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Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Quantitative Imaging

Quantitative MRI can observe biologically distinct microstructural processes that shows great potential in aging research. In this work, we studied the trajectories of R1map changes in aging brain and found R1map regions with significant changes in different age groups (young, middle-aged, and elderly groups). Graph theoretical analysis of covariance networks revealed global clustering coefficient of youth group is higher than that of middle-aged and elderly groups. Association analysis of spatial gene expression patterns with changes in R1map at the brain region level reveal that the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway is mainly enriched in various neurodegenerative diseases.

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Jiaqi Dou¹, Xiaoming Liu^2,3, Yajie Wang¹, Ziming Xu¹, Jing Wang^2,3, and Huijun Chen^1
1Center for Biomedical Imaging Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, ²Department of Radiology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, ³Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Molecular Imaging, Wuhan, China

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Atherosclerosis

T1 mapping could provide more reliable quantitative measurements of plaques than traditional T1w MR images. In this study, the feasibility of in vivo quantitative T1 mapping of intracranial plaque had been demonstrated for the first time using a 3D SNAP with golden angle radial k-space sampling (GOAL-SNAP) sequence. Symptomatic patients showed significantly lower intraplaque T1 values than asymptomatic patients (1695.21 ± 493.23 vs. 2241.76 ± 300.28 ms, p=0.045). Quantifying plaque T1 values and enhancement through 3D GOAL-SNAP T1 mapping images is promising for characterizing the symptomatic plaques, serving as one potential tool for further plaque analysis.

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Gian Franco Piredda^1,2,3, Alexandre Cabane^4,5, Samuele Caneschi^1,6,7, Tom Hilbert^1,6,7, Gabriele Bonanno^8,9,10, Thomas Troalen¹¹, Jean-Philippe Ranjeva^4,5, Ludovic de Rochefort^4,5, David Seiffge¹², Martina Goeldlin¹², Robert Hoepner¹², Roland Wiest^9,13, Piotr Radojewski^9,13, Tobias Kober^1,6,7, Arnaud Le Troter^4,5, and Bénédicte Maréchal^1,6,7
1Advanced Clinical Imaging Technology, Siemens Healthineers International AG, Lausanne, Switzerland, ²Human Neuroscience Platform, Fondation Campus Biotech Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland, ³CIBM-AIT, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁴Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CRMBM, Marseille, France, ⁵AP-HM, CHU Timone, Pôle d'Imagerie Médicale, CEMEREM, Marseille, France, ⁶Department of Radiology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁷LTS5, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁸Advanced Clinical Imaging Technology, Siemens Healthineers International AG, Bern, Switzerland, ⁹Translational Imaging Center (TIC), Swiss institute for Translational and Entrepreneurial Medicine, Bern, Switzerland, ¹⁰Magnetic Resonance Methodology, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland, ¹¹Siemens Healthcare SAS, Saint-Denis, France, ¹²Department of Neurology, University Hospital Bern, Inselspital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland, ¹³Support Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Inselspital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Tissue Characterization, Ultra-high field MRI

High-resolution 7T MRI allows to directly visualize deep gray matter nuclei (DGN), especially within the thalamus, and building reference ranges of volumes and relaxation times for these structures is of clinical relevance. Methods to automatically segment DGN at 7T have been recently proposed. In this study, we segmented DGN from a cohort of 132 healthy subjects scanned with the MP2RAGE at 7T to obtain both T₁-weighted images and T₁ maps. Reference ranges of volumes and T₁ values were established and proved valuable in revealing both macro- and micro-structural tissue alterations in selected cases of patients with neurodegeneration.

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Xinjie Chen^1,2,3, Sabine Schädelin^1,2,3, Po-Jui Lu^1,2,3, Mario Ocampo-Pineda^1,2,3, Matthias Weigel ^1,2,3,4, Muhamed Barakovic^1,2,3, Esther Ruberte^1,2,3, Alessandro Cagol^1,2,3, Bénédicte Maréchal⁵, Tobias Kober⁵, Jens Kuhle^2,3, Ludwig Kappos^2,3, Lester Melie-Garcia^1,2,3, and Cristina Granziera^1,2,3
1Translational Imaging in Neurology (ThINK) Basel, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Basel and University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland, ²Department of Neurology, University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland, ³Research Center for Clinical Neuroimmunology and Neuroscience Basel (RC2NB), University Hospital Basel and University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland, ⁴Division of Radiological Physics, Department of Radiology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland, ⁵Advanced Clinical Imaging Technology, Siemens Healthineers International AG, Lausanne, Switzerland

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Multiple Sclerosis

We performed an extensive assessment of the clinical relevance of a method that we had previously developed, which provides personalized quantitative MRI abnormality maps of individual multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Specifically, we assessed the relationships between quantitative T1 (qT1), myelin water fraction (MWF), neurite density index (NDI), magnetization transfer saturation (MTsat) abnormality maps and clinical disability in a cohort of 102 MS patients and 98 healthy subjects. We found that qT1 and NDI alterations in white matter lesions were strongly related to patients' clinical disability, supporting the use of those personalized maps for patient stratification and follow-up in clinical practice.

