology, University of Maryland Baltimore, Baltimore, MD, United States, ²Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland Baltimore, Baltimore, MD, United States

Fragile X syndrome is the most common genetic cause of autism and is modeled with the Fmr1 knockout mouse. To investigate recent report of myelination delay in Fragile X, this study used translational imaging techniques including T₂ mapping and magnetization transfer imaging to determine myelination changes in the developing Fmr1 knockout mouse. Age-related trajectory changes in regional white matter development were observed between the genotypes and may provide insights into the pathophysiology of Fragile X.

Julien Flament^1,2, Claire-Maëlle Fovet^1,3, Lev Stimmer^1,3, Philippe Hantraye^1,2,4, and Ché Serguera^1,2
1CEA/DSV/I2BM/MIRCen, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France, ²INSERM UMS 27, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France, ³INSERM UMR 1169, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France, ⁴CNRS Université Paris-Saclay UMR 9199, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France

Acquired demyelinating diseases are a major cause of neurological disabilities. If Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE) model has been widely used in rodents, it does not recapitulate disease variability observed in humans. We propose for the first time a primate model of EAE without immunomodulatory treatment in Macaca fascicularis which exhibited a more developed immune system than rodents. All monkeys developed MRI visible lesions that were significantly correlated to clinical signs onset. Our longitudinal follow up allows a precise monitoring of lesions and may offer the opportunity to better understand biological and physiological processes underlying the pathology of demyelinating diseases. 

Mohammed Salman Shazeeb¹, Nellwyn Hagan², Xiaoyou Ying¹, and Andrea Edling^2
1DSAR Bioimaging, Sanofi, Framingham, MA, United States, ²Neuroimmunology, Sanofi, Framingham, MA, United States

Blood brain barrier (BBB) dysregulation is one of the earliest signs of multiple sclerosis (MS) and the mechanism underlying BBB breakdown in not completely understood. The non-obese diabetic experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (NOD-EAE) mouse model of secondary progressive MS offers a preclinical tool to understand BBB breakdown and explore potential therapeutics. MRI is capable of quantifying BBB permeability using gadolinium contrast agent. In this study we quantified the spatial and temporal characterization of BBB permeability in NOD-EAE mice with progressing disease using MRI. These quantifying parameters can potentially be used to test the effect of therapeutic agents on BBB breakdown.

Laura Boehmert¹, Henning Reimann¹, Stefanie Kox¹, Andreas Pohlmann¹, Thoralf Niendorf^1,2, and Sonia Waiczies^1
1Berlin Ultrahigh Field Facility (B.U.F.F.), Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, Berlin, Germany, Berlin, Germany, ²Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), a joint cooperation between the Charité Medical Faculty and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, Berlin, Germany, Berlin, Germany

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune condition that involves immune cell infiltration through the blood brain barrier, during the initial stages of disease. In the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis animal model, we previously observed an increase in ventricle size prior to neurological manifestation. In this study we extended these findings by showing a dynamic fluctuation in ventricle size, with successive re-normalization and re-expansion. Fluctuations in ventricle size commonly ran ahead of clinical relapses and remissions during disease progression. We could identify these findings by following ventricle size for a long period of time (64 days) during the progression of encephalomyelitis.

Tobias C Wood¹, Camilla Simmons¹, Joel Torres¹, Flavio Dell' Acqua¹, Anthony Vernon², Samuel A Hurley³, Steve CR Williams¹, and Diana Cash^1
1Neuroimaging, IoPPN, King's College London, London, United Kingdom, ²Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, IoPPN, King's College London, London, United Kingdom, ³FMRIB Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

We demonstrate the feasibility of full-brain high-resolution ex-vivo imaging and analysis of demyelination in the Cuprizone mouse model using multi-component DESPOT and DTI. We found evidence of demyelination in the Cerebellum as well as the Corpus Callosum.

Nicola Bertolino¹, Claire M Modica^1,2, Michael G Dwyer¹, Paul Polak¹, Trina Ruda¹, Marilena Preda^1,3, Jacqueline C Krawiecki^1,4, John M Barbieri^1,5, Michelle L Sudyn^1,2, Danielle M Siebert^1,6, Robert Zivadinov^1,3, and Ferdinand Schweser^1,3
1Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center, Department of Neurology, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, The State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, United States, ²Neuroscience Program, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, The State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, United States, ³MRI Molecular and Translational Research Center, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, The State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, United States, ⁴Department of Geology, The State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, United States, ⁵Department of Biological Sciences, The State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, United States, ⁶Department of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences, School of Public Health and Health Professions, The State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, United States

Theiler's Murine Encephalomyelitis Virus (TMEV) infection is a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS) with a similar disease course to human MS. In susceptible breeds TMEV infections gives way to a progressive demyelinating course and a chronic, immune-mediated, demyelinating, neurodenegerative condition that persists for the remainder of the natural life of the animal.  

While post mortem tissue and motor disability are well-characterized in TMEV, structural and metabolite tissue damage associations are not thoroughly understood. In this work, we studied the TMEV model over 2 months after the infection using advanced MRI with a cryogenic brain coil at 9.4 Tesla. 

Ian Tagge¹, Steven Kohama², Dennis Bourdette³, Randy Woltjer³, Scott Wong², and William Rooney^1
1Advanced Imaging Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States, ²Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, Beaverton, OR, United States,³Neurology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States

Japanese Macaque Encephalomyelitis bears marked clinical and pathological similarities to multiple sclerosis (MS), acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), and neuromyelitis optica. Here, we describe lesion topography typical of JME. This represents an important step in not only understanding this disease, but also in making meaningful comparisons to human demyelinating diseases. Animals most commonly presented with lesions in the cerebellum, followed by the brainstem, internal capsule, and upper cervical spinal cord, most similarly to pediatric MS or ADEM. JME is a novel and exciting non-human primate model of MS-like disease that may help elucidate pathomechanisms of human disease.

Yan Zhang^1,2, Dong Zhou², Ajay Gupta², Susan A. Gauthier³, and Yi Wang^2
1Radiology, Tongji hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, China, People's Republic of, ²Radiology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States,³Neurology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States

 In this study, we examed different multiple sclerosis (MS) lesion patterns using quantitative susceptibility map (QSM) and compared lesion volumes on T2-weighted (T2w) and QSM images at different lesion stages. The relative lesion QSM/T2w volume increases over 1 year of the lesion onset indicates the participation of iron in chronic active lesions.

Leon C. Ho^1,2, Ian A. Sigal^1,3, Ning-juan Jan^1,3, Chan Hong Moon⁴, Xiaoling Yang¹, Yolandi van der Merwe^1,3, Tao Jin⁴, Ed X. Wu², Seong-Gi Kim^4,5, Gadi Wollstein^1,3, Joel S. Schuman^1,3, and Kevin C. Chan^1,3
1UPMC Eye Center, Eye and Ear Institute, Ophthalmology and Visual Science Research Center, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, ²Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, ³Department of Bioengineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, ⁴Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, ⁵Center for Neuroscience Imaging Research, Institute for Basic Science, Suwon, Korea, Republic of

The microstructural organization and compositions of the corneoscleral shell are central to ocular biomechanics, and are important in diseases such as glaucoma and myopia. In this study, we showed that T2-weighted MRI, diffusion tensor MRI and magnetization transfer MRI can be used to detect and differentiate microstructural and macromolecular changes in freshly prepared ovine eyes under different abnormal conditions including intraocular pressure loading, cross-linking and glycosaminoglycans depletion. We also demonstrated the feasibility of assessing the human sclera with in vivo MRI. Multi-modal MRI may be useful for evaluating the biomechanical and pathophysiological mechanisms in the corneoscleral shell non-invasively and quantitatively. 

Masami Yoneyama¹, Osamu Togao², Akio Hiwatashi², Yuriko Ozawa³, Makoto Obara¹, Tomoyuki Okuaki⁴, and Marc Van Cauteren^4
1Philips Electronics Japan, Tokyo, Japan, ²Department of Clinical Radiology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan, ³Yaesu Clinic, Tokyo, Japan, ⁴Philips Healthcare Asia Pacific, Tokyo, Japan

MR neurography achieves selective depiction of peripheral nerves and detects pathological changes related to neuropathies as a signal abnormality. Recently, we proposed a novel MR neurography sequence (SHINKEI) that provides high-quality MR neurography in the brachial plexus and the lumbosacral plexus. However, SHINKEI could not quantitatively assess the nerve pathology. In this study, we developed a new sequence (SHINKEI-Quant) to simultaneously acquire MR neurography and T₂ mapping by further optimizing the iMSDE preparation. SHINKEI-Quant could simultaneously provide both MR neurography and T₂ maps without prolongation of acquisition time compared with the conventional SHINKEI sequence. This quantitative sequence may be helpful to quantitatively assess the nerve pathology such as chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.

Christoph Leussler¹, Christian Findeklee¹, Peter Mazurkewitz¹, Jürgen Gieseke², and Peter Börnert^1
1Philips GmbH Innovative Technologies, Hamburg, Germany, ²Philips Deutschland GmbH, Hamburg, Germany

A dedicated solenoidal RF coil for imaging of the larynx was developed for cylindrical MRI systems using a static magnetic field in axial direction. The coil consists of two flexible solenoidal windings entangling the cervix anatomy. Numerical and experimental evaluation demonstrates higher SNR for the region of the larynx compared with conventional neck coil designs.

Mami Iima^1,2, Akira Yamamoto¹, Shigeru Hirano³, Ichiro Tateya³, Morimasa Kitamura³, and Kaori Togashi^1
1Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Graduate Schoolof Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan, ²The Hakubi Center for Advancer Research, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan, ³Department of Otolaryngology, Graduate Schoolof Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

The usefulness of non-Gaussian diffusion parameters for the clinical diagnostic ability in the head and neck was evaluated. 135 (62 malignant/63 benign/10 inflammation) patients were prospectively recruited, and non-Gaussian DWI and IVIM parameters as well as synthetic ADC, which comprises both Gaussian and non-Gaussian effect, were estimated from the DWI datasets with multiple b values. Significant difference in each parameter was observed between malignant and benign lesions. There was a significant difference between inflammation or lymphatic vascular malformation and tumors in K or fIVIM values, providing the potential to improve the DWI diagnostic accuracy by complementing their diagnostic abilities.

Zihao Zhang^1,2, Ning Wei^1,2, Xiaofeng Deng³, Dehe Weng⁴, Jing An⁴, Yan Zhuo¹, Xiaohong Joe Zhou⁵, and Rong Xue^1,6
1State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Beijing MR Center for Brain Research, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, People's Republic of, ²Graduate School, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, People's Republic of, ³Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China, People's Republic of, ⁴Siemens Shenzhen Magnetic Resonance Ltd., Shenzhen, China, People's Republic of, ⁵Center for MR Research and Department of Radiology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States, ⁶Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, China, People's Republic of

    Time-of-Flight MR Angiography (TOF-MRA) can benefit from better contrast and higher spatial resolution using ultra-high field 7T MRI. In a segmented TOF technique at 7T, the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) of saturation pulses was reduced to enable the suppression of venous blood signal. In this study, the TOF technique was successfully used to discriminate between the superficial temporal artery (STA) and vein (STV), and depict blood flow in tiny vessels, facilitating future applications in pre-operative assessment for STA-MCA bypass surgery.

