阅读说明：本技术 脑成像 (Brain imaging ) 是由 S·查恩斯 M·詹金森 M·托瑞索 于 2019-12-09 设计创作，主要内容包括：本公开总体上涉及医学成像,并且更具体地,本公开涉及用于执行脑的磁共振(MR)成像的处理的方法和系统,所述方法和系统可以用于诊断认知障碍。更具体地,本发明包含用于处理来自受试者的脑区域的皮质扩散数据的方法,所述方法包括使用角度R值和轴向扩散率值确定轴向柱状折射(ACR)值。(The present disclosure relates generally to medical imaging, and more particularly, to methods and systems for performing a process of Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging of the brain, which may be used to diagnose cognitive disorders. More specifically, the invention encompasses methods for processing cortical diffusion data from a brain region of a subject, the methods comprising determining Axial Columnar Refraction (ACR) values using angle R values and axial diffusivity values.)

1. A method for processing cortical spread data from a brain region of a subject,

the method comprises the following steps:

(a) obtaining a deviation angle (angle R) value between a principal diffusion direction in a first voxel in a gray matter region in a brain of a subject and a columnar direction (ColD) of a microcolumn;

(b) obtaining an axial diffusivity value in a second voxel present in white matter underlying the gray matter region; and

(c) determining an Axial Columnar Refraction (ACR) value for the voxel using the angle R value and the axial diffusivity value.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) comprises:

(a1) determining the primary diffusion direction in voxels in the gray matter region in a subject's brain;

(a2) determining the columnar direction (ColD) of the microcolumns in the voxel; and

(a3) obtaining the value of the deviation angle (angle R) between the main diffusion direction and the ColD.

3. A method of obtaining an indication of a level of cognitive impairment in a subject, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining ACR values for a plurality of voxels in a brain region of the subject by the method according to claim 1 or according to claim 2,

wherein the magnitude of the ACR values for those voxels provides an indication of the level of cognitive impairment of the subject.

4. A method of obtaining an indication of the number of micro-segment breaks in a brain region of a subject, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining ACR values for a plurality of voxels in a brain region of the subject by the method according to claim 1 or according to claim 2,

wherein the magnitude of the ACR value for those voxels provides an indication of the number of micro-segment breaks in the region.

5. A method for processing cortical spread data from a brain region of a subject,

the method comprises the following steps:

(a) obtaining a vertical diffusivity (Perp) value in a first voxel in a gray matter region in a brain of a subject;

(b) obtaining an axial diffusivity value in a second voxel present in white matter underlying the gray matter region; and

(c) determining a vertical cylindrical refraction (PerpCR) value for the voxel using the Perp value and the axial diffusivity value.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein step (a) comprises the steps of:

(a1) obtaining a measurement of cortical diffusion in the first voxel;

(a2) determining a principal diffusion vector (D) in the voxel from the measurement of cortical diffusion obtained in step (a1)_PDD)；

(a3) Determining a columnar orientation (ColD) of the microcolumns in the voxel; and

(a4) by mixing D_PDDProjecting onto a plane orthogonal to the ColD in the voxel and determining an amplitude of the projection to determine a vertical diffusivity (Perp) value for the voxel.

7. A method of obtaining an indication of a level of cognitive impairment in a subject, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining vertical cylindrical refraction (PerpCR) values for a plurality of voxels in a brain region of a subject by the method according to claim 5 or according to claim 6,

wherein the magnitude of the vertical cylindrical refraction (PerpCR) values for those voxels provides an indication of the level of cognitive impairment of the subject.

8. A method of obtaining an indication of the number of micro-segment breaks in a brain region of a subject, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining vertical cylindrical refraction (PerpCR) values for a plurality of voxels in a brain region of a subject by the method according to claim 5 or according to claim 6,

wherein the magnitude of the vertical cylindrical refraction (PerpCR) value for those voxels provides an indication of the number of micro-segment breaks in the region.

9. A method of obtaining an indication of a level of cognitive impairment in a subject, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining deviation angle (angle R) values between a principal diffusion direction and a mean cylindrical direction (ColD) of the microcolumns in a plurality of voxels in a brain region of the subject,

wherein the brain region is the cortical region 9, PHG or entorhinal cortex,

wherein the magnitude of the angle R values from the plurality of voxels provides an indication of the level of cognitive impairment of the subject.

