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US 11,439,315 B2Granted
MRI T1W and T2W combined features for detecting neurodegeneration
AssigneeThe Penn State Research Foundation
InventorsGuangwei Du, Xuemei Huang, Mechelle Lewis
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Abstract
Embodiments can relate to a method for detecting a physiological condition by generating a Magnetic Resonance Image (MRI) contrast image comprising a T1 weighted (T1W) image/T2 weighted (T2W) ratio. Embodiments can further include using the T1W/T2W ratio to identify changes in substantia nigra pars compacta within a region of the brain.
Claims20
A method of identifying neurodegeneration, comprising:
- generating at least one first magnetic resonance image (MRI) contrast image of tissue of a first specimen belonging to a cohort, the at least one first MRI contrast image comprising a first T1-weighted (T1W)/T2-weighted (T2W) ratio map, the first T1W/T2W ratio map comprising a plurality of T1W/T2W ratios for a plurality of anatomical locations of the first specimen's tissue, the cohort comprising a group of specimen's having a form of neurodegeneration;
- designating the at least one first Mill contrast image as a Mill contrast image template for the cohort;
- generating a second Mill contrast image of tissue of a second specimen not being part of the cohort but suspected of having the form of neurodegeneration, the second MRI contrast image comprising a second T1W/T2W ratio map, the second T1W/T2W ratio map comprising a plurality of T1W/T2W ratios for a plurality of anatomical locations of the second specimen's tissue;
- defining a region within the Mill contrast image template having predetermined neurodegeneration-related change of substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) associated with the form of neurodegeneration and extracting a T1W/T2W ratio intensity from the region;
- comparing a T1W/T2W ratio intensity from the second T1W/T2W ratio map to the extracted T1W/T2W ratio intensity to identify a change of SNc in the second specimen's tissue;
- and
- determining that the change of SNc in the second specimen's tissue is representative of the predetermined neurodegeneration-related change of SNc of the cohort.
4 more elements
A method of identifying a physiological condition, comprising:
- generating a magnetic resonance image (MRI) contrast image template of tissue of a first specimen belonging to a cohort, the Mill contrast image template comprising a first T1-weighted (T1W)/T2-weighted (T2W) ratio map, the first T1W/T2W ratio map comprising a plurality of T1W/T2W ratios for a plurality of anatomical locations of the first specimen's tissue;
- generating a Mill contrast image of tissue of a second specimen not being part of the cohort but suspected of having a physiological condition associated with the cohort, the Mill contrast image comprising a second T1W/T2W ratio map, the second T1W/T2W ratio map comprising a plurality of T1W/T2W ratios for a plurality of anatomical locations of the second specimen's tissue;
- and
- comparing T1W/T2W ratio intensities of the first T1W/T2W ratio map to T1W/T2W ratio intensities of the second T1W/T2W ratio map to identify changes in substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) in the second specimen's tissue as compared to the first specimen's tissue that are at or exceed a pre-selected threshold value to detect the physiological condition.
1 more element
A medical device apparatus comprising:
- a computer device having a processor connected to a non-transitory computer readable medium, the computer device configured to receive magnetic resonance image data generated by a magnetic resonance imaging scanner;
- the computer device configured to co-register each T1W image of the magnetic resonance image data for a patient with each T2W image of the same anatomical location of the patient and divide each T1W image signal intensity by its corresponding co-registered T2W image signal intensity to generate at least one T1W/T2W ratio map;
- and
- the computer device configured to compare T1W/T2W ratio intensities of a first T1W/T2W ratio map to T1W/T2W ratio intensities of a second T1W/T2W ratio map of a pre-selected first cohort to identify changes in substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) that are at or exceed a first pre-selected threshold value to detect a physiological condition of the patient.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.