Andrei Manoliu¹, Michael Ho¹, Daniel Nanz¹, Marco Piccirelli², Evelyn Dappa¹, Lukas Filli¹, Andreas Boss¹, Gustav Andreisek¹, and Felix Pierre Kuhn^1
1Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, ²Department of Neuroradiology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

We propose a new technique for ‘MR neurographic orthopantomograms' using ultra-short echo-time imaging of bone and teeth with morphological and functional neurography. Ten healthy volunteers were scanned at 3.0T. Bone images were acquired using a ultra-short TE sequence. Morphological neurography was performed using dedicated PSIF and SPACE STIR sequences. Functional neurography was accomplished using readout-segmented EPI with simultaneous multi-slice excitation. Image acquisition and post-processing were feasible in all volunteers. All mandibular bones and nerves were assessable and considered normal. Fiber tractography yielded physiological diffusion properties. The presented technique allowed robust assessment of osseous and neuronal structures in a single examination. 

Michael Burdumy^1,2, Matthias Echternach², Jan Gerrit Korvink³, Bernhard Richter², Jürgen Hennig¹, and Maxim Zaitsev^1
1Medical Physics, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany, ²Institute of Musicians' Medicine, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany, ³Institute of Microstructure Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany

To accelerate dynamic 3-D imaging of the vocal tract during articulation, a stack-of-stars sequence with golden angle rotation and iterative reconstruction was implemented. Phase correction, peripheral under-sampling, temporal and spatial regularization were applied to reach an acquisition time of 1.3 seconds. The vocal tract modifications of one subject could be successfully analyzed at discrete time steps during phonation of a long note.

Sachi Okuchi¹, Yasutaka Fushimi¹, Tomohisa Okada^1,2, Akira Yamamoto¹, Tsutomu Okada¹, Takuya Hinoda¹, Yutaka Natsuaki³, and Kaori Togashi^1
1Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan, ²Human Brain Research Center, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine., Kyoto, Japan, ³Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc., Huntington Beach, CA, United States

The PETRA sequence provided good image quality. We compared the visualization of the intracranial arteries between TOF-MRA and PETRA-MRA, and evaluated the visualization of the facial nerve canal among PETRA and other 3D sequences (MPRAGE and SPACE). PETRA-MRA was less visualized at the peripheral artery, but PETA-MRA was as well as TOF-MRA at the main trunk. In the visualization of the facial nerve canal, PETRA was better than MPRAGE at all segments and best at labyrinthine. PETRA would be useful for the visualization of intracranial artery and facial nerve canal.

Zhihao Li^1,2, Cecília N Prudente^3,4, Randall Stilla³, Krish Sathian^5,6, Hyder A Jinnah⁷, and Xiaoping Hu^2
1Affective and Social Neuroscience, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China, People's Republic of, ²Biomedical Engineering, Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States, ³Neurology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States, ⁴Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States, ⁵Neurology, Rehabilitation Medicine, Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States, ⁶Rehabilitation R&D Center for Visual & Neurocognitive Rehabilitation, Atlanta VA Medical Center, Decatur, GA, United States, ⁷Neurology, Human Genetics and Pediatrics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States

Cervical dystonia (CD) is a neurological movement disorder where the pathophysiology remains to be characterized. The present rfMRI study explored CD-associated brain alterations of (i) functional connectivity (FC), (ii) fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (fALFF), and (iii) regional homogeneity (ReHo). The results revealed 25 significant regional alterations that confirm and extend existing knowledge. Additionally, using these regional alterations as diagnostic features, a support vector machine classifier identified 8 features that together yielded a maximum classification accuracy of 97%.

Yanqiu Zhang¹, Dapeng Shi¹, Xirang Guo², Meiyun Wang¹, and Dandan Zheng^3
1Radiology, Zhengzhou University People's Hospital (Henan Provincial People's Hospital), Zhengzhou, China, People's Republic of, ²Ophthalmology, Zhengzhou University People's Hospital (Henan Provincial People's Hospital), Zhengzhou, China, People's Republic of, ³GE Healthcare, MR Research China, Beijing, China, People's Republic of

DTI can provide in vivo information about the pathology of optic nerve (ON) disease, but the ability of DTI to evaluate alterations of ON in retinitis pigmentosa (RP) has not been explored so far.  In this work, we demonstrate that reduced field-of-view DTI is very helpful for the diagnosis of optic neuropathy in patients with RP in vivo, which is very critical to connect radiology and ophthalmology together in RP.

Tetsuro Sekine^1,2, Felipe Barbosa¹, Felix Kuhn¹, Irene A Burger¹, Paul Stolzmann¹, Gaspar Delso³, Edwin ter Voert¹, Miguel Porto¹, Geoffrey Warnock¹, Gerhard Huber¹, Spyros Kollias¹, Gustav Von Schulthess¹, Patrick Veit-Haibach¹, and Martin Huellner^1
1University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, ²Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan, ³GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI, United States

Head and neck cancer is supposed to be one field where PET/MR might offer benefits over PET/CT. Our study revealed that whole-body staging with PET/MR yields at least equal diagnostic accuracy as PET/CT in determining the stage of head and neck cancer.

Tetsuro Sekine^1,2, Felipe Barbosa¹, Gaspar Delso³, Irene A Burger¹, Paul Stolzmann¹, Edwin ter Voert¹, Gerhard Huber¹, Spyros Kollias¹, Gustav Von Schulthess¹, Patrick Veit-Haibach¹, and Martin Huellner^1
1University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, ²Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan, ³GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI, United States

Head and neck cancer is supposed to be one field where PET/MR might offer benefits over PET/CT. Our study revealed that there was an insignificant trend towards higher accuracy of PET/MR than PET/CT for the resectability assessment of head and neck cancer.

Tim Schakel¹, Jeroen C.W. Siero², Hans Hoogduin², and Marielle Philippens^1
1Radiotherapy, UMC Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, ²Radiology, UMC Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands

In the head-and-neck region, off resonance effects due to magnetic field inhomogeneities can lead to poor fat suppression. In this study we compare the current clinical practice of shimming (volume shim) with the gain of an image based approach. B0 field maps are analyzed using water/fat segmented Dixon images to estimate the fat suppression. Diffusion weighted images are used to verify the estimates for fat suppression. An image based shimming optimization was performed to simulate 1st and 2nd order shim field. Image based shimming is a promising technique to improve subject specific shimming and fat suppression in the head-and-neck region.

Paul de Heer¹, Jos Oudeman², Aart J Nederveen², and Andrew G Webb^1
1CJ Gorter Center, Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands, ²Radiology, Amsterdam Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Imaging the brachial plexus can be challenging due to the large variations in the B0 and transmit B1 fields in the area of the neck and shoulders. These variations can result in poor background tissue and fat suppression as well as reduction in the received signal from the nerves. We wanted to study if the application of high permittivity pads could increase signal/contrast in plexus brachialis imaging. By applying the pads the signal intensity of the nerves increased from 25 to 50 while the background signal stays similar resulting in a greater contrast of the brachial plexus.

Takao Kumazawa¹, Yasutaka Fushimi¹, Tomohisa Okada^1,2, Takuya Hinoda¹, Tsutomu Okada¹, Akira Yamamoto¹, Yutaka Natsuaki³, and Kaori Togashi^1
1Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan, ²Human Brain Research Center, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan, ³Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc., Huntington Beach, CA, United States

The visualization of the inner ear and facial nerve canal was compared between PETRA and CT in this study. The total 24 patients who underwent MRI including PETRA and whole brain CT were enrolled, and visualization of auditory ossicles, semicircular canals, and facial nerve canal are evaluated. All of auditory ossicles, semicircular canals, and facial nerve canal were more visible on CT than PETRA, however, facial nerve canal and semicircular canals were commonly recognized, and auditory ossicles were occasionally visualized on PETRA.

Eliana NessAiver¹, Dan Zhu¹, Ari Meir Blitz², and Daniel Herzka^1
1Biomedical Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States, ²Radiology, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, United States

High resolution imaging of the inner ear is a desirable tool for the diagnosis and treatment of inner ear pathologies. In particular, balanced steady state free precession images have a good balance of high SNR, fast imaging times, and novel tissue contrast which yields satisfactory differentiation of inner ear structures. However, it suffers from banding artifacts in areas of field inhomogeneity. While common clinical practice is to combine two images that are 180º phase cycled from one another, which shifts the bands to different locations in each image, this yields only partial mitigation of the artifact.  This study applies parallel imaging techniques to acquire four phase cycled images in a similar timeframe to the original two-image acquisition, in order to produce a combined volume with superior banding removal at little to no extra cost over current clinical practice.

Haisam Islam¹, Christine Law², Sean Mackey³, and Gary Glover^4
1Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, ²Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, ³Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States, ⁴Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States

Simultaneous functional imaging of the brain and spinal cord would provide valuable understanding of neural information processing. However, this is challenging due to the poor field homogeneity of the spinal cord as well as the typically high spatial resolution desired for it. The higher-order shims available on most scanners are static, and thus cannot switch rapidly between brain and spinal cord acquisitions Here, we use a dynamic slice-based shim for brain slices and a volume-based shim + reduced FOV acquisition for a neck volume to perform simultaneous functional imaging of both structures of interest.

Lazar Fleysher¹, Matilde Inglese^1,2,3, Mark J Kupersmith, MD^2,4, and Niels Oesingmann^5
1Radiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States, ²Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States, ³Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States, ⁴Ophthalmology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States, ⁵Siemens Healthcare, USA, New York, NY, United States

 In this work we demonstrate an application of a single-shot EPI diffusion sequence with outer-volume suppression to optic nerve imaging. The advantage of this approach is that it is simple and is available on clinical systems. This paves a way to a routine diffusion-encoded clinical examinations of the optic nerve

Su Jin Lee¹, Jin Wook Choi², and Miran Han^2
1Nuclear Medicine, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea, Republic of, ²Radiology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea, Republic of

MRI and PET can provide tumor biology information noninvasively. ADC from DWI can represent cellularity, DCE-MRI can provide microcirculation, and FDG PET can provide tumor metabolism. Intratumoral heterogeneity is often associated with adverse tumor biology and it can be assessed by these imaging parameters. Tumor heterogeneity on DWI can be simply evaluated by the difference between minimum and maximum ADC value. Metabolism to perfusion ratio can be calculated using DCE-MRI and FDG PET. Texture analysis of PET can be used to evaluate tumor heterogeneity. Thus we investigated the relationships between intraheterogeneity parameters derived from multimodality imaging.

