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Chenyang Li^1,2, Els Fieremans¹, Dmitry S. Novikov¹, and Jiangyang Zhang^1
1Department of Radiology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States, ²Vilcek Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States

Keywords: White Matter, Contrast Mechanisms

Myelin, although not directly visible in conventional diffusion MRI (dMRI) due to its short T2, still affects the dMRI signal indirectly through exchange processes with nearby water compartments. In this study, we investigated how a magnetization transfer (MT) preparation affects dMRI signals, in particular, the fast and slow diffusion compartments in myelinated white matter of ex vivo mouse brain. Our result demonstrated that the MT preparation altered the volume fractions, but not the diffusivities, of the fast and slow compartments. Examining the change in volume fractions with MT preparation can provide insights into exchange processes involving myelin and water compartments.

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Jaimie Lee^1,2, Hanwen Liu³, Cornelia Laule^2,4,5,6, Catrina Loucks^1,7,8, and John Kramer^1,2
1Department of Pharmacology, Anesthesiology, and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ²International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ³Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁴Department of Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁵Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁶Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁷Division of Translational Therapeutics, Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁸BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Keywords: White Matter, Relaxometry, myelin, transcriptome, myelin water fraction, myelin water imaging, gene expression, microstructure

Our objective for this study was to determine the relationship between regional variations in myelin water imaging (MWI) and gene expression – a “MWI transcriptome”. Regional variations in myelin water fraction (MWF) from a normative MWF atlas were examined in a correlation analysis with gene expression data retrieved from the Allen Human Brain Atlas. Genes that significantly covaried with MWF were involved in lipid metabolism and binding, and were enriched for myelin terms (e.g., oligodendrocytes). This preliminary work highlights the utility of an imaging transcriptomic approach and further supports MWI as a robust in vivo measure of myelin.

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Tony Stöcker^1,2, Rüdiger Stirnberg¹, Difei Wang¹, Philipp Ehses¹, and Eberhard Pracht^1
1German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany, ²Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

Keywords: White Matter, Modelling, Myelin

A new  approach for myelin water fraction (MWF) mapping is presented, based on gradient echo signals with small RF spoiling phase increments. Partially spoiled gradient echo data with 20 different phase increments ($$$|\Delta\phi|\le20^\circ$$$) were efficiently acquired with a custom skipped-CAIPI 3D-EPI sequence. The data is well-suited for a novel joint-fitting approach of $$$T_1$$$- and $$$T_2$$$-spectra, from which high-quality whole-brain MWF maps are derived. MWF-maps show qualitatively good agreement with published data in the white matter (WM). Additionally, the approach seems to provide robust estimates in regions with small MWF, such as the gray matter (GM).

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Jing Zhang¹, Suchandrima Banerjee², and Alexander L. MacKay^3
1Global MR Applications & Workflow, GE Healthcare, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ²Global MR Applications & Workflow, GE Healthcare, Menlo Park, CA, United States, ³Department of Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Keywords: White Matter, White Matter, myelin water imaging

Myelin water fraction (MWF) is conventionally measured using the T₂ decay curve. For a spin-echo based sequence, the repetition time (TR) is limited by SAR. Most MWF studies have been carried out at 3T; but a 1.5T system has lower power deposition, which enables MWF imaging at lower TRs. Shorter TR will also reduce the total scan time. In this work, we performed myelin water imaging on a 1.5T system to investigate the effect of shorter TR on this technique. This work demonstrated increased MWF in human brain in vivo with decreasing TR.

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Yuki Kanazawa¹, Shun Kitano¹, Masafumi Harada¹, Yo Taniguchi², Yuki Matsumoto¹, Hiroaki Hayashi³, Kosuke ito², Yoshitaka Bito², and Akihiro Haga^1
1Tokushima University, Tokushima, Japan, ²FUJIFILM Healthcare Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, ³Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan

Keywords: White Matter, Relaxometry

We generated a myelin water atlas template derived from QPM. Imaging data were acquired using a multi-gradient-echo sequence for QPM. All the data in the 48 white matter regions measured in the volume-of-interest were plotted, and quadratic polynomial equations of each region were derived from the relationship between R₁·R₂* and the two-component model-MWF. As a result, the relationship between R₁·R₂* and MWF showed a strong significant correlation for all of the white matter regions (R² ≥ 0.963, P < 0.0001). Our myelin water atlas template derived from QPM can be used as a reference to demonstrate areas of demyelinating disease.

