In Vivo Mapping of Cellular Resolution Neuropathology in Brain Ischemia with Diffusion MRI

Overview

Journal Sci Adv

Specialties Biology
Science

Date 2024 Jul 17

PMID 39018390

Authors

Dan Wu

Hong-Hsi Lee

Ruicheng Ba

Victoria Turnbill

Xiaoli Wang

Yu Luo

Piotr Walczak

Els Fieremans

Dmitry S Novikov

Lee J Martin

Frances J Northington

Jiangyang Zhang

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Noninvasive mapping of cellular pathology can provide critical diagnostic and prognostic information. Recent advances in diffusion magnetic resonance imaging enabled in vivo examination of tissue microstructures well beyond the imaging resolution. Here, we proposed to use diffusion time-dependent diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) to simultaneously assess cellular morphology and transmembrane permeability in hypoxic-ischemic (HI) brain injury. Through numerical simulations and organoid imaging, we demonstrated the feasibility of capturing effective size and permeability changes using DKI. In vivo MRI of HI-injured mouse brains detected a shift of the DKI peak to longer diffusion times, suggesting swelling of the cellular processes. Furthermore, we observed a faster decrease of the DKI tail, reflecting increased transmembrane permeability associated with up-regulated water exchange or necrosis. Such information, unavailable from a single diffusion time, can predict salvageable tissues. Preliminary applications of DKI in patients with ischemic stroke suggested increased transmembrane permeability in stroke regions, illustrating DKI's potential for detecting pathological changes in the clinics.

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