Ken-Pin Hwang¹, Jingfei Ma¹, Ping Hou¹, Ho-Ling Anthony Liu¹, Kang Wang², and T. Linda Chi^3
1Department of Imaging Physics, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States, ²MR Applications and Workflow, General Electric Healthcare, Waukesha, WI, United States,³Department of Diagnostic Radiology, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States

2-point Dixon water-fat separation is implemented in a Cube (3D FSE) sequence. It is compared with IR-FSPGR and Cube with fat saturation for post-contrast T1-weighted high resolution imaging of the orbits. Dixon water-fat separation provided even fat suppression through the imaging volume and maintained the signal efficiency of the other techniques. Optic nerve was well delineated even through areas of high susceptibility, and large vessels were well suppressed relative to nearby structures. We thus demonstrate a promising new technique for evaluating disease in a challenging area with fine structures and high susceptibility.

Xiaofeng Tao¹, gongxin yang¹, Yingwei Wu², huimin shi¹, pingzhong wang¹, yongming Dai³, wenjing zhu¹, Weiqing gao¹, and qiang yu^1
1Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, shanghai, China, People's Republic of, ²Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China, People's Republic of, ³PHLIPS healthcare China, shanghai, China, People's Republic of

The aim of this study was to determine the value of combining conventional MR imaging (MRI), diffusion-weighted (DW-MRI) and dynamic contrast enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) in diagnosing solid neoplasms in the parotid gland. Materials and Methods:A total of 148 subjects (101 with benign and 47 with malignant tumors) were evaluated with conventional MRI, DW-MRI and DCE-MRI prior to surgery and pathologic verification. The items observed with conventional MRI included the shape, capsule and signal intensity of parotid masses. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) was calculated from DW-MRI that was obtained with a b factor of 0 and 1000 s/mm2. A time-intensity curve (TIC) was obtained from DCE-MRI. Results:There were significant differences (p<0.01) in the shape, capsule, ADC and TIC between benign and malignant parotid tumors. Irregular neoplasms without capsule, ADC < 1.12×10-3mm2/s, and a plateau enhancement pattern were valuable parameters for predicting malignant neoplasms. A combination of all of these parameters yielded sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and positive and negative predictive values of 85.1%, 94.1%, 91.2%, and 87.0% and 93.1%, respectively. Conclusion:A combined analysis using conventional MRI, DW-MRI and DCE-MRI is helpful to distinguish benign from malignant tumors in the parotid gland. 

Akio Hiwatashi¹, Osamu Togao¹, Koji Yamashita¹, Kazufumi Kikuchi¹, and Hiroshi Honda^1
1Clinical Radiology, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

Diffusion-weighted imaging is useful to characterize orbital lesions. Various techniques were advocated to overcome image degradation in head and neck regions. We compared single shot TSE and multishot EP DWI and concluded that the ADC derived from TSE DWI, not from multishot EP DWI, might help to differentiate orbital lymphoma from inflammation.

Kim Sang Min¹ and Kwon Hye Yin^1
1Pungnap 2-dong, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea, Republic of

A study on alternative to vitamin C Juice in sialography MRI.

Prativa Sahoo¹, Pradeep Kumar Gupta², Ashish Awasthi³, Chandra Mani Pandey³, Rana Patir⁴, Sandeep Vaishya⁵, and Rakesh Kumar Gupta^2
1Healthcare, Philips India ltd, Bangalore, India, ²Radiology and Imaging, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon, India, ³Biostatistics, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India,⁴Neuorsurgury, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon, India, ⁵Neuorsurgury, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Lucknow, India

Quantification of  DCE-MRI assumes a constant blood hematocrite (Hct ) of 45% for adult human papulation. However Hct varies with disease condition and more with chemotherapy. Correction of the measured signal for blood Hct level is important as blood T1, quantification of contrast agent and arterial input function is dependent on it. Purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of Hct values on glioma grading using DCE-MRI derived perfusion parameters. Study suggest that even though grading of glioma not influenced by Hct values it does affect the kinetic parameters and  might be important for monitoring serial assessment of disease progressions.

Jitender Saini ¹, Pradeep Kumar Gupta², Prativa Sahoo³, Rana Patir⁴, Sandeep Vaishya⁵, Arun Kumar Gupta¹, Amey Savarderkar⁶, and Rakesh Kumar Gupta^2
1Neuroimaging & Interventional Radiology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India, ²Radiology and Imaging, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon, India, ³Healthcare, Philips India ltd, Bangalore, India, ⁴Neuorsurgury, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon, India, ⁵Neuorsurgury, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Lucknow, India, ⁶Neuorsurgury, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India

Dynamic contrast enhanced MRI perfusion is a useful technique for assessment of glioma grading. This technique has been used in the past for discrimination of low from high grade gliomas. This study investigates the ability of DCE perfusion MRI to discriminate Grade II from Grade III and Grade III from Grade IV gliomas. Various DCE pharmacokinetic parameters were also analysed for their ability to distinguish the various grades of gliomas. 

Yingwei Wu¹, Yongming Dai², Qi Fan¹, and Xianfeng Tao^1
1Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China, People's Republic of, ²Philips Healthcare, Shanghai, China, People's Republic of

We used oxygenation enhancement (OE)-MRI measurements to investigate hypoxia conditions of gliomas and to evaluate relationship between histopathology measurements and PSC. Oxygen amplitude maps of C6 glioma models were derived. ROI max and ROI non-max were defined. Time-SI curve from ROI areas was obtained and tissues from ROI areas was evaluated for microvessel density and expression of HIF-1a. We found that microvessel density in ROI non-max area were lower than those in ROI max area and expression of HIF-1α in ROI non-max area were higher than that in ROI max area. PSC had a linear positive correlation with vessel density.

Shanker Raja^1,2, Wafa AlShawkeer³, Lama Mohammed Almudaimeegh³, Sadeq Al Dandan⁴, and Sharad P George^5
1Radiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Bellaire, TX, United States, ²Radiology, KFMC, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ³King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ⁴King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,⁵Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States

We utilized quantitative FA-maps derived from DTI to evaluate the fibrous content  consistency and  grade of meningioma.  Our results suggest that, quantitative FA mapping is promising in pre-operative prediction of  meningioma consistency pre-operatively, but only modestly correlates with histologic grading

Chia-Feng Lu^1,2,3, Fei-Ting Hsu⁴, Li-Chun Hsieh⁴, Yu-Chieh Jill Kao^1,2, Hua-Shan Liu^4,5, Ping-Huei Tsai^2,4, Pen-Yuan Liao⁴, and Cheng-Yu Chen^1,2,4
1Translational Imaging Research Center, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan, ²Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan, ³Department of Biomedical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ⁴Department of Medical Imaging, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ⁵Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan

The multi-modality and multi-radomic-feature MRI may provide a more efficient regression model for imaging gene expressions than the conventional radiogenomic approach. 

Vera Catharina Keil¹, Bogdan Pintea², Gerrit H. Gielen³, Matthias Simon², Juergen Gieseke^1,4, Hans Heinz Schild¹, and Dariusch Reza Hadizadeh^1
1Department of Radiology, Universitätsklinikum Bonn, Bonn, Germany, ²Clinic for Neurosurgery and Stereotaxy, Universitätsklinikum Bonn, Bonn, Germany, ³Department of Neuropathology, Universitätsklinikum Bonn, Bonn, Germany, ⁴Philips Healthcare, Best, Netherlands

Many centers refrain from implementing semi-quantitative MRI techniques, such as T1w contrast-enhanced MRI (T1-DCE MRI), as a benefit for the patient is questioned. To elucidate if T1-DCE MRI has a benefit, we compared the standard neurosurgical biopsy target selection method (based on T1w contrast-enhanced or FLAIR maps) with a selection based on “hot spots” on K^trans maps in a double-blinded, prospective setting with 27 glioma patients. 87 tissue samples were taken (55 K^trans-based, 32 standard). K^trans-based selection showed a strong tendency to be the more successful targeting method (glioblastoma: n=20/39 vs. n=11/20; p=0.085; WHO III/II: n=12/13 vs. n=6/11; p=0.061).

Gavin Hanson¹, Prateek Prasanna¹, Jay Patel¹, Anant Madabhushi¹, and Pallavi Tiwari^1
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States

Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is very aggressive form of primary brain tumor, and a key part of GBM pathogenesis is the mass effect of the tumor within the ridge container of the brain vault. Mass effect is strongly associated with mortality in patients with GBM. In this work, we seek to quantify the extent of mass effect throughout the brain volume as manifested on MRI to predict patient survival in GBM patients. We use a MRI-driven tensor based morphometry approach, combined with statistical mapping to allow the identification of regions where the deformation associated with mass effect is correlated with overall survival after diagnosis. 

Mungunkhuyag Majigsuren^1,2, Takashi Abe², and Masafumi Harada^2
1Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, ²The University of Tokushima, Tokushima, Japan

We compared the gadolinium enhancement characteristics of a heterogeneous population of brain tumors imaged by T1-Cube and 3D FSPGR at 3T MRI with time-dependent changes. A totally 91 lesions from 52 patients with brain tumors in 3T MRI. Fifty-one of the 91 lesions (56.04%) were depicted with T1-Cube first, and 40 lesions (43.96%), with 3D FSPGR first. 3D FSPGR images would be expected to exhibit greater enhancement than T1-Cube images. However, the overall mean CNR values were higher on T1-Cube images with both order sequences. We suggest the superiority of T1-Cube to 3D FSPGR for the detection of metastatic lesions.

Matthew Grech-Sollars^1,2, Babar Vaqas³, Gerard Thompson⁴, Tara Barwick^2,5, Lesley Honeyfield², Kevin S O'Neill³, and Adam D Waldman^1,2
1Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom, ²Department of Imaging, Imperial College NHS Healthcare Trust, London, United Kingdom, ³Department of Neurosurgery, Imperial College NHS Healthcare Trust, London, United Kingdom, ⁴Department of Neuroradiology, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, Salford, United Kingdom, ⁵Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

Glioma heterogeneity and the limitations of conventional structural MRI to identify agrressive tumour components limits targeting of stereotactic biopsy, and hence tumour characterisation. In vivo MR spectroscopy and PET allow for physiological characterisation of tumour and we here present a method for representing MRS and PET defined regions to biopsy using an ultrasound based neuronavigational system. Our method involves using colour-coded hollow spheres to represent the target biopsy regions, which can be easily identified during the surgery. This approach can be applied to target the most aggressive regions of a tumour and as a tool for imaging biomarker validation.

Zhongxu An¹, Sandeep Ganji¹, Vivek Tiwari¹, Edward Pan^2,3,4, Bruce Mickey^2,4,5, Elizabeth A. Maher^2,3,5,6, and Changho Choi^1,2,7
1Advanced Imaging Research Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, ²Harold C. Simmons Cancer Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, ³Department of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, ⁴Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, ⁵Annette Strauss Center for Neuro-Oncology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, ⁶Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, ⁷Department of Radiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States

2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG) is an important biomarker for IDH-mutated gliomas. Thus in vivo measurement of 2-hydroxyglutarate can provide important information for brain tumor diagnosis and prognosis. Several techniques for in-vivo detection of 2HG were reported recently. However, due to limited access to scan parameters in clinical setup, translation of such techniques into clinics is limited. We report the reproducibility of a recently developed clinically-available PRESS-based 1H MRS method, for in vivo 2HG measurement at research and clinical scanners. 

