Enhanced Imaging of the Fetal Brain Microstructure

胎儿脑微结构的增强成像

• 批准号: 10580011
• 负责人: ALI GHOLIPOUR-BABOLI
• 金额: $ 54.24万
• 依托单位: BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-03-01 至 2025-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10580011
• 关键词: 3-Dimensional; Address; Adolescent; Adult; Adverse event; Affect; Air; Algorithms; Anisotropy; Birth; Brain; Brain imaging; Cell Proliferation; Cell physiology; Child; Circulation; Cognitive deficits; Compensation; Complex; Congenital Disorders; Data; Detection; Development; Diffusion; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Early treatment; Estimation Techniques; Fascicle; Fetal Development; Fetal Movement; Fetal Structures; Fetus; Fiber; Goals; Growth; Head; Head Movements; Human; Hybrids; Hypoxia; Image; Image Enhancement; Imaging technology; Intestines; Knowledge; Lead; Learning; Length; Life; Location; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Magnetism; Maps; Measurement; Mental disorders; Modeling; Morphologic artifacts; Motion; Navigation System; Neurological outcome; Neurology; Neurons; Neurosciences; Newborn Infant; Noise; Outcome; Pathway interactions; Patients; Pattern; Performance; Phase; Play; Positioning Attribute; Predisposition; Pregnancy; Radial; Research; Retrospective cohort; Role; Sampling; Scanning; School-Age Population; Signal Transduction; Site; Slice; Structure; Techniques; Technology; Testing; Therapeutic Intervention; Time; Tissues; Training; Uterus; brain abnormalities; cell motility; cohort; congenital heart disorder; connectome; convolutional neural network; effective therapy; fetal; image reconstruction; improved; in utero; in vivo; in vivo imaging; innovative technologies; migration; multitask; myelination; nervous system disorder; neuroprotection; parallel computer; prenatal; prospective; reconstruction; statistics; success; tool

Enhanced Imaging of the Fetal Brain Microstructure The fetal period of brain development is critical as it involves complex processes of cell proliferation, neuronal migration, and myelination that are particularly vulnerable to disturbances from adverse events in utero and conditions that develop during gestation. Specifically, hypoxia caused by abnormal circulation, is hypothesized to disrupt neuronal migration thereby causing altered brain connectivity and adverse neurological outcomes. Abnormal brain connectivity has been depicted in newborns and adolescents with critical congenital heart disease (CHD) using diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). Gross brain abnormalities have also been identified and quantified prenatally in CHD using in utero T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but the precise location and timing of disrupted neuronal migration that leads to these abnormalities, has remained unclear due to technological limitations of in utero DWI. In this project we aim at developing new DWI technologies that remove these barriers to improve our understanding of the maturation of fetal brain microstructure as well as the origins and patterns of its alterations in utero. In particular, we aim to develop new techniques to address the limitations of current fetal DWI technology by effectively mitigating and compensating for motion and geometric distortion artifacts during acquisitions. This project therefore seeks to create a paradigm shift in the way fetal DWI is acquired and analyzed. The three specific aims of the project are to 1) create a prospectively motion-corrected slice navigation system for fetal brain DWI, 2) enhance fetal DWI acquisitions with artifact reduction and compensation by developing new imaging and image reconstruction techniques for dynamic field mapping, and 3) evaluate fetal brain maturation in congenital heart disease. We will assess the utility and impact of the technologies developed in this project by analyzing and comparing a large pre-existing cohort of fetal DWI scans with the scans prospectively acquired from both typically-developing (TD) and CHD fetuses with these new techniques. Moreover, we expect to gain important knowledge about early disruptions to neuronal migration pathways and formation of brain connections due to compromised circulation and hypoxia in fetuses with CHD. By making fetal DWI more reliable and robust, this study will mitigate a critical barrier to making progress in the fields of developmental neurology and neuroscience. Improved understanding of the impact of adverse events in utero on fetal brain growth and the trajectories of altered brain development can help guide neuroprotective and therapeutic interventions, and enable early, more effective treatments for neurological diseases and mental disorders. Fetal DWI plays a crucial role in establishing such an understanding as it is uniquely able to depict the microstructure of the fetal brain in utero.

增强胎儿脑微观结构的成像 大脑发育的胎儿时期至关重要，因为它涉及细胞增殖的复杂过程， 神经元的迁移和髓鞘形式特别容易受到不良事件的干扰 在子宫内和妊娠期间发展的条件。具体而言，由异常循环引起的缺氧， 假设会破坏神经元迁移，从而导致大脑连通性的改变和不良 神经学结果。在新生儿和青少年中已经描绘了异常的大脑连通性 使用扩散加权成像（DWI）的关键先天性心脏病（CHD）。大脑异常 在子宫加权磁共振中，也已在CHD中鉴定并在产前鉴定并定量定量 成像（MRI），但神经元迁移的精确位置和时间导致这些迁移的时间和时机 由于子宫DWI中的技术局限性，异常尚不清楚。在这个项目中，我们的目标 在开发新的DWI技术方面，可以消除这些障碍以提高我们对 胎儿脑微观结构的成熟以及子宫改变的起源和模式。在 特别是，我们旨在开发新技术来解决当前胎儿DWI技术的局限性 有效缓解和补偿采集期间的运动和几何变形伪影。 因此，该项目旨在在获取和分析胎儿DWI的方式上创造范式转变。这 该项目的三个具体目标是1）创建一个前瞻性运动校正的切片导航系统 对于胎儿脑DWI，2）增强胎儿DWI获取，并通过减少人工制品和补偿 开发用于动态场映射的新成像和图像重建技术，3）评估 先天性心脏病中的胎儿大脑成熟。我们将评估技术的实用性和影响 通过分析和比较大量的胎儿DWI扫描队列和比较该项目中开发的 这些新的 技术。此外，我们希望获得有关神经元早期中断的重要知识 迁移途径和由于循环和缺氧而导致的大脑连接的形成 有冠心病的胎儿。通过使胎儿DWI更可靠和健壮，这项研究将减轻至关重要的障碍 在发育神经病学和神经科学领域取得进展。改善了对 子宫内不良事件对胎儿脑生长的影响和大脑发育改变的轨迹 可以帮助指导神经保护性和治疗性干预措施，并早期，更有效的治疗方法 用于神经系统疾病和精神疾病。胎儿DWI在建立这种 理解是独特的，能够描绘子宫内胎儿大脑的微观结构。