Ralf Lützkendorf1, Robin M. Heidemann2, Thorsten Feiweier2, Michael Luchtmann3, Sebastian Baecke1, Joern Kaufmann4, Joerg Stadler5, Eike Budinger5, and Johannes Bernarding1
1Biometry and Medical Informatics, University of Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany, 2Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Erlangen, Germany, 3Department of Neurosurgery, University of Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany, 4Department of Neurology, University of Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany, 5Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany
Synopsis
Track-density
imaging (TDI) is a method to generate super-resolution images from fiber-tracking
data (1). Here, we applied this technique to 1.4 mm isotropic 7T whole brain diffusion
MR imaging data (dMRI). Besides the well-known large and medium-sized fiber
tracts the high resolution of the data allowed visualizing the complex
interwoven courses of fiber tracts in the cerebellar-pontine angle as well as
showing parts of the trigeminus nerve. Combining TDI with high-resolved
diffusion data has a great potential for analyzing the anatomy in vivo of brain
structures across different scales as well as the neuronal connectome throughout
the whole brain.Purpose:
Using super-resolution track-density imaging (1) derived from isotropic high-resolution (1.4 mm) 7T diffusion data to analyze
the connectome architecture through-out the whole human brain in vivo, ranging
from large- to small-scale brain anatomic structures including midbrain and
cerebellum.
Methods:
Data were measured on a research 7 Tesla whole-body MR scanner (Siemens
Healthcare GmbH, Germany), equipped with a 70 mT/m gradient coil (slew rate of
200 T/m/s). A 32-channel phased-array head coil (Nova Medical, USA) was used
for head imaging. The protocol consisted of a high-resolution anatomic scan
(MPRAGE, 0.8 mm isotropic resolution, covering the whole head including the
cerebellum), diffusion-weighted MR images (dMRI) using a prototype
single-shot-EPI sequence employing a modified Stejskal Tanner diffusion
encoding gradient scheme (3,4). Additionally, a Gradient Echo sequence was acquired
serving for B0 field mapping (5). Wwe optimized the diffusion gradients by
employing a web application for multiple-shell protocol design provided by
Caruyer (http://www.emmanuelcaruyer.com/q-space-sampling.php), consisting of 128
diffusion gradients per shell and different gradients in each shell. The dMRI
protocol compromised 137 volumes with 1.4 mm isotropic resolution. We acquired 128
diffusion-weighted data sets (b=3000 s/mm2) with different combinations of
gradient directions (6), and nine non-diffusion-weighted data sets (b=0 s/mm2,
b0 images) interspersed with every 17th diffusion-weighted data set. EPI
acquisition was accelerated using GRAPPA factor 3, 36 reference lines, 6/8
partial Fourier mode . Other imaging parameters were;bandwidth 1526 Hz/Pixel,
echo spacing of 0.76 ms, TE = 73 ms, base resolution 156*156, 98 slices, field
of view 220 mm), dMRI measurements coverd the whole brain including the cerebellum. Duration
of the measurement was 50 minutes.Track-density images were generated according to
MRTrix 3.0 (www.mrtrix.org). The TD image was calculated from 10, 25 and 50
million tracts whole brain fibertracking and 1mm, 0.25mm and 0.15mm
resolution.
Results and Discussion:
The results showed that due to the increased
signal-to-noise ratio at 7T the quality of the high-resolved diffusion data was
sufficient to acquire diffusion data without averaging (i.e. in one single
acquisition). The high diffusion-weighting of b=3000 s/mm2 enabled a
good delineation of crossing and bending fibers. The visual inspection and
comparison of TDI data with different resolutions led to the conclusion that 10
million fibers, which is equivalent to a super-resolution of 0.2 mm, gave the best results. The fine anatomic details can
be seen on exemplary slices (fig. 1, fig. 2; see figure captions for details).