Tianyi Qian¹, Yinyan Wang^2,3, Kun Zhou⁴, Yuanyuan Kang⁴, Shaowu Li^2,5, and Tao Jiang^2,5
1MR Collaborations NE Asia, Siemens Healthcare, Beijing, China, People's Republic of, ²Neurosurgery, Tiantan Hospital, beijing, China, People's Republic of, ³Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China, People's Republic of, ⁴Siemens Shenzhen Magnetic Resonance Ltd., APPL, Shenzhen, China, People's Republic of, ⁵Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, beijing, China, People's Republic of

In this study, a new post-processing pipeline of resting-statefMRI (rs-fMRI)was proposed for glioma grading, with the feasibility of extracting the timing information of brain perfusion from BOLD signal. The blood arrival time obtained from rs-fMRI shows unevenly distributed perfusion patterns in tumors. A histogram-based analysis method was employed to analyze the non-uniform distribution that could extract the patterns better than the routine method. The proposed pipeline was able to classify between low- and high-grade gliomas.

Patrick Borchert¹, Lasse Dührsen², Div S. Bolar³, Nils-Ole Schmidt², Jan-Hendrik Buhk¹, Jens Fiehler¹, and Jan Sedlacik^1
1Neuroradiology, UKE, Hamburg, Germany, ²Neurosurgery, UKE, Hamburg, Germany, ³Martinos Center, MGH, Boston, MA, United States

The QUIXOTIC method was tested in conjunction with ASL to map tumor oxygen metabolism in glioma patients. A higher oxygen extraction fraction was found for low grade gliomas, whereas lower cerebral blood flow was found for high grade gliomas. Both parameters were stable in healthy gray matter. These findings suggest, that the QUIXOTIC method is able to map tumor oxygen metabolism in conjunction with ASL. Furthermore, these findings may suggest, that low grade gliomas may maintain a more aerobic metabolism than high grade gliomas and that the uncontrolled tumor angiogenesis of high grade gliomas may cause hindered tumor perfusion.

Jiun-Lin Yan^1,2,3, Anouk van der Hoorn^4,5, Timothy J Larkin⁶, Natalie R Boonzaier⁶, Tomasz Matys⁵, and Stephen J Price^6
1Clinical Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, ²Neurosurgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Keelung, Taiwan, ³Department of neurosurgery, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Taoyuan, Taiwan, ⁴Department of radiology (EB44), University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands, ⁵Department of radiology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, ⁶Brain tumour imaging laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Coregistration of lesional brain MRI between different time points is challenging. We aimed to propose a two staged semi-automatic coregistration methods to overcome the difficulty. Firstly, we calculated the transformation between presurgical tumor and postsurgical resection cavity by using the linear FLIRT co-registration. This creates a transformation matrix used for the progression and pseudoprogression area with optimal correction of variable brain shift. Then we applied this transformation matrix to a non-linear FNIRT transformation to coregister the brain. Validation by using registration target error showed smaller deviation can be achieved by using this method compared to direct non-linear registration. 

Misaki Nakazawa^1,2, Akifumi Hagiwara^2,3, Masaaki Hori², Christina Andica², Koji Kamagata², Hideo Kawasaki², Nao Takano², Shuji Sato², Nozomi Hamasaki², Kouhei Tsuruta^1,2, Sho Murata^1,2, Ryo Ueda^1,2, Shigeki Aoki², and Atsushi Senoo^1
1Graduate School of Human Health Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan, ²Department of Radiology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan, ³Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

The purpose of this study was to assess whether contrast-enhanced synthetic MRI is suitable for detecting brain metastases by comparing the lesion-to-white matter contrast, contrast-to-noise ratio, and number of brain metastases detected in synthetic and conventional magnetic resonance images. Synthetic T1IR images had better contrast compared with synthetic T1W or conventional T1IR images. Synthetic T1IR images enabled detection of more metastases than did synthetic T1W and conventional T1IR images even though statistical significance was not detected. Contrast-enhanced synthetic T1IR is useful for detecting brain metastases. Further optimization of contrast weighting is needed to maximize the ability to detect brain metastases. The purpose of this study was to assess whether contrast-enhanced synthetic MRI is suitable for detecting brain metastases by comparing the lesion-to-white matter contrast, contrast-to-noise ratio, and number of brain metastases detected in synthetic and conventional magnetic resonance images. Synthetic T1IR images had better contrast compared with synthetic T1W or conventional T1IR images. Synthetic T1IR images enabled detection of more metastases than did synthetic T1W and conventional T1IR images even though statistical significance was not detected. Contrast-enhanced synthetic T1IR is useful for detecting brain metastases. Further optimization of contrast weighting is needed to maximize the ability to detect brain metastases.

Elias Kellner¹, Marco Reisert¹, Ori Staszewski², Bibek Dhital¹, Valerij G Kiselev¹, Karl Egger³, Horst Urbach³, and Irina Mader^3
1Department of Radiology, Medical Physics, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany, ²Freiburg, Germany, ³Department of Neuroradiology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

In a recent study, we proposed a method for fast and direct estimation of mictrostructural tissue parameters such as intra/extraaxonal volume fraction and diffusivities based on multishell DWI. In this study, we report the first method application to human gliomas and demonstrate connections of microstructural parameters with genetic markers IDH and 1p19q in a group of 32 patients.

Elizabeth D Phillips¹, Llewellyn E Jalbert¹, Yan Li¹, Marisa M Lafontaine¹, and Sarah J Nelson^1
1Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States

While the feasibility of utilizing 2HG as a magnetic resonance biomarker has been established ex vivo, several different approaches to obtaining in vivo data have been presented. This project aims to assess the concordance of 2HG detection using asymmetric echo PRESS MRSI with IDH1_R132H mutation as identified via antibody staining in patients with LGG, and to investigate the relationship of other metabolites detected with this sequence to IDH status.  Further research is required before routine clinical implementation of these methods is recommended.

Zhongxu An¹, Sandeep Ganji¹, Vivek Tiwari¹, Marco C. Pinho^1,2, Edward Pan^3,4,5, Bruce E. Mickey^3,5,6, Elizabeth A. Maher^3,4,6,7, and Changho Choi^1,2,3
1Advanced Imaging Research Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, ²Department of Radiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States,³Harold C. Simmons Cancer Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, ⁴Department of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, ⁵Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, ⁶Annette Strauss Center for Neuro-Oncology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, ⁷Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States

2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG) is the first imaging biomarker for IDH-mutated gliomas. High-spatial resolution spectroscopic imaging of 2HG is clinically important. We propose a new EPSI read-out scheme to overcome the conventional limitation of EPSI spectral bandwidth at high field. With SNR and linewidth benefit at 7T, we demonstrated the in vivo feasibility of this new EPSI method in mapping of 2HG and other important brain metabolites in normal subject and glioma patients at 7T.

Jörg Mauler¹, Karl-Josef Langen^1,2, Andrew A. Maudsley³, Omid Nikoubashman⁴, Christian Filss¹, Gabriele Stoffels¹, and N. Jon Shah^1,5
1Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany, ²Department of Nuclear Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany, ³Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States, ⁴Department of Neuroradiology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany, ⁵Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, JARA, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

Gliomas are characterised by an elevated expression of amino acid transporters and cell turnover. The spatial overlap of the corresponding volumes was analysed in 46 subjects, based on O-(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)-L-tyrosine (FET) uptake, measured with PET and by means of the choline to N-acetyl-aspartate (Cho/NAA) ratio, determined by simultaneously acquired, 3D spatially resolved MR spectroscopic imaging data. The overlap between the respective volumes averaged out to (30±23) % with tumour volumes of (14±15) cm³ and (39±28) cm³ in case of FET uptake and increased Cho/NAA-ratio, respectively. Thus the imaging modalities may represent different metabolic properties of gliomas.

YuChuan Hu¹, LinFeng Yan¹, ZhiCheng Liu¹, YingZhi Sun¹, DanDan Zheng², TianYong Xu², Wen Wang¹, and GuangBin Cui^1
1Department of Radiology, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, China, People's Republic of, ²MR Research China, GE Healthcare China, Beijing, China, People's Republic of

The preoperative grading of gliomas, which is critical for determination of the most appropriate treatment, remains unsatisfactory. As an improved MRI technique, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) is considered the most sensitive for early pathological changes and therefore can potentially be useful in evaluating the glioma grades. Recently, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values derived from the high (3000 sec/mm2) b values DWI were reported to improve the diagnostic performance of DWI in differentiating high- from low-grade gliomas5. But a mono-exponential model and relatively lower high-b values were used in this study.We used a tri-component model to calculate ultra-high ADC (ADCuh) in our research, aiming to retrospectively compare the efficacy of ultra-high and conventional mono-b value DWI in the glioma grading.

Matthew Grech-Sollars^1,2, Katherine Ordidge^1,2, Babar Vaqas³, Lesley Honeyfield², Sameer Khan², Sophie Camp³, David Towey², David Peterson³, Federico Roncaroli⁴, Kevin S O'Neill³, Tara Barwick^2,5, and Adam D Waldman^1,2
1Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom, ²Department of Imaging, Imperial College NHS Healthcare Trust, London, United Kingdom, ³Department of Neurosurgery, Imperial College NHS Healthcare Trust, London, United Kingdom, ⁴Department of Neuropathology, Imperial College NHS Healthcare Trust, London, United Kingdom, ⁵Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

Choline elevation has been reported as a marker of aggressive glioma phenotype in numerous in vivo MRS studies, and more recently 18F-methylcholine-PET has been applied to glioma characterisation. This study examines the relationship between MRS and PET choline measures in defined tumour regions, in order to validate these against tissue biomarkers of choline metabolism and proliferation. Our initial results raise the possibility that imaging markers of choline metabolism are influenced by inflammatory and reactive processes for low grade tumours. 

Sumei Wang¹, Donald M O’Rourke², Sanjeev Chawla¹, Gaurav Verma¹, Gabriela Plesa³, Carl H June³, Marcela V Maus⁴, Steven Brem², Eileen Maloney², Jennifer JD Morrissette⁵, Maria Martinez-Lage⁵, Arati Desai⁶, Ronald L Wolf¹, Harish Poptani^1,7, and Suyash Mohan^1
1Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States, ²Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States, ³Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States, ⁴Center for Cancer Immunology, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Charlestown, MA, United States, ⁵Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States, ⁶Hematology-Oncology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States, ⁷Cellular and Molecular Physiology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom

Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell therapy is a novel method of treating tumors. Since EGFRvIII is expressed in some glioblastomas, we evaluated the efficacy of anti-EGFRvIII CART for treating these tumors. Treatment response was assessed via serial MRI scans at 1 and 2 months after CAR-T cell therapy. The rCBVmax and Cho/Cr ratio decreased whereas MD and FA stayed relatively stable for most patients, indicating a positive response that can be assessed by these methods.