10. A method of obtaining an indication of the level of MS in a subject, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining deviation angle (angle R) values between a principal diffusion direction and a mean cylindrical direction (ColD) of the microcolumns in a plurality of voxels in a brain region of the subject,

preferably wherein the brain region is cortical region 9, region 41 or V1 (primary visual cortex),

wherein the magnitude of the angle R values from the plurality of voxels provides an indication of the MS level of the subject.

11. A method of obtaining an indication of the number of micro-segment breaks in a brain region of a subject, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining deviation angle (angle R) values between the principal diffusion direction and the average columnar direction (ColD) of the microcolumns in a plurality of voxels in a brain region of the subject, wherein the brain region is preferably a cortical region 9, PHG, or entorhinal cortex,

wherein the magnitude of the angle R values from the plurality of voxels provides an indication of the number of micro-segment breaks in the region.

12. A method of obtaining an indication of a level of cognitive impairment in a subject, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining axial diffusivity values in a plurality of voxels in a region of a subject's brain,

wherein the brain region is the cortical region 9, PHG or entorhinal cortex,

wherein the magnitude of the axial diffusivity value from the plurality of voxels provides an indication of the level of cognitive impairment of the subject.

13. A method of obtaining an indication of the number of micro-segment breaks in a brain region of a subject, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining axial diffusivity values in a plurality of voxels in a brain region of the subject, wherein the brain region is preferably a cortical region 9, PHG, or entorhinal cortex,

wherein the magnitude of the axial diffusivity values from the plurality of voxels provides an indication of the number of micro-segment fractures in the region.

14. A method of obtaining an indication of a level of cognitive impairment in a subject, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining vertical diffusivity (Perp) values in a plurality of voxels in a brain region of a subject, wherein the brain region is a cortical region 9, PHG, or entorhinal cortex,

wherein the magnitude of the Perp values from the plurality of voxels provides an indication of the level of cognitive impairment of the subject.

15. A method of obtaining an indication of the number of micro-segment breaks in a brain region of a subject, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining vertical diffusivity (Perp) values in a plurality of voxels in a brain region of a subject, wherein the brain region is preferably a cortical region 9, PHG, or entorhinal cortex,

wherein the magnitude of the Perp values from the plurality of voxels provides an indication of the number of micro-segment fractures in the region.

16. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the angle R value, the axial diffusivity value and/or the Perp value are obtained by a neuroimaging method, preferably by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), most preferably by diffusion MRI.

17. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the angular R-value, the axial diffusivity value and/or the Perp-value are obtained or derived from one or more regions of the cerebral cortex, preferably cortical regions comprising gray matter with underlying (sub-cortical) white matter.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the brain region is selected from the group consisting of: hippocampal juxtapore (PHG), fusiform gyrus (Fusi), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex region 9(dlPFC), region 41, Hercules Gyrus (HG), temporal Plane (PT), Inferior Parietal Leaflet (IPL), temporal Mediocrural (MTG), primary visual cortex (V1; region 17), and entorhinal cortex, and is preferably selected from cortical region 9, PHG, or entorhinal cortex.

19. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the subject is a subject with a cognitive disorder selected from the group consisting of: alzheimer's Disease (AD), cerebrovascular dementia (CVD), Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), lewy body Dementia (DLB), autism, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), epilepsy, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, dyslexia, down syndrome, huntington's disease, prion disease, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), subjective cognitive disorders, preMCI and prodromal AD, cortico-atrophy (a subset of AD), behavioral, semantic or progressive non-fluent aphasia disorders (a subset of FTD), encephalopathy, hepatic encephalopathy, stroke, ischemia, ischemic hypoxia, neuroinflammation, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), mild TBI, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, concussion, and delirium.

20. A method of treating a subject, wherein the method comprises the method of any one of claims 1-3, 5-7, 9, 12, or 14, wherein a cognitive disorder treatment drug is administered to the subject if the subject's cognitive disorder level is found to be above (above or below) a specified reference level, or an ACR or PerpCR value is found to be above a specified reference level.

21. A method of treating a subject, wherein the method comprises obtaining or receiving results of the method for determining ACR or PerpCR of any one of claims 1 to 3, 5 to 7, 9, 12 or 14, and administering a treatment suitable for treating a cognitive disorder to the subject if the ACR or PerpCR value is above a reference level, thereby providing an indication that the subject is in the presence of the cognitive disorder.

22. A system or apparatus comprising at least one processing device arranged to perform the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 19.

23. A carrier carrying software comprising instructions for configuring a processor to perform the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19.