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Mary E. Faulkner¹, John P. Laporte¹, Elango Palchamy², Zhaoyuan Gong¹, Curtis Triebswetter¹, Matthew Kiely¹, M.A.B.S. Akhonda¹, Luigi Ferrucci², Richard G. Spencer¹, and Mustapha Bouhrara^1
1Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, United States, ²Translational Gerontology Branch, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, United States

Keywords: White Matter, Relaxometry

Abnormal gait speed is a reliable indicator of the progression of age-related neurodegenerations. However, the association between gait speed and myelin content remains unclear. We used multicomponent MR relaxometry of myelin water fraction (MWF) and longitudinal and transverse (R₁ and R₂) relaxation rates to investigate the association between cerebral myelination and usual or rapid gait speeds in cognitively unimpaired adults spanning a wide age range. Our results indicate that lower myelin content is associated with lower gait speed across several while matter structures.

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Mengsha Zou¹, Hongzhang Zhu¹, Yunzhu Wu², and Zhiyun Yang^1
1Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, 58th, The Second Zhongshan Road, Guangzhou, China, Guangzhou, China, ²MR Scientific Marketing, Siemens Healthineers Ltd., Shanghai, China, Shanghai, China

Keywords: White Matter, Brain

A pilot study to examine the structural MRI features of patients with dysthyroid optic neuropathy (DON) as compared to normal controls, and correlate pathologic MRI changes to clinical symptoms of the disease. DON patients show reduced cortical volume in precuneus and occipital pole, decrease area in precuneus and precentral gyrus, and widespread decreased FA value, mainly in genu of corpus callosuma and body of corpus callosum. Meanwhile, the FA of was associated with visual acuity. Our study provides a new insight of pathological mechanism of DON.

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Katrina A. Milbocker¹, L. Tyler Williams², Ian F. Smith¹, Diego A. Caban-Rivera², Samuel Kurtz^3,4, Matthew D.J. McGarry⁵, Elijah Van Houten⁴, Curtis L. Johnson^1,2, and Anna Y. Klintsova^1
1Dept. of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States, ²Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States, ³Laboratorie de Mécanique et Génie Civil, CNRS, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France, ⁴Département de Génie Mécanique, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada, ⁵Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, United States

Keywords: White Matter, Preclinical

Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) produces spatially-resolved maps of brain tissue mechanical properties by estimating parameters, such as stiffness and viscosity, via inverse solution of the underlying equations of motion. When measured in the brain, estimated properties from MRE detect effects of disease or interventions with high fidelity and relate to functional outcomes, making it a potentially invaluable  technique in neuroradiology. Application of MRE in white matter (WM) tracts is limited. To evaluate the sensitivity of MRE to WM alterations, this study compared values of total brain stiffness and damping ratio derived from MRE scanning of rats with impaired WM development.

Zhifeng Zhou¹, Long Qian², Gangqiang Hou¹, Wentao Jiang¹, and Xia Liu^1
1Shenzhen Mental Health Center/Shenzhen Kangning Hospital, Shenzhen, China, ²GE Healthcare, Beijing, China

Keywords: White Matter, Adolescents

Blind people is a natural bio-model for the investigation of neural plasticity. Diffusion-based MRI techniques are powerful probes for characterizing the effects of disease and neural development on tissue microstructure. This study compared diffusion Kurtosis Imaging (DKI) metrics and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics to explore white matter microstructural changes and neural plasticity in early-blind adolescents (EBAs). The results demonstrate microstructural complexity reduction and coexistence of neural reorganization and compensatory development process induced by visual deprivation in EBAs. And the DKI metrics are more sensitive in detecting changes in crossing fibers and pathology and development of disease than DTI metrics.

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Leevi Kerkelä¹, Kiran Seunarine², Filip Szczepankiewicz³, and Chris A. Clark^1
1UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom, ²Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, United Kingdom, ³Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

Keywords: White Matter, Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence

We present a novel framework for estimating microstructural parameters of compartment models using recently developed orientationally invariant spherical convolutional neural networks and efficiently simulated training data. The networks were trained to predict the ground-truth parameter values from simulated noisy data and applied on imaging data acquired in a clinical setting to generate microstructural maps. Our network could estimate model parameters more accurately than conventional non-linear least squares or a multi-layer perceptron applied on powder-averaged data (i.e., the spherical mean technique).

