In modern societies, with an aging population, neurological disorders play an increasing role in the decline of the quality of life for our elderly, negatively affecting both their physical and cognitive abilities. Neuro-inflammatory, neurodegenerative, and neurovascular diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and small vessel disease are known to affect both brain function and brain tissues. The ability to monitor changes in brain tissues is crucial for assessing the effectiveness of diverse treatments or interventions. Myelin water imaging has shown the potential to to do in both acute and chronic states. Yet, constraints on the MRI acquisition strategies and lack of signal-to-noise ratio of conventional methods have limited its applicability to either partial brain coverage or low image resolution.
In this project, we bring together a team with complementary expertise in various aspects of ultra-fast image encoding, artefact correction, biophysically informed modelling of MRI, and software engineers that will create innovative advances to myelin water imaging that can be used in clinical trials or by clinicians. The project comprises three interconnected components: enhancing data quality and acquisition speed within an open-source platform, incorporating cutting-edge biophysical modeling mapping strategies to extend the range of robustly measured tissue microstructure quantities, and integrating these methods into user-friendly and automated toolboxes. With our partners, we will test our methods on a cohort of patients with demyelination and vascular diseases.