Donna H Murrell^1,2, Keng Yeow Tay³, Eugene Wong^2,3, Ann F Chambers^2,3, Francisco Perera³, and Paula J Foster^1,2
1Imaging Research Laboratories, Robarts Research Institute, London, ON, Canada, ²Department of Medical Biophysics, Western University, London, ON, Canada, ³London Health Sciences Centre, London, ON, Canada

Brain metastatic burden may be underestimated in the clinic because some tumors are impermeable to Gadolinium (Gd). Preclinical studies by our group demonstrated that fast imaging employing steady-state acquisition (FIESTA) was advantageous for detecting small Gd-impermeable tumors. Here, we show clinical translation of this imaging strategy. We present FIESTA images of human brain metastasis alongside standard clinical MRI and illustrate potential clinical utility of this sequence. Initial data suggests FIESTA can visualize intra-tumor heterogeneity where standard clinical MRI could not. Additional lesions were observed in FIESTA; we hypothesize some may be arachnoid cysts, though metastasis cannot be ruled out. 

Uzay E Emir¹, Sarah Larkin², Nick de Pennington², Puneet Plaha³, Natalie Voets¹, James Mccullagh⁴, Richard Stacey³, Peter Jezzard¹, Stuart Clare¹, Christopher Schofield⁴, Tom Cadoux-Hudson³, and Olaf Ansorge^2
1FMRIB Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, ²Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, ³Department of Neurosurgery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, Oxford, United Kingdom, ⁴Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

In this study, we show a proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) acquisition scheme at 7T, enabling discernible 2-HG in the spectra of IDH-mutant patients  acquired within 20s and quantify metabolic changes associated with the IDH mutation. Due to the increased sensitivity and specificity of this scheme at 7T, we demonstrate elevated 2-HG and Lactate accumulation in IDH2 R172K (mitochondrial) compared to the IDH1 R132H (cytosolic) mutant tumors in human brains noninvasively.

Maria Duvaldt¹ and Tomas Jonsson^1
1Dept. of Medical Physics, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

In order to make an adequate decision on the further treatment of a glioma cancer patient a tissue sample from the tumour is microscopically analysed and classified on a malignancy scale set by the WHO. In this project a software program with a graphical user interface is developed, where the malignancy grade of a tumour could be found by image analysis of susceptibility-weighted MR images. The parameters examined are the local image variance and intratumoural susceptibility signal and the results show the possibility of distinguishing high grade from low grade astrocytoma by image analysis only.

Fulvio Zaccagna¹, Frank Riemer¹, Mary McLean², Andrew N. Priest³, James T. Grist¹, Joshua Kaggie¹, Sarah Hilborne¹, Tomasz Matys¹, Martin J. Graves¹, Jonathan H. Gillard¹, Stephen J. Price⁴, and Ferdia A. Gallagher^1
1Department of Radiology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, ²Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, ³Radiology, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, United Kingdom, ⁴Neurosurgery Unit, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Glioma grade and extent of local infiltration are used to guide surgical tumor management. Heterogeneity imaging is a way of assessing the tumor microenvironment, which may improve diagnosis and therapy planning. Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging (DKI) is a novel promising technique that estimates non-Gaussian water diffusion as a measure of heterogeneity. We investigate the use of DKI in glioma as a tool to improve tumor grading and to estimate infiltration. Our preliminary results show a mean kurtosis of 0.56±0.02 in glioblastoma and 1.14±0.07 in normal-appearing white matter. DKI may thus represent a useful tool for estimation of tumor heterogeneity in glioma.

Adrian Ion-Margineanu^1,2, Sofie Van Cauter^3,4, Diana M Sima^1,2, Frederik Maes^2,5, Stefan Sunaert³, Stefaan Van Gool⁶, Uwe Himmelreich⁷, and Sabine Van Huffel^1,2
1ESAT - STADIUS, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, ²Medical IT, iMinds, Leuven, Belgium, ³Department of Radiology, University Hospitals of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, ⁴ZOL - Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg, Genk, Belgium, ⁵ESAT - PSI, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, ⁶Department of Pedriatic Neuro-Oncology, University Hospitals of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, ⁷Department of Imaging and Pathology, Biomedical MRI / MoSAIC, Leuven, Belgium

Delineating contrast enhancing (CE) tissue is an integral part of the RANO criteria for therapy response assessment in high-grade gliomas. We propose a semi-automatic delineation of hotspots of CE (HCE) in brain tumour follow-up of 29 glioblastoma multiforme patients after surgery. Based on multi-parametric magnetic resonance data we predict the post-operative evolution of the brain tumour by labelling each patient at each time point as responsive or progressive. The results obtained with our semi-automatic method are better in most of the cases than the results obtained with the original manual delineations. Moreover, our method can efficiently impute missing data.

Prativa Sahoo¹, Indrajit Saha², and Rakesh Kumar Gupta^3
1Healthcare, Philips India ltd, Bangalore, India, ²Philips Healthcare, Philips India ltd, Gurgaon, India, ³Radiology and Imaging, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon, India

DCE-MRI derived relative blood volume (rCBV) correlates excellently with grade of glioma. Traditionally rCBV is calculated by dividing CBV value of tumor region with the CBV value from the corresponding contra-lateral region by identifying and placing region of interest (ROI). This technique is tedious needs user expertise.  The main aim of this study was to develop an automatic method to normalize CBV so that the user-induced biasness in glioma grading due to ROI placement can be reduced. Normalized CBV provides a better contrast between tumor and normal region

Shuang Yang¹, Tianyi Qian², Jianwei Xiang¹, Yingchao Liu³, Fei Gao¹, Peng Zhao³, Josef Pfeuffer⁴, Guangbin Wang¹, and Bin Zhao^1
1Shandong Medical Imaging Research Institute, Shandong University, Jinan, China, People's Republic of, ²MR Collaborations NE Asia, Siemens Healthcare, Beijing, China, People's Republic of, ³Shandong provincial Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, China, People's Republic of, ⁴Application Development, Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany

This study aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of multi-inversion-time arterial spin labeling (mTI-ASL) for differentiating between WHO III and WHO IV grade astrocytomas, as well as the added value of bolus arrival time (BAT) information in evaluating tumor perfusion. In the first part of this study, we evaluated the reproducibility of mTI-ASL in healthy subjects, and then mTI-ASL was used to evaluate 45 astrocytoma patients. There was no major variation between two consecutive mTI-ASL measurements in healthy volunteers. Furthermore, mTI-ASL provided valuable information for the classification of astrocytomas, while BAT added relevant information for grading by estimating the temporal dynamics of local tumor-mass perfusion.

Mary A McLean¹, Nicola L Ainsworth^1,2, Anna M Brown¹, Susan V Harden², and John R Griffiths^1
1CRUK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, ²Oncology, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom

We investigated the effect of prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI: 25 Gy in 10 fractions) on brain MRI at 3T. Six patients with small cell lung cancer were scanned at 4-month intervals: at diagnosis, following chemotherapy, and following PCI. Paired t-tests before and after PCI in right frontal white matter showed increased ADC and decreased FA and MTR following treatment. However, the parameters did not differ significantly from the scan at diagnosis, and other brain regions showed no significant changes on repeated-measures ANOVA. These observations are consistent with previous reports of more marked changes following higher-dose radiotherapy treatment.

Ching Chung Ko^1,2, Yu Chang Lee³, Ming Hong Tai², Tai Yuan Chen¹, Yu Ting Kuo¹, and Jeon Hor Chen^3,4
1Department of Medical Imaging, Chi Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan, ²Institute of Biomedical Science, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ³Department of Radiology, I-Shou University and Eda Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ⁴Center for Functional Onco-Imaging, University of California, Irvine, CA, United States

Atypical glioblastoma multiformes (GBMs) with solid enhancing tumor and without visible necrosis may mimic primary cerebral lymphomas (PCLs), and atypical PCLs with visible necrosis may mimic GBMs. This study aimed to differentiate these two brain tumors using qualitative DWI signals and quantitative ADC values acquired in tumoral necrosis, the most enhanced tumor area, and the peritumoral edema. The results showed GBMs tended to have significantly higher ADC in the enhanced tumor area, and lower ADC in the peritumoral edema area than PCLs.

Daniel M Fountain¹, Timothy J Larkin², Natalie R Boonzaier², Jiun-Lin Yan², and Stephen J Price^2
1The Brain Tumour Imaging Laboratory, Division of Neurosurgery, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, ²Division of Neurosurgery and Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, The Brain Tumour Imaging Laboratory, Cambridge, United Kingdom

IDH-1 mutated glioblastoma is associated with improved survival, and greater sensitivity to further resection of non-enhancing disease than IDH-1 wild-type. We used structural, diffusion tensor, perfusion and spectroscopic imaging data in a mixed model across the peritumoral region in 54 patients. Applying a mixed model methodology across three levels of data resolution, we demonstrated that IDH-1 mutated tumors demonstrated raised choline and lowered glutamate and glutamine compared to IDH-1 wild-type. The findings provided an AUC of 0.943 when combined with age. We hypothesised this results in greater sensitivity to treatment and reduced excitotoxicity, thus explaining their relatively superior prognosis.

Hadrien A Dyvorne¹, Thomas F Barrett², Bradley N Delman³, Raj K Shrivastava², and Priti Balchandani^1
1Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute, Icahn school of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States, ²Neurosurgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States,³Radiology, Icahn school of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States

Skull based tumors pose some of the most complex challenges in neurosurgery owing to their proximity to important structures such as optic nerves and arteries. For this reason, surgical planning heavily depends on high quality MR images. In this study we evaluated the performance of 7T imaging against standard scans at 3T and 1.5T for delineating such structures. Furthermore, the high-resolution scans were integrated in the neurosurgical workflow in order to evaluate improvements in surgical time and confidence of surgical decision-making.

Ka Hei Lok¹, Lin Shi^2,3, Queenie Chan⁴, and Defeng Wang^5,6
1Department of Imaging and Intenvntional Radiology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong, ²Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong,³Chow Yuk Ho Technology Centre for Innovative Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong, ⁴Philips Healthcare, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, ⁵Research Center for Medical Image Computing, Department of Imaging and Intenvntional Radiology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong, ⁶Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China, People's Republic of

Brain tumours are the second commonest form of childhood malignancy while medulloblastoma is the most common brain tumor in children. Accurate Segmentation of medulloblastoma is necessary for maximum tumor surgical removal. We proposed a novel method to segment medulloblastoma by modifying signed pressure function (SPF) function in Gaussians Filtering Regularized Level Set (SBGRLS) method. Quantitative validation is performed in this project. The method is proved to be clinical-oriented which is fast, robust, accurate with minimal user interaction.

