Using Perfusion Contrast for Spatial Normalization of ASL MRI Images in a Pediatric Craniosynostosis Population

Frontiers in Neuroscience

Nicole S. Erler²  Catherine A. de Planque³  Irene M. J. Mathijssen³  Vera C. Keil⁴  Henk J. M. M. Mutsaerts⁴  Marjolein H. G. Dremmen⁵  Jan Petr⁶ 

[1] Department of Biostatistics, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands;Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands;Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Hand Surgery, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands;Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands;Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands;Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Institute of Radiopharmaceutical Cancer Research, Dresden, Germany;

关键词: ASL;    segmentation;    registration;    spatial normalization;    pediatric;    craniosynostosis;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fnins.2021.698007

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Spatial normalization is an important step for group image processing and evaluation of mean brain perfusion in anatomical regions using arterial spin labeling (ASL) MRI and is typically performed via high-resolution structural brain scans. However, structural segmentation and/or spatial normalization to standard space is complicated when gray-white matter contrast in structural images is low due to ongoing myelination in newborns and infants. This problem is of particularly clinical relevance for imaging infants with inborn or acquired disorders that impair normal brain development. We investigated whether the ASL MRI perfusion contrast is a viable alternative for spatial normalization, using a pseudo-continuous ASL acquired using a 1.5 T MRI unit (GE Healthcare). Four approaches have been compared: (1) using the structural image contrast, or perfusion contrast with (2) rigid, (3) affine, and (4) nonlinear transformations – in 16 healthy controls [median age 0.83 years, inter-quartile range (IQR) ± 0.56] and 36 trigonocephaly patients (median age 0.50 years, IQR ± 0.30) – a non-syndromic type of craniosynostosis. Performance was compared quantitatively using the real-valued Tanimoto coefficient (TC), visually by three blinded readers, and eventually by the impact on regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) values. For both patients and controls, nonlinear registration using perfusion contrast showed the highest TC, at 17.51 (CI 6.66–49.38) times more likely to have a higher rating and 17.45–18.88 ml/100 g/min higher CBF compared with the standard normalization. Using perfusion-based contrast improved spatial normalization compared with the use of structural images, significantly affected the regional CBF, and may open up new possibilities for future large pediatric ASL brain studies.

【 授权许可】

Unknown