Diffusion Tensor MRI and Spherical-Deconvolution-Based Tractography on an Ultra-Low Field Portable MRI System

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Gholam, James, Schmid, Phil, Ametepe, Joshua, Plumley, Alix, Beltrachini, Leandro, Padormo, Francesco, Teixeira, Rui, OHalloran, Rafael, Petkov, Kaloian, Engel, Klaus, Williams, Steven CR, Deoni, Sean, Cercignani, Mara, Jones, Derek K
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Gholam, James
Schmid, Phil
Ametepe, Joshua
Plumley, Alix
Beltrachini, Leandro
Padormo, Francesco
Teixeira, Rui
OHalloran, Rafael
Petkov, Kaloian
Engel, Klaus
Williams, Steven CR
Deoni, Sean
Cercignani, Mara
Jones, Derek K
author_facet Gholam, James
Schmid, Phil
Ametepe, Joshua
Plumley, Alix
Beltrachini, Leandro
Padormo, Francesco
Teixeira, Rui
OHalloran, Rafael
Petkov, Kaloian
Engel, Klaus
Williams, Steven CR
Deoni, Sean
Cercignani, Mara
Jones, Derek K
contents Ultra-low-field (ULF) MRI is emerging as an alternative modality to high-field (HF) MRI due to its lower cost, minimal siting requirements, portability, and enhanced accessibility factors that enable large-scale deployment. Although ULF-MRI exhibits lower signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), advanced imaging and data-driven denoising methods enabled by high-performance computing have made contrasts like diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) feasible at ULF. This study investigates the potential and limitations of ULF tractography, using data acquired on a 0.064 T commercially available mobile point-of-care MRI scanner. The results demonstrate that most major white matter bundles can be successfully retrieved in healthy adult brains within clinically tolerable scan times. This study also examines the recovery of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)-derived scalar maps, including fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity. Strong correspondence is observed between scalar maps obtained with ULF-MRI and those acquired at high field strengths. Furthermore, fibre orientation distribution functions reconstructed from ULF data show good agreement with high-field references, supporting the feasibility of using ULF-MRI for reliable tractography. These findings open new opportunities to use ULF-MRI in studies of brain health, development, and disease progression particularly in populations traditionally underserved due to geographic or economic constraints. The results show that robust assessments of white matter microstructure can be achieved with ULF-MRI, effectively democratising microstructural MRI and extending advanced imaging capabilities to a broader range of research and clinical settings where resources are typically limited.
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id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_04473
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Diffusion Tensor MRI and Spherical-Deconvolution-Based Tractography on an Ultra-Low Field Portable MRI System
Gholam, James
Schmid, Phil
Ametepe, Joshua
Plumley, Alix
Beltrachini, Leandro
Padormo, Francesco
Teixeira, Rui
OHalloran, Rafael
Petkov, Kaloian
Engel, Klaus
Williams, Steven CR
Deoni, Sean
Cercignani, Mara
Jones, Derek K
Medical Physics
Ultra-low-field (ULF) MRI is emerging as an alternative modality to high-field (HF) MRI due to its lower cost, minimal siting requirements, portability, and enhanced accessibility factors that enable large-scale deployment. Although ULF-MRI exhibits lower signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), advanced imaging and data-driven denoising methods enabled by high-performance computing have made contrasts like diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) feasible at ULF. This study investigates the potential and limitations of ULF tractography, using data acquired on a 0.064 T commercially available mobile point-of-care MRI scanner. The results demonstrate that most major white matter bundles can be successfully retrieved in healthy adult brains within clinically tolerable scan times. This study also examines the recovery of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)-derived scalar maps, including fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity. Strong correspondence is observed between scalar maps obtained with ULF-MRI and those acquired at high field strengths. Furthermore, fibre orientation distribution functions reconstructed from ULF data show good agreement with high-field references, supporting the feasibility of using ULF-MRI for reliable tractography. These findings open new opportunities to use ULF-MRI in studies of brain health, development, and disease progression particularly in populations traditionally underserved due to geographic or economic constraints. The results show that robust assessments of white matter microstructure can be achieved with ULF-MRI, effectively democratising microstructural MRI and extending advanced imaging capabilities to a broader range of research and clinical settings where resources are typically limited.
title Diffusion Tensor MRI and Spherical-Deconvolution-Based Tractography on an Ultra-Low Field Portable MRI System
topic Medical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.04473