Brain imaging
AssigneeOxford University Innovation Limited
InventorsSteven CHANCE, Mark JENKINSON, Mario TORSO
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure relates generally to medical imaging and, more particularly, it relates to methods and systems for performing processing of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the brain which may be useful in the diagnosis of cognitive disorders. More specifically, the invention includes methods for processing cortical diffusion data from a region of a subject's brain, comprising determining values for the Axial Columnar Refraction (ACR) using values for AngleR and Axial Diffusivity.
Claims23
A method for processing cortical diffusion data from a region of a subject's brain, the method comprising:
- (a) obtaining a value for the angle of deviation (AngleR) between the principal diffusion direction and the columnar direction (ColD) of the minicolumns in a first voxel in a region of grey matter in a subject's brain;
- (b) obtaining a value for the Axial Diffusivity in a second voxel which is present in the white matter underlying the region of grey matter;
- and
- (c) determining a value for the Axial Columnar Refraction (ACR) for the voxels using values for AngleR and Axial Diffusivity.
A method for processing cortical diffusion data from a region of a subject's brain, the method comprising:
- (a) obtaining a value for the perpendicular diffusivity (Perp) in a first voxel in a region of grey matter in a subject's brain;
- (b) obtaining a value for the Axial Diffusivity in a second voxel which is present in the white matter underlying the region of grey matter;
- and
- (c) determining a value for the Perpendicular Columnar Refraction (PerpCR) for the voxels using values for Perp and Axial Diffusivity.
A method of obtaining an indication of the level of a cognitive disorder in a subject, the method comprising the steps:
- (a) obtaining, in a plurality of voxels in a region of a subject's brain, values for the angle of deviation (AngleR) between the principal diffusion direction and the average columnar direction (ColD) of the minicolumns,
- wherein the brain region is cortical area 9, the PHG or the entorhinal cortex,
- wherein the magnitude of the values of AngleR from the plurality of voxels provides an indication of the level of a cognitive disorder in that subject.
A method of obtaining an indication of the level of MS in a subject, the method comprising the steps:
- (a) obtaining, in a plurality of voxels in a region of a subject's brain, values for the angle of deviation (AngleR) between the principal diffusion direction and the average columnar direction (ColD) of the minicolumns,
- preferably wherein the brain region is cortical area 9, area 41, or V1 (primary visual cortex)
- wherein the magnitude of the values of AngleR from the plurality of voxels provides an indication of the level of MS in that subject.
A method of obtaining an indication of the number of microsegment breaks in a region of a subject's brain, the method comprising the steps:
- (a) obtaining, in a plurality of voxels in a region of a subject's brain, values for the angle of deviation (AngleR) between the principal diffusion direction and the average columnar direction (ColD) of the minicolumns, wherein the brain region is preferably cortical area 9, the PHG or the entorhinal cortex,
- wherein the magnitude of the values of AngleR from the plurality of voxels provides an indication of the number of microsegment breaks in that region.
A method of obtaining an indication of the level of a cognitive disorder in a subject, the method comprising the steps:
- (a) obtaining, in a plurality of voxels in a region of a subject's brain, values for the axial diffusivity,
- wherein the brain region is cortical area 9, the PHG or the entorhinal cortex,
- wherein the magnitude of the values of axial diffusivity from the plurality of voxels provides an indication of the level of a cognitive disorder in that subject.
A method of obtaining an indication of the number of microsegment breaks in a region of a subject's brain, the method comprising the steps:
- (a) obtaining, in a plurality of voxels in a region of a subject's brain, values for the axial diffusivity, wherein the brain region is preferably cortical area 9, the PHG or the entorhinal cortex,
- wherein the magnitude of the values of axial diffusivity from the plurality of voxels provides an indication of the number of microsegment breaks in that region.
A method of obtaining an indication of the level of a cognitive disorder in a subject, the method comprising the steps:
- (a) obtaining, in a plurality of voxels in a region of a subject's brain, a value for the perpendicular diffusivity (Perp), wherein the brain region is cortical area 9, the PHG or the entorhinal cortex,
- wherein the magnitude of the values of Perp from the plurality of voxels provides an indication of the level of a cognitive disorder in that subject.
A method of obtaining an indication of the number of microsegment breaks in a region of a subject's brain, the method comprising the steps:
- (a) obtaining, in a plurality of voxels in a region of a subject's brain, a value for the perpendicular diffusivity (Perp), wherein the brain region is preferably cortical area 9, the PHG or the entorhinal cortex,
- wherein the magnitude of the values of Perp from the plurality of voxels provides an indication of the number of microsegment breaks in that region.
A method as claimed in any one of the preceeding claims, wherein the value for AngleR, Axial Diffusivity and/or Perp is obtained by a neuro-imaging method, preferably by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), most preferably by diffusion MRI.
A method as claimed in any one of the preceeding claims, wherein the value for AngleR, Axial Diffusivity and/or Perp is obtained from or derived from one or more regions of the cortex of the brain, preferably a region of the cortex comprising grey matter with underlying (subcortical) white matter.
A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the subject is one who has a cognitive disorder selected from the group consisting of Alzheimer's Disease (AD), cerebrovascular dementia (CVD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB), autism, multiple sclerosis (MS), epilepsy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, dyslexia, Down's syndrome, Huntington's disease, prion disease, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Subjective Cognitive Impairment, preMCI, and prodromal AD, Posterior Cortical Atrophy (subset of AD), behavioural, semantic, or progressive non-fluent aphasia (subsets of FTD), encephalopathy, hepatic encephalopathy, stroke, ischaemia, ischaemic hypoxia, neuro-inflammation, traumatic brain injury (TBI), mild TBI, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, concussion and delirium.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.