Background: The hippocampus can be divided longitudinally into the head, body, and tail; and unfolded medial-to-laterally into the subiculum, cornu ammonis (CA) sectors, and the dentate gyrus. Ultra-high field (≥ 7 Tesla; 7T) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) enables submillimetric visualization of these hippocampal substructures which could be valuable for surgical targeting. Here, we assess the feasibility of using 7T MRI in conjunction with a novel computational unfolding method for image-based stereotactic targeting of hippocampal substructures. Methods: 53 patients with drug-resistant epilepsy were identified undergoing first-time implantation of the hippocampus. An image processing pipeline was created for computationally transforming post-operative electrode contact locations into our hippocampal coordinate system. Results: Of 178 implanted hippocampal electrodes (88 left; 49.4%), 25 (14.0%) were predominantly in the subiculum, 85 (47.8%) were in CA1, 23 (12.9%) were in CA2, 18 (10.1%) were in CA3/CA4, and 27 (15.2%) were in dentate gyrus. Along the longitudinal axis, hippocampal electrodes were most commonly implanted in the body (92; 51.7%) followed by the head (86; 48.3%). Conclusions: 7T MRI enables high-resolution anatomical imaging on the submillimeter scale in in vivo subjects. Here, we demonstrate the utility of 7T imaging for identifying the relative location of SEEG electrode implantations within hippocampal substructures for the invasive investigation of epilepsy.
An in vivo probabilistic atlas of the human locus coeruleus at ultra-high field