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Jierong Luo¹, James Everett², Jane Donnelly^1,3, Festus Slade^1,4,5, Neil Telling², and Joanna F Collingwood^1,5
1School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom, ²School of Pharmacy and Bioengineering, Keele University, Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom, ³Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States, ⁴Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom, ⁵Warwick Centre for Doctoral Training in Analytical Science, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Contrast Mechanisms, MR Microscopy, Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping, R2*, Iron, Ferritin, Amyloid plaques, Alzheimer's Disease

Amyloid plaques, an established hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, are often demonstrably associated with iron deposits post-mortem. Previous T₂^*-weighted and phase information from ultra-high-field MR microscopy and clinical MRI has shown the potential to detect amyloid deposits in vivo and ex vivo. We investigated the relative contributions to contrast from amyloid-β (Aβ) aggregates with and without ferritin-bound iron in vitro, for R₂^* and quantitative susceptibility maps (QSM) with 86 μm isotropic resolution at 9.4T. We also demonstrated the quantitative signal evolution with the formation of amyloid aggregates, and the correlation of the signals with the Aβ and ferritin content.

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Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Liver, parametric mapping; PDFF

Imaging biomarkers derived from multiparametric MRI have been investigated for the evaluation of diffuse liver disease. We aimed to determine the sex-specific correlation of MRI parameters with age and BMI, and to evaluate the association between multiparametric MRI parameters. 100 study participants without known hepatic disease were prospectively enrolled. 3 T MRI including T1, T2 and T1ρ mapping and proton density fat fraction (PDFF) and R2* maps were acquired. Multiparametric MRI measures have sex-specific age and BMI dependency. Relaxometry mapping indices could be associated with PDFF. PDFF was significant associated with R2* and T1ρ, but not to T1 or T2.

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xiaoyu jiang¹, John Gore², and Junzhong Xu^3
1Radiology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, nashville, TN, United States, ²Vanderbilt University Medical Center, nashville, TN, United States, ³Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Brentwood, TN, United States

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Liver, microstructure; diffusion; inflammation

The size and cellularity of hepatocytes, their variations and changes over time, are fundamental characteristics of liver tissues, and measurements of cell sizes and cellularities  may have high clinical significance but currently can be obtained only by liver biopsy. We quantified the microstructures of human liver specimens with different liver diseases, including normal liver tissues, cirrhosis, steatosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), cirrhotic regenerative nodules (CRN), and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA), using MR cell size imaging ex vivo. The accuracy of MR-derived cell sizes and cellularities were evaluated by comparisons to histology.

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Francisco Javier Fritz¹, Jan Malte Oeschger¹, Ora Ohana², Thomas Sauvigny³, and Siawoosh Mohammadi^1
1Institute for Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany, ²Institute of Molecular and Cellular Cognition, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany, ³Department of Neurosurgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Ex-Vivo Applications, In-vivo to ex-vivo translation; Diffusion MRI; Relaxometry

To learn and validate MRI-based microstructure models, MRI from fixed ex-vivo tissue samples can be compared with its histological counterpart. However, translating these models to in-vivo MRI requires thorough characterisation of MR-contrast changes between in-vivo and fixed ex-vivo measurements (e.g., due to fixation). By preforming this characterisation on an epilepsy patient’s freshly excised temporal lobe, we found that diffusion parameters changed strongly whereas relaxometry parameters remained almost unchanged. Our findings provide a missing link between in-vivo and fixed ex-vivo MRI that in future can facilitate in-vivo application of MRI-based microstructure mapping like estimating iron and myelin from relaxometry parameters.

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Jean-Baptiste Pérot¹, Mathieu D Santin^1,2, Anthony Ruze^1,2, Lucas Soustelle³, Sana Rebbah¹, Laura Mouton¹, Romain Valabregue^1,2, Miquel Vila⁴, and Stéphane Lehéricy^1,2
1Sorbonne Université, Institut du Cerveau - Paris Brain Institute - ICM, Inserm, CNRS, APHP, Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France, ²Center for NeuroImaging Research (CENIR), Paris, France, ³Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CRMBM, Marseille, France, ⁴Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Group, Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Multi-Contrast

Imaging of the neuromelanin (NM) has recently developed as a relevant biomarker of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Here, we present a longitudinal, quantitative, multiparametric study on the AAV-hTyr rat model of PD with NM accumulation in the right substantia nigra. Our protocol allowed to obtain NM-sensitive image, as well as R1, R2* and qMT in a single session. Longitudinal acquisition on AAV-hTyr rats showed inverted U-shaped curve of NM-MRI contrast-to-noise ratio, suggesting NM accumulation followed by neurodegeneration. R1, R2*, MPF and motor symptoms support this hypothesis. Our work may help to understand the pathogenesis of this PD model and identify biomarkers.