Guanmao Chen¹, Guixian Tang¹, Long Qian², and Ying Wang^1
1First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China, ²MR Research, GE Healthcare, Beijing, China

Keywords: White Matter, Magnetization transfer

Subthreshold depression (SD) is a significant risk indicator of major depressive episodes. This study used the inhomogeneous magnetization transfer (ihMT) technique to probe myelin abnormalities and its response to bright light therapy (BLT) in SD. The findings of this study suggest the macromolecular disruption of myelin in the posterior thalamic radiation, sagittal stratum, and uncinate fasciculus in the early stages of depression. Furthermore, the myelin impairments in the PTR could be reversed by BLT, thus suggesting they might be used as the potential neural target for BLT in SD.

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Yu-Ting Huang¹, Ting-Chun Lin², Yao-Wen Liang², You-Yin Chen^2,3, Jiunn-Horng Kang^4,5,6, and Yu-Chun Lo^3
1Department of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan, ²Department of Biomedical Engineering, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan, ³Ph.D. Program in Medical Neuroscience, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan, ⁴College of Biomedical Engineering, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan, ⁵Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ⁶Professional Master Program in Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan

Keywords: White Matter, Diffusion Tensor Imaging

The relationship between abnormal pain sensation and alterations in the central nervous system of fibromyalgia patients is unknown. In this study, diffusion tensor imaging was used to systematically investigate the alterations in white matter tracts of the pain modulatory pathways. The findings revealed the altered integrity of spinothalamic tract-thalamus, thalamus-insula tracts, tracts connected thalamus, midbrain and pons, were associated with the physical and psychological dysfunction in patients with fibromyalgia.

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Junbang Feng¹, Qingqing Zheng², Yuwei Xia³, Shi Feng ³, Qing Zhou³, Hang Yin¹, Shike Wang², and Chuanming Li^1
1Medical Imaging Department, Chongqing University Central Hospital, Chongqing, China, ²The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China, ³Shanghai United Imaging Intelligence, Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China

Keywords: White Matter, Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence

White matter hyperintensity (WMH) is common in the aging brain, which is associated with cognitive decline and dementia. At present, there is still no objective method for early detection of cognitive impairment from these populations. In this study, deep learning and radiomics techniques were used to automatically segment and extract the characteristics of WMH and other regional brain tissues, and models were established to detect mild cognitive impairment.

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Ana R Fouto¹, Rita G Nunes¹, Irene Guadilla^1,2, Amparo Ruiz-Tagle¹, Inês Esteves¹, Gina Caetano¹, Nuno A Silva³, Pedro Vilela⁴, Raquel Gil-Gouveia^5,6, and Patrícia Figueiredo^1
1Institute for Systems and Robotics - Lisboa and Department of Bioengineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, ²Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain, ³Learning Health, Hospital da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal, ⁴Imaging Department, Hospital da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal, ⁵Neurology Department, Hospital da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal, ⁶Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Health, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Lisbon, Portugal

Keywords: White Matter, Diffusion/other diffusion imaging techniques, Migraine

Migraine is one of the most prevalent brain disorders worldwide. Although features extracted from diffusion MRI have been suggested to hold potential as disease biomarkers, research outputs remain inconsistent across studies. We investigated voxelwise microstructural alterations in episodic menstrual migraine patients (interictal phase) and appropriate hormonal controls (post-ovulation) by comparing diffusion-tensor and diffusion-kurtosis imaging metrics. Moreover, we extracted histogram measures (median, peak height, width, and value for each metric); and we evaluated their relationship with clinical factors (disease duration, attack frequency and pain intensity). Several metrics revealed significant differences between groups, indicating that they may be potential disease biomarkers.

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Manon Roxanne Schipper¹, Naomi Vlegels^2,3, Sabine Voigt^1,4, Thijs W. van Harten¹, Alberto de Luca^2,5, Ingeborg Rasing⁴, Geert Jan Biessels², Matthias J.P. van Osch¹, Marianne A.A. van Walderveen¹, and Marieke J.H. Wermer^4
1Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands, ²Neurology and Neurosurgery, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, ³LMU Klinikum, München, Germany, ⁴Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands, ⁵Image Sciences Institute, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands

Keywords: White Matter, Diffusion Tensor Imaging, PSMD

Vascular reactivity is an early marker of Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy (CAA), but its relation to structural brain damage remains unclear. We aimed to study this relationship in Dutch-type CAA (D-CAA; genetic form of CAA): vascular reactivity and microstructural white matter integrity were studied through visually stimulated fMRI and ‘Peak width Skeletonized Mean Diffusivity (PSMD)’. Reduced BOLD amplitude, delayed time to peak, and delayed time to baseline were significantly related to a higher PSMD (β=-1.15e-02, β =1.08e-05, β=8.64e-06, respectively). These results indicate that vascular reactivity and microstructural white matter integrity may deteriorate hand-in-hand in D-CAA. 

