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Myelin Water Fraction and Intra/Extracellular Water Geometric Mean T2 Normative Atlases for the Cervical Spinal Cord from 3T MRI

Liu, Hanwen ; Ljungberg, Emil LU orcid ; Dvorak, Adam V. ; Lee, Lisa Eunyoung ; Yik, Jackie T. ; Macmillan, Erin L. ; Barlow, Laura ; Li, David K.b. ; Traboulsee, Anthony and Kolind, Shannon H. , et al. (2020) In Journal of Neuroimaging 30. p.50-57
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Acquiring and interpreting quantitative myelin-specific MRI data at an individual level is challenging because of technical difficulties and natural myelin variation in the population. To overcome these challenges, we used multiecho T2 myelin water imaging (MWI) to create T2 metric healthy population atlases that depict the mean and variation of myelin water fraction (MWF), and intra- and extracellular water mobility as described by geometric mean T2 (IEGMT2).

METHODS
Cervical cord MWI was performed at 3T on 20 healthy individuals (10M/10F, mean age: 36 years) and 3 relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) participants (1M/2F, age: 39/42/37 years). Anatomical data were collected for the purpose... (More)
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Acquiring and interpreting quantitative myelin-specific MRI data at an individual level is challenging because of technical difficulties and natural myelin variation in the population. To overcome these challenges, we used multiecho T2 myelin water imaging (MWI) to create T2 metric healthy population atlases that depict the mean and variation of myelin water fraction (MWF), and intra- and extracellular water mobility as described by geometric mean T2 (IEGMT2).

METHODS
Cervical cord MWI was performed at 3T on 20 healthy individuals (10M/10F, mean age: 36 years) and 3 relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) participants (1M/2F, age: 39/42/37 years). Anatomical data were collected for the purpose of image segmentation and registration. Atlases were created by coregistering and averaging T2 metrics from all controls. Voxel-wise z-score maps from 3 RRMS participants were produced to demonstrate the preliminary utility of the MWF and IEGMT2 atlases.

RESULTS
The average MWF atlas provides a representation of myelin in the spinal cord consistent with well-known spinal cord anatomical characteristics. The IEGMT2 atlas also depicted structural variations in the spinal cord. Z-score analysis illustrated distinct abnormalities in MWF and IEGMT2 in the 3 RRMS cases.

CONCLUSIONS
Our findings highlight the potential for using a quantitative T2 relaxation metric atlas to visualize and detect pathology in spinal cord. Our MWF and IEGMT2 atlases (URL: https://sourceforge.net/projects/mwi-spinal-cord-atlases/) can serve as normative references in the cervical spinal cord for other studies. (Less)
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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
in
Journal of Neuroimaging
volume
30
pages
50 - 57
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:85070674657
ISSN
1051-2284
DOI
10.1111/jon.12659
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
9d92d803-bd10-4e7c-821d-323e849ae1a0
date added to LUP
2023-05-01 09:36:19
date last changed
2023-05-02 07:54:51
@article{9d92d803-bd10-4e7c-821d-323e849ae1a0,
  abstract     = {{BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE<br/>Acquiring and interpreting quantitative myelin-specific MRI data at an individual level is challenging because of technical difficulties and natural myelin variation in the population. To overcome these challenges, we used multiecho T2 myelin water imaging (MWI) to create T2 metric healthy population atlases that depict the mean and variation of myelin water fraction (MWF), and intra- and extracellular water mobility as described by geometric mean T2 (IEGMT2).<br/><br/>METHODS<br/>Cervical cord MWI was performed at 3T on 20 healthy individuals (10M/10F, mean age: 36 years) and 3 relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) participants (1M/2F, age: 39/42/37 years). Anatomical data were collected for the purpose of image segmentation and registration. Atlases were created by coregistering and averaging T2 metrics from all controls. Voxel-wise z-score maps from 3 RRMS participants were produced to demonstrate the preliminary utility of the MWF and IEGMT2 atlases.<br/><br/>RESULTS<br/>The average MWF atlas provides a representation of myelin in the spinal cord consistent with well-known spinal cord anatomical characteristics. The IEGMT2 atlas also depicted structural variations in the spinal cord. Z-score analysis illustrated distinct abnormalities in MWF and IEGMT2 in the 3 RRMS cases.<br/><br/>CONCLUSIONS<br/>Our findings highlight the potential for using a quantitative T2 relaxation metric atlas to visualize and detect pathology in spinal cord. Our MWF and IEGMT2 atlases (URL: https://sourceforge.net/projects/mwi-spinal-cord-atlases/) can serve as normative references in the cervical spinal cord for other studies.}},
  author       = {{Liu, Hanwen and Ljungberg, Emil and Dvorak, Adam V. and Lee, Lisa Eunyoung and Yik, Jackie T. and Macmillan, Erin L. and Barlow, Laura and Li, David K.b. and Traboulsee, Anthony and Kolind, Shannon H. and Kramer, John L.k. and Laule, Cornelia}},
  issn         = {{1051-2284}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  pages        = {{50--57}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Journal of Neuroimaging}},
  title        = {{Myelin Water Fraction and Intra/Extracellular Water Geometric Mean T2 Normative Atlases for the Cervical Spinal Cord from 3T MRI}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jon.12659}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/jon.12659}},
  volume       = {{30}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}