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Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, MR Value

The evaluation in activity of Graves’ orbitopathy (GO) has important clinical significance for the treatment decision making and prognosis prediction for GO patients. Some previous studies have a limited comprehensive consideration that GO could involve almost entire orbital region, leading to complex changes in MR quantitative parameter, such as T1, T2, and fat fractions. In this study, we established a combined model including MRI quantitative parameters concerning multiple tissues of eyes and multiple sequences to distinguish active GO. And it was better than using a certain parameter alone to evaluate GO activity.

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Jian Hou¹, Yurui Qian¹, Baiyan Jiang², Xiang Fan³, Winnie Chiu-Wing Chu¹, Tiffany Y. So¹, and Weitian Chen^1
1Department of Imaging and Radiology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, Hong Kong, ²Illuminatio Medical Technology Limited, Hong Kong SAR, Hong Kong, ³Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, China

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Magnetization transfer

Macromolecular proton fraction (MPF) represents the relative amount of semi-solid macromolecules involved in magnetization transfer with free water protons. In this work, we reported a novel MPF quantification method based on spin-lock for rapid MPF mapping. The total scan time for 3D brain MPF measurement can be achieved within five minutes. We demonstrated the proposed method via simulation, phantom and in vivo experiments.

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Cameron E Nowikow^1,2, Paul Polak³, and Michael D Noseworthy^1,2,4,5
1School of Biomedical Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada, ²Imaging Research Centre, St. Joseph's Healthcare, Hamilton, ON, Canada, ³Department of Radiology, Children's Hospital Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, United States, ⁴Electrical and Computer Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada, ⁵Department of Radiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Non-Proton, Sodium, Variability, Brain, Circadian, Human

Previous investigations into brain sodium imaging have avoided the potential of variability due to circadian effects. Thus, in a pilot study we investigated whether time-of-day contributes to tissue sodium concentration (TSC) variance. Three TSC maps were acquired from 7 subjects, at three different times of day (8:00, 16:00, 22:00). Each TSC map was segmented into 10 ROIs before being analyzed using ANOVA with SNR and signal linewidth as added covariates. Time-of-day was a significant source of variance as was spectral linewidth.  Between subject variance and SNR were not significant factors in the model.

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Arya A Suprana^1,2, Qingbo Tang^1,3, Elisabeth Orozco^3,4, Hyungseok Jang¹, Saeed Jerban¹, Jiang Du^1,2,5, Yajun Ma¹, and Eric Y Chang^1,5
1Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States, ²Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States, ³Research Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, United States, ⁴Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States, ⁵Radiology Service, Veterans Affairs San Diego Health Care System, San Diego, CA, United States

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Muscle

At present, there is a lack of available tools to non-invasively evaluate rotator cuff muscle fibrosis. Prior studies have suggested that magnetization transfer measurements may be useful for quantifying collagen when acquired with an ultrashort echo time technique. However, the increased presence of fat after muscle injury may confound these measurements. In this study, a rat model of chronic massive rotator cuff tearing was used with UTE-T1 and UTE-MT mapping without and with fat suppression to show that muscle collagen and fibrosis could be quantified.

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Ramesh Paudyal¹, James Rusell¹, Eve LoCastro¹, Carl C. Lekaye¹, Joseph O. Deasy¹, John L. Humm¹, and Amita Shukla-Dave^1,2
1Medical Physics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, United States, ²Radiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer, New York, NY, United States

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Preclinical

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Quantitative multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) allows for measuring the tumor's physiological characteristics, such as cellularity and vascularity/permeability. This study aimed to evaluate tumor physiology using mpMRI after single-fraction irradiation in a mouse model. The  results demonstrated the changes in the functional status of mpMRI metrics. They were validated with in vivo histology markers of tumor perfusion (Hoechst 33342) and tissue morphology (Hematoxylin and eosin staining).

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Mrignayani Kotecha¹, Navin Viswakarma¹, Safa Hameed¹, Eliyas Siddiqui¹, Feya Epel¹, Cherie Stabler², Minglin Ma³, and Boris Epel^4
1Oxygen Measurement Core, O2M Technologies, LLC, Chicago, IL, United States, ²Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, IL, United States, ³Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States, ⁴Radiation and Cellular Oncology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States

Keywords: Quantitative Imaging, Electron Paramagnetic Resonance, Oxygen Imaging, EPR imaging, Type I diabetes, cell encapsulation devices

Beta-cell replacement therapy remains the only approach with a clinical proof-of-concept that demonstrates long-term insulin independence can be achieved in type 1 diabetic (T1D) patients. The major challenge for beta cell replacement devices is to keep cells viable by avoiding hypoxia until vascularization is established. We hypothesize that by performing oxygen imaging and controlling the oxygenation of the devices early on, we can achieve better survival of beta cells and, consequently, better T1D reversal. EPROI is a quantitative oxygen imaging method that was used for obtaining pO2 maps in three different beta cell replacement devices in this study.