Most interestingly, the trigeminus nerve which is the largest brain nerve with
a diameter of about 2.6 mm is clearly seen. The potential of 7T diffusion
imaging to depict even small brain structures and details of the brain stem is also
demonstrated by recent publications (6). The combination of ultra-high-field dMRI with
super-resolution techniques is reported in (7,8,9). However, when planning to
apply this technique in clinical diagnosis or even pre-surgical planning (e.h.
for deep brain stimulation) a compromise has to be found between resolution and
time for data acquisition. For whole-brain data we found that the resolution of
1.4 mm isotropic was the optimum (when applying high diffusion-weighting of
b=3000 s/mm2) as data could be acquired in a single measurement without
averaging. If very small structures such as thalamic nuclei have to be analyzed
diffusion imaging techniques using restricted field-of-views (10,11) or
techniques such as ZOOPPA (12) may allow increasing the resolution to sub-mm
while acquisition time may still remain acceptable for patients. It is to be
expected that sub-mm dMRI will allow increasing the super-resolution even
further.
Acknowledgements
No acknowledgement found.References
[1] Calamante F, Tournier JD,
Heidemann RM, Anwander A, Jackson GD, Connelly A.
Track density imaging (TDI): validation of super resolution property.
Neuroimage. 2011 Jun
1;56(3):1259-66. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.02.059 . Epub 2011 Feb 24.
[2] Morelli JN et al., Evaluation
of a modified Stejskal-Tanner diffusion encoding scheme, permitting a marked
reduction in TE, in diffusion-weighted imaging of stroke patients at 3
T. Invest Rad 45, 29-35,
[3]Stejskal, E. O. & Tanner,
J. E., Spin Diffusion Measurements: Spin Echoes in the Presence of a Time
Dependent Field Gradient. J. Chem. Phys. 42, 288 (1965).
[4] Jones, D. K. & Cercignani,
M.Twenty-five pitfalls in the analysis of diffusion MRI data. NMR in
biomedicine 23, 803–820 (2010).
[5]
Jones, D. K. &
Cercignani, M.Twenty-five pitfalls in the analysis of diffusion MRI data. NMR
in biomedicine 23, 803–820 (2010).
[6] Deistung, Andreas;
Schäfer, Andreas; Schweser, Ferdinand; Biedermann, Uta; Güllmar, Daniel;
Trampel, Robert; Turner, Robert; Reichenbach, Jürgen R. High-Resolution MR
Imaging of the Human Brainstem In vivo at 7 Tesla. Frontiers in human
neuroscience, 7, 2013, 710.
[7] Cho, Z.-H. et al. An
anatomic review of thalamolimbic fiber tractography: ultra-high resolution
direct visualization of thalamolimbic fibers anterior thalamic radiation,
superolateral and inferomedial medial forebrain bundles, and newly identified
septum pellucidum tract, World
neurosurgery 83, 54-61.e32
(2015).
[8] Calamante, F. et al. Super-resolution
track-density imaging of thalamic substructures: comparison with
high-resolution anatomical magnetic resonance imaging at 7.0T, Human brain mapping 34, 2538–2548 (2013).
[9] 7.0 Tesla MRI Brain White
Matter Atlas
Editors:
Cho, Zang-Hee, Calamante, Fernando, Chi, Je-Geun (Eds.),
Springer Verlag Berlin, 2015
[10]Heidemann, Robin, M.; Anwander
A.; Eichner, C.; Luetzkendorf, R.; Feiweier, T.; Knösche, T.R.; Bernarding, J.;
Turner, R.; Isotropic Sub-Millimeter Diffusion MRI in Humans at 7T,
Proceeding of the Organisation of Human Brain Mapping, June 26-30, Québec City
(2011).
[11]Luetzkendorf, R.; Hertel, F.;
Heidemann, RM.; Thiel, A.; Luchtmann, M.; Plaumann, M.; Stadler, J.; Baecke,
S.; Bernarding, J.; Non-invasive high-resolution tracking of human neuronal
pathways: Diffusion Tensor Imaging at 7T with 1.2 mm isotropic voxel size.
Medical Imaging 2013: Physics of Medical Imaging, edited by Robert M. Nishikawa,
Bruce R. Whiting, Christoph Hoeschen, Proc. of SPIE Vol. 8668, 866846 ·, 7
pages (2013).
[12] Heidemann RM., Anwander, A., Feiweier, T., Knösche, T., Turner, R.; k-space and q-space: combining ultra-high spatial and angular resolution in diffusion imaging using ZOOPPA at 7T. Neuroimage, 60-2, 967-978.