Seung-Koo Lee¹, Yoon Seong Choi², Sung Soo Ahn¹, Ho-Joon Lee¹, and Jinna Kim^1
1Seoul, Korea, Republic of, ²Radiology, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea, Republic of

We investigated the difference in APT values according to histopathological grades, and compared the diagnostic value of APT with relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) from dynamic susceptibility contrast-enhanced (DSC) MRI and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) from diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) for histopathological grades in adult diffuse gliomas. We optimized APT imaging protocol for clinical setting and found that APT values were increased along with glioma grades, and APT values has incremental values over ADC values for glioma grading. We suggest that APT imaging can be a useful noninvasive imaging biomarker for glioma grading, in combination with ADC.

shiyun tian¹, Weiwei Wang¹, and yanwei miao^1
1Radiology Department, the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China, People's Republic of

Pituitary microadenomas are commonly visualized as well-defined lesions that enhance less than the normal pituitary gland, but it is not clear about the enhancement pattern of microadenomas. Our work is to evaluate the TIC type and the five parameters extracted from time-signal curves of DCE-MRI in the normal pituitary gland, microadenoma and the Rathke’s cleft cyst.

Manabu Kinoshita¹, Hideyuki Arita², Mio Sakai³, Naoki Kagawa², Yonehiro Kanemura⁴, Yasunori Fujimoto², Katsuyuki Nakanishi³, and Toshiki Yoshimine^2
1Neurosurgery, Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases, Osaka, Japan, ²Neurosurgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Japan, ³Radiology, Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases, Osaka, Japan, ⁴National Hospital Organization Osaka National Hospital, Osaka, Japan

Extensive genetic analysis of WHO grade 2 and 3 gliomas (lower grade glioma) revealed that they comprise of several disease subtypes with different genetic or molecular backgrounds. The present investigation was conducted to elucidate the differences revealed on MR images including textures and locations of the tumors according to genetic mutation status (IDH and TERT promoter mutation) of lower grade gliomas. T2-entropy, a newly introduced image texture metric revealed that tumor heterogeneity is different depending on genetic status. Furthermore, classic oligodendroglial tumors located at the mid-base frontal lobe while astrocytic tumors occupied much lateral side of the brain.

Shanker Raja¹, Sarah Farooq², William Plishker³, Ali Daghriri⁴, Sadeq Wasil Al-Dandan⁵, Abdullah Ali Alrashed⁴, Muhammad Usman Manzoor⁶, and Sharad George^7
1Baylor College of Medicine, Bellaire, TX, United States, ²King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ³IGI Technologies, College Park, MD, United States, ⁴Medical Imaging, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ⁵Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ⁶Radiology, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ⁷Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

We uniquely  extracted textural features from multiple sequences of advanced FMRI  to preoperatively differentiate posterior fossa tumor histology.  Furthermore, as opposed to  recently published work (1,3,4) we found that in our series, textural feature subset derived from perfusion images is slightly superior to those of ADC maps. In addition, as expected, the  observations from this work concurs that RADIOMICS is definitely on par and probably  surpasses  domain experts in this endevour.  

Toshiaki Taoka¹, Hisashi Kawai¹, Toshiki Nakane¹, Toshiteru Miyasaka², and Shinji Naganawa^1
1Radiology, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan, ²Radiology, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Japan

 Permeability images can provide additional information to perfusion images in the clinical practice of brain tumors. However, permeability imaging by dynamic contrast enhancement methods requires a long acquisition time. K2 is an index that represents permeability and can be calculated from the dataset of perfusion images with the dynamic susceptibility contrast method, which requires a short acquisition time. In the current study, we calculated K2 for various grades of gliomas and found that K2 showed a significantly higher 20th percentile value in Grade IV compared to Grade III gliomas, providing useful information for grading of gliomas.

Jiun-Lin Yan^1,2,3, Anouk van der Hoorn⁴, Timothy J Larkin⁵, Natalie Rosella Boonzaier⁵, Tomasz Matys⁶, and Stephen J Price^5
1Clinical Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, ²Department of neurosurgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Keelung, Taiwan, ³Department of neurosurgery, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Taoyuan, Taiwan, ⁴Department of radiology (EB44), University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands, ⁵Brain tumour imaging laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom,⁶Department of radiology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Glioblastoma is a highly malignant tumor which recur mostly within 2 cm around the resected contrast enhancement. However, it is difficult to identify tumor invasiveness pre-surgically especially in non-enhanced area. Thus, we aimed to identify possible imaging characteristics preoperatively using multimodal MR techniques in the peritumoral regions that eventually leads to tumor recurrence or progression. Our study showed lower isotorpic p, anisotopic q and ADC for progression compared to non-progression regions. In addition, MRS showed a not statistically significant trend of higher choline/NAA, higher choline and lower NAA in these progression area.

Kevin, Li-Chun Hsieh¹, Fei-Ting Hsu¹, Chia-Feng Lu¹, and Cheng-Yu Chen^1
1Translational Imaging Research Center, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan

In this TCGA study, we identified several qualitative and quantitative radiomics imaging surrogates in glioblastoma, which can be used to differentiate whether this tumor have dysregulated angiogenesis at the molecular level. These features can also be used to predict disease survival.

Hyunkoo Kang¹ and Keuntak Roh^1
1Department of Radiology, Seoul Veterans Hospital, Seoul, Korea, Republic of

Susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) is an emerging magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique that exploits the susceptibility differences between the tissues. SWI provides the enhancement of small vessels and microhemorrhages and detection of iron in the brain. These characteristics permit SWI to show anatomical and functional heterogeneity of brain tumors by exquisite sensitivity to the blood products and venous vasculature. The aim of this study is to determine whether the distribution pattern of intratumoral susceptibility sign (ITSS) derived from SWI could differentiate glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and single brain metastasis. We investigated the distribution patterns of ITSS of the tumors and applied an ITSS grading system based on the degree of the ITSS. Then, we compared the grade of the visibility of ITSS in the central portion of tumors (CITSS) and in the tumor capsular area (PITSS) on SWI in consensus. In clinical use, SWI is also useful for differentiating GBMs from metastases.

Yen-Shu Kuo^1,2, Han-Min Tseng³, and Wen-Chau Wu^4
1Graduate Institute of Biomedical Electronics and Bioinformatics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, ²Radiology, Cathay General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ³Neurology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ⁴Graduate Institute of Oncology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

In this study, we performed intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) MRI in 25 patients with histologically proven gliomas, and compared the intravascular fraction f with the cerebral blood volume derived from dynamic susceptibility-contrast (DSC) MRI (CBV_DSC). Results showed that f was able to differentiate contrast-enhanced glioma from peritumoral edema by detecting elevated vascularity. Cross-modal comparison indicated that f correlated better with contrast-leakage-corrected CBV_DSC than uncorrected value.

Yong Ik Jeong¹, Charles Cantrell¹, David Manglano¹, Thomas Gallagher¹, Jeffery Raizer¹, Craig Horbinski¹, and Timothy J Carroll^1
1Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States

Genetic profiling of cancers has the potential to identify epigenetic changes that predict response to treatments. In this study, we try to overcome the limitations posed by heterogeneity of tumor phenotypes by using normalized quantitative MRI to predict local gene expression. We report the findings of retrospectively comparing T1, T1 post Gd, T2 and ADC to Verhaak subtypes and pMGMT methylation status in histologically confirmed GBM patients.

Jens Goettler¹, Anne Kluge¹, Mathias Lukas², Stephan Kaczmarz¹, Jens Gempt³, Florian Ringel³, Mona Mustafa², Markus Schwaiger², Claus Zimmer¹, Stefan Foerster², Christine Preibisch^1,4, and Thomas Pyka^2
1Department of Neuroradiology, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany, ²Clinic for Nuclear Medicine, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany, ³Clinic for Neurosurgery, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany, ⁴Clinic for Neurology, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany

 

¹⁸F-fluoroethyltyrosine (FET) PET and dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) perfusion weighted imaging are useful imaging techniques to diagnose glioma and to delineate tumor extension. However it is still unclear whether static and dynamic parameters of FET-PET and DSC are associated with each other. In this study we examined 45 patients with glioma in a hybrid PET-MR 3T scanner assessing FET time-activity-curves and DSC-parameters simultaneously. Static as well as dynamic PET-measures highly correlated with DSC-parameters such as relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) and relative peak height (rPH). Results point to a complementary role of both modalities pre-therapeutically.

 

 

Magne Kleppestø¹, Christopher Larsson¹, and Atle Bjornerud^1,2
1The Intervention Centre, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway, ²Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

Brain tumors are usually subjected to radiation therapy upon diagnosis. In this work, it is made an attempt at investigating if this therapy might cause injury to the non-cancerous parts of the brain. To this end dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI was used to estimate leakage across the blood-brain barrier.22 patients were imaged before and after undergoing a treatment schedule, and findings from the two examinations were compared to uncover any change. The data shows no significant variation in either permeability or blood plasma volume.

jing Liu¹ and shuixing Zhang^1
1Radiology, Department of Radiology, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences/Guangdong General Hospital, Guangzhou, Guangzhou, China, People's Republic of

Currently, the treatment response in primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is monitored by serial contrast-enhanced anatomic MR imaging, which often showing characteristic radio-morphological features such as lesion location, strong and homogenous contrast-enhancement, moderate edema and absence of necrosis. The purpose of our study was to investigate the objective response rate (ORR) and identify MR findings as predictors to evaluate the therapeutic response in PCNSL. Our result shows that tumor size, number, location, homogenous enhancement and the planned therapeutic strategy were independent factors correlated with treatment response in patients of PCNSL.

Cancan He¹, Liang Gong¹, Chunming Xie¹, and Yingying Yin^1
1Department of Neurology, Affiliated ZhongDa Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China, People's Republic of

In this study, 75 unmedicated MDD patients and 42 cognitively normal(CN) subjects underwent the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (R-fMRI) scan. We found that the MDD patients showed dysfunctional connectivity in wide-spread amygdala functional connectivity(AFC) networks, and these abnormal amygdala connectivity were influenced the trait property in MDD. Further analysis revealed that MDD patients with lower HAMA scores showed milder depressive symptom and greater AFC strength while MDD patients with higher HAMA scores showed more severe depressive s­­­­­ymptom and lower AFC strength. Beyond that, the mediation effects of AFC networks on the association between anxiety and depression all reached a significant level in MDD patients.

