Fast high-resolution metabolic imaging of acute stroke with 3D magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Abstract Impaired oxygen and cellular metabolism is a hallmark of ischaemic injury in acute stroke. Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) has long been recognized as a potentially powerful tool for non-invasive metabolic imaging. Nonetheless, long acquisition time, poor spatial resolution, and narrow coverage have limited its clinical application. Here we investigated the feasibility and potential clinical utility of rapid, high spatial resolution, near whole-brain 3D metabolic imaging based on a novel MRSI technology. In an 8-min scan, we simultaneously obtained 3D maps of N-acetylaspartate and lactate at a nominal spatial resolution of 2.0 × 3.0 × 3.0 mm3 with near whole-brain coverage from a cohort of 18 patients with acute ischaemic stroke. Serial structural and perfusion MRI was used to define detailed spatial maps of tissue-level outcomes against which high-resolution metabolic changes were evaluated. Within hypoperfused tissue, the lactate signal was higher in areas that ultimately infarcted compared with those that recovered (P < 0.0001). Both lactate (P < 0.0001) and N-acetylaspartate (P < 0.001) differed between infarcted and other regions. Within the areas of diffusion-weighted abnormality, lactate was lower where recovery was observed compared with elsewhere (P < 0.001). This feasibility study supports further investigation of fast high-resolution MRSI in acute stroke.

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Whole-Brain High-Resolution Metabolite Mapping with 3D Compressed-Sensing-SENSE-LowRank 1H FID-MRSI

10.1101/2020.05.18.101618 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Antoine Klauser ◽

Paul Klauser ◽

Frédéric Grouiller ◽

Sebastien Courvoisier ◽

Francois Lazeyras

Keyword(s):

High Resolution ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Low Rank ◽

Acquisition Time ◽

Resonance Spectroscopy ◽

Brain Anatomy ◽

Reconstruction Technique ◽

Whole Brain ◽

Isotropic Resolution

There is a growing interest of the neuroscience community to map the distribution of brain metabolites in vivo. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging (MRSI) is often limited by either a poor spatial resolution and/or a long acquisition time which severely limits its applications for clinical or research purposes. We developed a novel acquisition-reconstruction technique combining fast 1H-FID-MRSI sequence accelerated by random k-space undersampling and a low-rank and total-generalized variation (TGV) constrained model. This framework was applied to the brain of four healthy volunteers. Following 20 min acquisition, reconstruction and quantification, the resulting metabolic maps with a 5 mm isotropic resolution reflected the detailed neurochemical composition of all brain regions and revealed part of the underlying brain anatomy. Contrasts and features from the 3D metabolite distributions were in agreement with the literature and consistent across the four subjects. The successful combination of the 3D 1H-FID-MRSI with a constrained reconstruction enables the detailed mapping of metabolite concentrations at high-resolution in the whole brain and with an acquisition time that is compatible with clinical or research settings.

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A High-Resolution Interactive Atlas of the Human Brainstem Using Magnetic Resonance Histology

Neurosurgery ◽

10.1093/neuros/nyaa447_644 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 67 (Supplement_1) ◽

Author(s):

Syed M Adil ◽

Evan Calabrese ◽

Lefko T Charalambous ◽

James Cook ◽

Shervin Rahimpour ◽

...

Keyword(s):

White Matter ◽

Magnetic Resonance ◽

High Resolution ◽

Spatial Resolution ◽

7 Tesla ◽

Acquisition Time ◽

Superior Cerebellar Peduncle ◽

Corticospinal Tracts ◽

Custom Made ◽

And Diffusion

Abstract INTRODUCTION Traditional atlases of the human brainstem are limited by the inflexible, sparsely-sampled, two-dimensional nature of histology or the low spatial resolution of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Magnetic resonance histology (MRH) uses postmortem high-resolution MRI to circumvent the challenges associated with both modalities. METHODS A human brainstem specimen extending from the rostral diencephalon through the caudal medulla was removed from a 65-year-old male within 24 hours of death. The specimen was formalin-fixed for two weeks, then rehydrated and placed in a custom-made MRI compatible tube and immersed in buffered liquid fluorocarbon. MRI was performed in a 7-Tesla machine with 120 unique diffusion directions. Acquisition time for anatomic and diffusion images were 14 hours and 208 hours, respectively. Segmentation was performed manually. Deterministic fiber tractography was done using strategically chosen regions of interest and avoidance, with manual editing using expert knowledge of human neuroanatomy. RESULTS Anatomic and diffusion images were rendered with isotropic resolutions of 50 μm and 200 μm, respectively. Spatial resolution was high enough to visualize individual fasciculi of the descending corticospinal tracts intercalated between the transverse pontocerebellar fibers. Ninety different structures were segmented and 11 different fiber bundles were rendered with tractography. Angular resolution was high enough to visualize crossing fibers, such as those of the superior cerebellar peduncle. Both gray and white matter can be visualized in 3D simultaneously, such as the subthalamic nuclei and corticospinal tracts, as may be used in deep brain stimulation. CONCLUSION We used MRH to enable unprecedented resolution in digital imaging of the human brainstem and adjacent diencephalic structures, and we then performed comprehensive segmentation and tractography to render an interactive, three-dimensional atlas of both gray and white matter. This atlas has immediate applications in neuroanatomical study and education, with the potential for future neurosurgical applications in enhancing neurosurgical planning through “safe” zones of entry into the human brainstem. We are currently building the computer infrastructure to make this atlas publicly-available.

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