Connectome 2.0: Developing the next-generation ultra-high gradient strength human MRI scanner for bridging studies of the micro-, meso- and macro-connectome

NeuroImage

卷:243

Slimane Tounekti¹  Jean Augustinack¹  Thomas Witzel²  Berkin Bilgic³  Aapo Nummenmaa³  Daniel Berger³  Peter Dietz³  Anastasia Yendiki³  Alexander Shapson-Coe³  Jeff Lichtman³  Susie Y. Huang³  Kawin Setsompop³  Qiuyun Fan³  Alexandru V. Avram³  Qiyuan Tian³  Gabriel Ramos-Llordén³  Hong-Hsi Lee³  Els Fieremans⁴  Choukri Mekkaoui⁴  Bruce R. Rosen⁵  Lawrence L. Wald⁵  Peter J. Basser⁵  Dan Benjamini⁶  Sudhir Pathak⁶  Kulam Najmudeen Magdoom⁶  Michal Komlosh⁶  Alina Scholz⁷  Mathias Davids⁷  Walter Schneider⁸  Dmitry S. Novikov⁸  Boris Keil⁹  Fuyixue Wang¹⁰  Rebecca Ramb¹¹  Elmar Rummert¹¹  John E. Kirsch¹¹ 

[1] Center for Advanced Imaging Innovation and Research (CAI2R), New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA;

[2] Corresponding author.;

[3] Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA;

[4] Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA;

[5] Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA;

[6] Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA;

[7] Institute of Medical Physics and Radiation Protection (IMPS), TH-Mittelhessen University of Applied Sciences (THM), Giessen, Germany;

[8] Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA;

[9] Q bio Inc., San Carlos, CA, USA;

[10] Radiological Sciences Laboratory, Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA;

[11] Siemens Healthineers, Erlangen, Germany;

关键词: Connectome;    Diffusion MRI;    Head gradient;    Peripheral nerve stimulation;    Multi-scale modeling;    Tissue microstructure;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The first phase of the Human Connectome Project pioneered advances in MRI technology for mapping the macroscopic structural connections of the living human brain through the engineering of a whole-body human MRI scanner equipped with maximum gradient strength of 300 mT/m, the highest ever achieved for human imaging. While this instrument has made important contributions to the understanding of macroscale connectional topology, it has also demonstrated the potential of dedicated high-gradient performance scanners to provide unparalleled in vivo assessment of neural tissue microstructure. Building on the initial groundwork laid by the original Connectome scanner, we have now embarked on an international, multi-site effort to build the next-generation human 3T Connectome scanner (Connectome 2.0) optimized for the study of neural tissue microstructure and connectional anatomy across multiple length scales. In order to maximize the resolution of this in vivo microscope for studies of the living human brain, we will push the diffusion resolution limit to unprecedented levels by (1) nearly doubling the current maximum gradient strength from 300 mT/m to 500 mT/m and tripling the maximum slew rate from 200 T/m/s to 600 T/m/s through the design of a one-of-a-kind head gradient coil optimized to minimize peripheral nerve stimulation; (2) developing high-sensitivity multi-channel radiofrequency receive coils for in vivo and ex vivo human brain imaging; (3) incorporating dynamic field monitoring to minimize image distortions and artifacts; (4) developing new pulse sequences to integrate the strongest diffusion encoding and highest spatial resolution ever achieved in the living human brain; and (5) calibrating the measurements obtained from this next-generation instrument through systematic validation of diffusion microstructural metrics in high-fidelity phantoms and ex vivo brain tissue at progressively finer scales with accompanying diffusion simulations in histology-based micro-geometries. We envision creating the ultimate diffusion MRI instrument capable of capturing the complex multi-scale organization of the living human brain – from the microscopic scale needed to probe cellular geometry, heterogeneity and plasticity, to the mesoscopic scale for quantifying the distinctions in cortical structure and connectivity that define cyto- and myeloarchitectonic boundaries, to improvements in estimates of macroscopic connectivity.

【 授权许可】

Unknown