Louise Emsell^1,2, Christopher Adamson³, Filip Bouckaert¹, Thibo Billiet², Daan Christiaens⁴, Francois-Laurent De Winter¹, Marc Seal³, Pascal Sienaert¹, Stefan Sunaert², and Mathieu Vandenbulcke^1
1UPC-KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, ²Translational MRI, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, ³Developmental Imaging, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia, ⁴ESAT/PSI, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

Differences in corpus callosum (CC) morphology and microstructure have been implicated in late-life depression (LLD), however it is not clear to what extent microstructural alterations result from partial volume effects arising from macrostructural differences. Here we combined T1 morphological measures (thickness and area) with multiple diffusion MRI measures (fractional anisotropy, radial diffusivity and apparent fibre density (AFD)) to investigate the mid-sagittal CC in 51 patients with LLD and 52 healthy controls. LLD was associated with subtle, independent regional macro- (reduced area) and microstructural (reduced AFD) differences in the corpus callosum, unrelated to depression subtype or illness severity.

Clark Lemke^1,2, Charles Masaki¹, Uzay Emir², Beata Godlewska¹, and Phil Cowen^1
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, ²FMRIB, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

The glutamatergic system is believed to play a significant role in depression pathology. While many magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) studies of depression have targeted the glutamatergic system, they have all been performed at magnetic field strengths of 4 T or lower – limiting their ability to differentiate between glutamate and glutamine. This study presents the first investigation of the glutamatergic system in depressed subjects at 7 T. Voxels were placed in the occipital cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and putamen and metabolites were quantified using LCModel. Results indicate a significant decrease in glutamate in the occipital cortex and a significant increase of glutamine in the putamen.

Liang Gong¹, Yingying Yin¹, Cancan He¹, Chunming Xie¹, Yonggui Yuan¹, Zhijun Zhang¹, and Hongxing Zhang^2
1Department of Neurology, Affiliated ZhongDa Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China, People's Republic of, ²Department of Psychiatry, Henan Provincial Mental Hospital, XingXiang, China, People's Republic of

we employed the resting-state fMRI technique with voxelwise multivariate regression analysis to identify that the disrupted topological organization within reward circuits was significantly associated with cognitive deficits, depression severity, and trait property in major depressive disorder (MDD) patients. Importantly, distinct and common neural pathways underlying cognitive deficit and depression were identified, and implied the independent and synergistic effects of cognitive deficits and depression severity on reward circuits in MDD patients.

Xin Xu¹, Jia Liu², and Qiyong Gong^2
1Department of Psychiatry, Huaxi MR Research Center(HMRRC),West China Hospital of Sichuan Universityl, Chengdu, China, People's Republic of, ²Department of Radiology, Huaxi MR Research Center(HMRRC),West China Hospital of Sichuan Universityl, Chengdu, China, People's Republic of

To our knowledge, this is the first study to pool VBM studies for a meta-analysis of grey matter differences among the treatment-sensitive depression (TSD), treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and health control (HC) by using anisotropic effect-size signed differential mapping (AES-SDM). Although both TRD and TSD groups showed abnormal grey matter in frontal and temporal cortex, the exact brain regions were mostly different in both groups except the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Furthermore, grey matter volume reductions in the bilateral cingulate cortex were only observed in the TRD group.

Olga Tymofiyeva¹, Colm G Connolly¹, Tiffany C Ho¹, Matthew D Sacchet², Eva Henje Blom^1,3, Kaja Z LeWinn¹, Duan Xu¹, and Tony T Yang^1
1UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States, ²Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, ³Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

The goal of this study was to perform DTI-based connectome analysis in a cohort of depressed adolescents and matched non-depressed controls. Our findings highlight the role of right caudate connectivity, in particular to frontal gyri, insula, and anterior cingulate, in this population.

xiaoping wu¹, yanjun gao¹, Pan Lin², Junle Yang¹, Rui Yang³, and Jian Yang^4
1Department of Radiology, the Affiliated Xi’an Central Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China, People's Republic of, ²Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Education Ministry, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China, People's Republic of, ³Department of Psychiatry, the Affiliated Xi’an Central Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China, People's Republic of,⁴Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China, People's Republic of

Patients with MDD showed abnormalities in the connectivity of the CON. We found abnormal connectivity in MDD patients between the dACC and the bilateral middle frontal gyrus (MFG) and between the middle temporal gyrus (MTG) and precentral gyrus. Moreover, regression analysis showed that depression symptom severity (measured with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) and Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire scores (ATQ)) was significantly correlated with the FC values of the CON.

Jun-Cheng Weng^1,2, Chi-Ju Lai¹, Hse-Huang Chao³, Ming-Chou Ho⁴, and Vincent Chin-Hung Chen^5
1Department of Medical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan, ²Department of Medical Imaging, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, ³Tiawan Center for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, Jen-Ai Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, ⁴Department of Psychology, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan, ⁵Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan

Obesity is an important health issue in modern society. The prevalence of obesity has been increasing in these years and morbid obesity is related to cardiovascular disease and overall mortality. Past reviews regarded binge eating as a manifestation of dysfunctional reward system and disinhibition. Some authors considered binge eating as a kind of addiction. Recent study demonstrated the more extensive involvement of brain pathways other than reward system. The mechanism of change is not clear. There is scanty of research regarding correlation between change of activation pattern in brain areas in functional MRI, binge eating and psychiatric illness. To gain insight into the correlation of physiological alteration and psychiatric illness and to develop subsequent detectable biomarker are crucial. The goal of our study was to investigate the morphological changes in gray and white matter between obese patients and healthy subjects using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Our results suggested the changes of the volume in the brain structures may closely linked to the symptom and behavior of obese patients.  Apply these novel markers to monitoring and improving cormorbid psychiatric illness will be an essential part of multidiscipline integral care for obese patients.

Hung-Wen Kao^1,2, Chien-Yuan Eddy Lin^3,4, Chu-Chung Huang⁵, Yi-Hui Lin⁶, I-Ling Chung⁷, Yu-Chuan Chang⁸, Guo-Shu Huang¹, and Ching-Po Lin^2,5,6,9
1Department of radiology, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ²Department of Biomedical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan,³GE Healthcare, Taipei, Taiwan, ⁴GE Healthcare MR Research China, Beijing, China, People's Republic of, ⁵Institute of Neuroscience, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ⁶Institute of Brain Science, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ⁷Institute of Biomedical Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, ⁸Graduate Institute of Biomedical Electronics and Bioinformatics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan,⁹Brain Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan

We hypothesized that a predictive MR imaging model of sertraline treatment could be established to help treatment planning for patients with Major depressive disorder (MDD). The voxel-based morphometry analysis showed increase volume of the lingual and occipital gyri in patients with MDD as compared with those in healthy controls and the size of the occipital gyrus decreased after 6-week treatment of sertraline. The findings support that patients with MDD might have a functional abnormality of visual areas and antidepressant treatment might shift the abnormal activity in the antidepressant-susceptible brain region to a normal level.

Vadim Zotev¹, Raquel Phillips¹, Masaya Misaki¹, Ahmad Mayeli^1,2, and Jerzy Bodurka^1,3
1Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, United States, ²Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Tulsa, OK, United States, ³College of Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Tulsa, OK, United States

We have performed an exploratory study of emotion self-regulation training in major depressive disorder (MDD) patients using simultaneous real-time fMRI and EEG neurofeedback (rtfMRI-EEG-nf). MDD patients learned to upregulate two fMRI and two EEG target measures, relevant to MDD, using rtfMRI-EEG-nf during a happy emotion induction task.  The target measures included fMRI activities of the left amygdala and left rACC, as well as frontal EEG asymmetries in the alpha and high-beta bands. Our results demonstrate that MDD patients can learn to successfully upregulate all four measures simultaneously. These findings may lead to development of more efficient neurotherapies for MDD.

Marcel Warntjes^1,2, Suraj Serai³, James Leach³, and Blaise Jones^3
1Center for Medical Imaging Science and Visualization, Linköping, Sweden, ²SyntheticMR AB, Linköping, Sweden, ³Department of radiology, Cincinnati, OH, United States

Brain tissue properties change rapidly during the first few years of life. This poses a problem for brain segmentation algorithms since adult tissue definitions for white matter and grey matter do not apply for young children. An automatic tissue cluster tracking algorithm was developed to determine WM and GM cluster positions in a 3-dimensional search-space of quantitative R1 relaxation rate, R2 relaxation rate and proton density. These positions are then used to segment the brain, independent of age.

Martha J Holmes¹, Frances C Robertson¹, Francesca Little², Mark F Cotton³, Els Dobbels³, Andre JW van der Kouwe^4,5, Barbara Laughton³, and Ernesta M Meintjes^1
1MRC/UCT Medical Imaging Research Unit, Department of Human Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa, ²Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa,³Children’s Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Unit, Department of Paediatrics & Child Health, Tygerberg Children’s Hospital and Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa, ⁴A.A. Martinos Centre for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States, ⁵Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) measures changes in localized brain metabolism that occur alongside structural and functional development. Well-described trajectories of major metabolites with age provide a benchmark of normal brain maturation. In a longitudinal study, we examined the trajectories of NAA, choline and creatine in normally developing South African children at 5, 7 and 9 years. We found age-related increases in NAA and creatine levels, and constant choline levels in the midfrontal gray matter.  Since no gender or ethnicity effects were observed, these results are generalizable to a wide pediatric population against which pathology and abnormal development may be compared.

Alex Cerjanic^1,2, Ellen Grant³, Borjan Gagoski³, Marie Drottar³, Thea Francel³, Alana Matos³, Clarissa Carruthers³, Jonathan Litt⁴, Ryan Larsen², and Bradley P Sutton^1,2
1Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States, ²Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States, ³Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States, ⁴Beth Israel Deaconness, Boston, MA, United States

Diffusion weighted MRI was used on a cohort of 5 neonates to quantify cerebral blood flow and cerebral blood volume through the intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) model. Data at two time points, approximately 2 weeks and 14 weeks, were obtained. The obtained pseudodiffusion coefficient and the perfusion fractions were examined across white matter, gray matter, and the basal ganglia for all subjects. A significant longitudinal decrease in the perfusion fraction (-1.12%) was noted in the white matter between 2 and 14 weeks while the static diffusion coefficient of tissue decreased for all tissue classes between those time points. 

Iichiro Osawa¹, Takako Aoki¹, Takashi Ushimi¹, Kaiji Inoue¹, Junji Tanaka¹, and Mamoru Niitsu^1
1Radiology, Saitama Medical University Hospital, Saitama, Japan

To avoid motion artifacts, neonates often require anesthesia during MRI scans. However, this procedure increases the risk of adverse events such as respiratory depression. We developed a body holding device to minimize motion without anesthesia and examined nine low-birth-weight neonates, comparing MR image quality between unanesthetized and anesthetized conditions. The device is based on a modified spinal immobilizer and is easily handled with a short setup time. We obtained structural images during natural sleep uneventfully, preserving the image quality. In summary, the body holder can reduce the motion of neonates safely and improve image quality.  

Andrew Melbourne¹, Zach Eaton-Rosen¹, Eliza Orasanu¹, Joanne Beckmann², Alexandra Saborowska³, David Atkinson³, Neil Marlow², and Sebastien Ourselin^1
1Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London, United Kingdom, ²Institute for Women's Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom, ³University College Hospital, London, United Kingdom

This work investigates the appearance of the thalamus using multiple MR imaging contrasts between a population of extremely-preterm born adolescents and their term-born peers.