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Clio Gonzalez-Zacarias¹, SoYoung Choi², Anand A. Joshi¹, Richard M. Leahy¹, and John C. Wood^3
1Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ²Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ³Department of Pediatrics and Radiology, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, USC, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Keywords: White Matter, Diffusion/other diffusion imaging techniques, Sickle Cell Disease

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is characterized by the presence of different degrees (mild, moderate, or severe) of chronic anemia (quantified by hemoglobin values). Alterations in WM were assessed by performing a voxel-wise analysis in the fractional anisotropy (FA, i.e., overall directionality of water diffusion), mean diffusivity (MD) and their kurtosis analogous (FAK and MK) maps. Surprisingly, when controlling for log-age, sex and hemoglobin, MK showed bigger derangements in the watershed areas than other measurements like FA and FAK despite of controlling for Hb measurements. 

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Jing Zhang¹, David Shin², and Suchandrima Banerjee^2
1Global MR Applications & Workflow, GE Healthcare, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ²Global MR Applications & Workflow, GE Healthcare, Menlo Park, CA, United States

Keywords: White Matter, Brain, myelin water imaging, Synthetic MRI, Myelin

Imaging myelin has long been a target in neuroimaging. Several MR techniques have been developed for in vivo measurement of myelin content. Myelin water fraction (MWF) from multi-echo T₂ decay curve has been shown to be a reliable marker for myelin. Myelin content using quantitative synthetic MRI (SyMRI) has also been used to quantify myelin in the brain. In this work, we performed 3D GRASE and SyMRI (using multi-contrast 3D gradient echo) to estimate the myelin correlations between these two techniques. This work will provide guidance for future studies using myelin imaging techniques.

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Menno D Stellingwerff¹, Murtadha L Al-Saady¹, Kwok-Shing Chan², Adam Dvorak³, José P Marques², Shannon Kolind³, Marjo S van der Knaap¹, and Petra JW Pouwels^4
1Department of Pediatric Neurology, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, Netherlands, ²Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands, ³Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁴Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Keywords: White Matter, Genetic Diseases, Leukodystrophy

Imaging biomarkers are needed for studying white matter (WM) diseases. Myelin water imaging (MWI) uses multi-compartment relaxometry to estimate myelin content, and is promising for use in leukodystrophies. We applied MCR-DIMWI and METRICS, two novel whole-brain MWI techniques, to a cohort of 9 leukodystrophy patients and 15 controls. Myelin water fractions (MWFs) from both techniques correlated well. In patients, MWF was decreased. For both techniques region-specific MWFs and relaxation metrics could differentiate patients from controls. They are promising for use in the context of leukodystrophies; additional studies are required to further explore potential clinical application.

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liping lin¹, Yingqian chen¹, Yan Dai¹, yan zi¹, Mengsha zou¹, Long qian², Meina Liu³, Hongyu zhang³, Zhiyun yang¹, and Shu su^1
1Department of Radiology, First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China, Guangzhou, China, ²Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, Beijing, China, ³Department of Pediatric, First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China, Guangzhou, China

Keywords: White Matter, White Matter, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, Synthetic MRI, myelin volume fraction, myelin volume, diffusion tensor imaging, Children.

Evaluation of myelin content is crucial for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a usual tool to assess white matter structural change in ADHD but it’s indirectly. Synthetic MRI–based (SyMRI-based) method, as a suitable quantitative technique, can investigate myelin content through quantifying whole-brain myelin volume fraction (MVF) and myelin volume (MYV). We aim to evaluate myelin estimation using SyMRI–based method and compared it with established DTI metrics in ADHD children.

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Xi Deng¹, Meiru Bu¹, Meiqing Wu², Wei Cui³, Long Qian³, Zisan Zeng¹, and Muliang Jiang^1
1Radiology Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China, ²Hematology Department of The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China, ³MR Research, GE Healthcare, Beijing, China, Beijing, China

Keywords: White Matter, Blood, Beta-thalassemia

Beta-thalassemia (β-TM) is a genetically haematological disorder leading to reduced production of hemoglobin. Yet its alterations in white matter (WM) microstructure remain unclear. The present study aimed to analyze quantitative MRI parameters of WM in β-TM patients using synthetic MRI. The results showed that T1, T2 and T1/T2 ratio of widespread WM areas were affected by β-TM, which may be related to iron deposition and decrease of myelin concentration. Thus, we concluded that WM alterations in β-TM patients can be revealed by quantitative MRI parameters.