Rui Vasco Simoes^1,2,3, Emma Muñoz-Moreno⁴, Nuria Bargallo^5,6, Magdalena Sanz-Cortes⁷, and Eduard Gratacos^1,2,3
1Fetal Medicine Research Center, BCNatal (Hospital Clinic and Hospital Sant Joan de Deu), Barcelona, Spain, ²Fetal Medicine Research Center, Institut d’Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain, ³Center for Biomedical Research on Rare Diseases (CIBER-ER), Barcelona, Spain, ⁴Experimental MRI 7T Unit, Institut d’Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain,⁵Medical Image platform, Institut d’Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain, ⁶Dept. Radiology, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain, ⁷Dept. Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States

It is difficult to address the differential effects of Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR)  and prematurity, as they represent two independent problems occurring simultaneously and can both contribute to impaired neurodevelopment. We have studied one-year-old preterm-IUGR infants and preterm and term appropriate for gestational age (AGA) infants, by MRI/MRS at 3T. Preterm-IUGR infants present metabolite profile changes in the frontal lobe, which are associated with brain structural and biophysical alterations, and poorer neurodevelopmental outcome at two years.

Minhui Ouyang¹, Austin Ouyang², Qiaowen Yu², Lina Chalak³, and Hao Huang^1,4
1Department of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, United States, ²Advanced Imaging Research Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States,³Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, ⁴Department of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Association white matter tracts connecting different cortical regions underlie initial brain circuit formation from mid-fetal to normal time of birth. We examined the microstructure changes of association tracts and compare them to those of commissural, limbic and projection tracts with high resolution diffusion MRI of 10 fetal brains specimens at 20 postmenstrual weeks, 19 in vivo preterm brains at 35 weeks and 17 in vivo brains at 40 weeks. Distinctive microstructural developmental patterns were found in association tract groups compared to other tract groups during 35-40 weeks with DTI-derived metrics (including fractional anisotropy, mean, axial and radial diffusivity measurements). 

Hosung Kim¹, Kevin Shapiro², Maria Luisa Mandelli², Hannah Clanley Glass², Dawn Gano², ELIZABETH Rogers³, Donna M Ferriero², Anthony James Barkovich¹, and Duan Xu^1
1Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, University california San francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States, ²Neurology, University california San francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States, ³Pediatrics, University california San francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States

Neonatal encephalopathy (NE) is a major cause of mortality and permanent neurological disabilities in term infants.  Using t1w MRI and DBM, we found that neonatal seizure was related to WM atrophy in multiple locations.  Larger birth weight was associated with increased overall GM and WM volumes. A significant association was identified between language ability at 2 years old and increase in GM volume in Wernicke’s area.  This DBM approach has the potential for predicting early developmental outcome in infants with NE, as the volume of Wernicke’s area significantly correlated with the scores of language ability evaluated in early childhood.

Xuehua Li^1,2, Yilu Zhang², Aline Andres¹, R.T. Pivik¹, Charles Glasier², Raghu Ramakrishnaiah², Thomas Badger¹, and Xiawei Ou^1,2,3
1Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center, Little Rock, AR, United States, ²Radiology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, United States, ³Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute, Little Rock, AR, United States

Recent studies have reported negative associations between maternal obesity during pregnancy and cognitive/neurodevelopmental outcome of children. It is speculated that neuro-programming differs in offspring of obese and normal weight women. In this study, we evaluated and compared the resting-state functional connectivity in 2-week-old infants born to normal weight or obese mothers, and we observed significant differences in brain connectivity associated with maternal obesity.

Devasuda Anblagan^1,2, Rozalia Pataky², Margaret J Evans³, Sarah Sparrow², Chinthika Piyasena⁴, Emma J Telford², Scott I Semple^4,5, Alastair Graham Wilkinson⁶, Mark E Bastin¹, and James P Boardman^1,2
1Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, ²MRC Centre for Reproductive Health, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, ³Department of Pathology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, ⁴Centre for Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, ⁵Clinical Research Imaging Centre, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, ⁶Department of Radiology, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Chorioamnionitis is associated with preterm birth in around 40% of cases. There are uncertainties about its contribution to diffuse white matter injury associated with preterm birth, and its importance in relation to other injurious exposures experienced by preterm infants. 90 preterm infants, 26 born with histopathological evidence of chorioamnionitis, were scanned at term equivalent age using a whole brain diffusion MRI protocol, and TBSS analysis was run. We found that chorioamnionitis is associated with lower fractional anisotropy, indicative of diffuse white matter injury in preterm infants, and this is independent of known predictors for abnormal brain development after preterm birth.

Andrew Melbourne¹, Eliza Orasanu¹, Zach Eaton-Rosen¹, Joanne Beckmann², Alexandra Saborowska³, David Atkinson³, Neil Marlow², and Sebastien Ourselin^1
1Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London, United Kingdom, ²Institute for Women's Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom, ³University College Hospital, London, United Kingdom

This work investigates the appearance of the corpus callosum using multiple MR imaging contrasts between a population of extremely-preterm born adolescents and their term-born peers.

Alexandra Wong¹, Thomas Chavez², Jodie Votava-Smith², David Miller², Hollie Lai², Sylvia delCastillo², Lisa Paquette³, and Ashok Panigrahy^2
1New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, United States, ²Los Angeles, CA, United States, ³University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Children with congenital heart disease (CHD) demonstrate problems with multi-domain cognitive control of unknown etiology. Cingo-opercular and cerebellar brain networks are known to be critical in multi-domain cognitive control including language function. Little is known about the comparative structural growth trajectories of the cerebellum and operculum in CHD patients. To our knowledge, the literature only describes fetal opercular measurements by ultrasound.1 And, data from the neonatal period is scant, gathered from children suffering from “temporary neurologic dysfunction” or from cadaveric specimens.2,3 The fetal cerebellum has been described on MRI mostly in terms of its volume4,5 or area,6 although a few have used linear measurements as the basis of their fetal cerebellar growth illustration.7,8,9

Vincent Kyu Lee^1,2, Vincent Schmithorst², Shahida Sulaiman¹, Lisa Paquette³, Jodie Votava-Smith³, and Ashok Panigrahy^1,2
1Radiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, ²Radiology, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, ³Cardiology, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States

The last trimester of brain development in fetuses with complex congenital heart disease (CHD) is abnormal.  In this study, we use ICA analysis on resting BOLD of CHD patients to characterize the neuronal activity and compare it to healthy controls.  A total of 117 BOLD images from CHD and healthy neonates were analyzed using Temporal concatenation ICA with MELODIC FSL.  Both CHDs and Controls exhibited common RSNs, but CHDs lacked additional RSNs observed in controls.  CHD group exhibited ICAs with less complexity than controls, which maybed due to global brain dysmaturation with disruption of cortical to subcortical connectivity.

Ruth L O'Gorman¹, Flavia Wehrle², Tobias C Wood³, Andreas Buchmann⁴, Beatrice Latal⁴, Reto Huber⁴, Sean Deoni⁵, Gareth J Barker³, and Cornelia Hagmann^2
1Center for MR Research, University Children's Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland, ²Neonatology, University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland, ³Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, United Kingdom,⁴Developmental Pediatrics, University Children's Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland, ⁵University of Colorado, Denver, CO, United States

Very preterm infants are at an increased risk of neurodevelopmental impairment later in life. This study investigates cerebral microstructural differences in 31 very preterm children and adolescents relative to their term-born peers, using quantitative MR relaxometry. The very preterm group showed significantly increased T1 in the caudate and thalamus and decreased T1 in insula and amygdala/hippocampus, but no significant differences in caudate, thalamus, or total brain volume. These results highlight the vulnerability of basal ganglia, thalamic and cortical structures to neonatal brain injury and underscore the role that quantitative relaxometry may play in evaluating microstructural changes associated with prematurity.

Tsung-Han Wu¹, Tzu-chao Chuang¹, Ming-Ting Wu^2,3, and Pinchen Yang^4
1Electrical Engineering, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ²School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ³Radiology, Kaohsiung Veteran General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan,⁴Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical University and Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

By using a surface-based method (FreeSurfer), the cortical thickness measurement was performed on young adolescents born preterm with very low birth weight (n = 15, birth weight < 1500 g) and age-matched term born controls (n = 17).  The preterms, who present no brain injuries, showed a thicker cortex in parietal, occipital, and temporal regions compared to the controls, suggesting the delay of cortical thinning.

Di Hu¹, Ningning Zhang¹, Huiying Kang¹, Xiaolu Tang¹, Yanqiu Lv¹, Kaining Shi², and Yun Peng^1
1Beijing Children's hospital, Beijing, China, People's Republic of, ²Imaging Systems Clinical Science of Philips Healthcare, Beijing, China, People's Republic of

Our study is the first to evaluate relationship between emotion disorders and cognitive change in microstructure with hemophilia A, suggesting that the assessment of non-Gaussian directional diffusion using DKI provides more sensitive information about tissue microstructural changes than conventional image method and traditional psychological test.

Weiying Dai^1,2, Lauren O’Loughlin¹, Gina Yu³, Li Zhao¹, David Alsop¹, and Jorge Arroyo^3
1Radiology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center & Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States, ²Computer Science, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, NY, United States,³Opthalmology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center & Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) has been associated with reduced choroidal blood flow.  However, current methods do not provide spatial location of reduced choroidal blood flow. Here we explored the feasibility and capability of arterial spin labeling (ASL) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in observing reduced choroidal blood flow in AMD patients and the association with their severity levels. Choroidal blood flow was significantly reduced in patients with AMD compared to controls. Most importantly, choroidal blood flow was significantly correlated with the severity levels of AMD. This suggests that ASL may be a useful tool to study the role of choroidal blood flow in the pathogenesis of AMD.

Jackie Leung¹, Zahra Shirzadi², Bradley MacIntosh^2,3, and Andrea Kassner^1,4
1Physiology and Experimental Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada, ²Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada, ³Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada, ⁴Medical Imaging, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

The pulsatility of the brain has been previously shown to be associated with cerebrovascular dysfunction. Recently, the use resting state BOLD imaging has been proposed to non-invasively assess this pulsatility by calculating the temporal variance in the white matter. This measure is known as physiological fluctuation in the white matter (PF_wm). In this study, we compared PF_wm acquired in children with sickle cell disease to healthy controls. The results show increased pulsatility in the disease group, providing evidence that this approach has the potential to be a clinically relevant tool in the assessment of cerebrovascular diseases.

Malek I Makki¹, Philip Buhler², Olivier Baledent³, Christian Kellenberger⁴, Ruth L O'Gorman⁵, Carola Sabandal², Volker Ressel⁵, Markus Weiss², Ianina Scheer⁴, and Achim Scmidt^2
1MRI Research, University Children Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland, ²Anesthesia, University Children Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, ³BioFlow Image, Universite de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, France, ⁴Radiology, University Children Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, ⁵MRI Research, University Children Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland