Neuro MRE
Magnetic resonance elastography for quantification of altered viscoelastic tissue parameters in neuroinflammation
A multiparametric quantitative mapping of biophysical properties of brain tissue including effects of hydration, blood flow and functional on viscoelastic parameters will be implemented. For this purpose, novel real-time magnetic resonance elastography and cerebral ultrasound elastography, both invented at Charité, will be combined with other quantitative magnetic resonance imaging techniques.
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Motivation
Current imaging-based markers of neurological diseases are often limited in their ability to assess the intricate structural-functional relationship of brain tissue and to quantify brain damage. However, studies show that viscoelastic parameters play a role in the prognosis of brain diseases or therapeutic outcomes in brain tumors, trauma, or hydrocephalus.
Innovations and perspectives
The aim is to elucidate incompletely understood interactions between fluid transport, soft tissue properties and the rigid mechanical boundary conditions imposed by the skull surrounding the brain. Fundamental understanding of viscoelastic, poroelastic, and fluid dynamic relationships in the human brain promises significant advances for new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.
Selected publications
- Herthum H, Hetzer S, Scheel M, Shahryari M, Braun J, Paul F, Sack I. In vivo stiffness of multiple sclerosis lesions is similar to that of normal-appearing white matter. Acta Biomater. 2022 Jan 15;138:410-421. doi: 10.1016/j.actbio.2021.10.038.
- Herthum H, Shahryari M, Tzschätzsch H, Schrank F, Warmuth C, Görner S, Hetzer S, Neubauer H, Pfeuffer J, Braun J, Sack I. Real-Time Multifrequency MR Elastography of the Human Brain Reveals Rapid Changes in Viscoelasticity in Response to the Valsalva Maneuver. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2021 May 5;9:666456. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2021.666456.
- Schrank F, Warmuth C, Tzschätzsch H, Kreft B, Hirsch S, Braun J, Elgeti T, Sack I. Cardiac-gated steady-state multifrequency magnetic resonance elastography of the brain: Effect of cerebral arterial pulsation on brain viscoelasticity. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2020 May;40(5):991-1001. doi: 10.1177/0271678X19850936. Epub 2019 May 29. PMID: 31142226; PMCID: PMC7181097.
- Kreft B, Tzschätzsch H, Schrank F, Bergs J, Streitberger KJ, Wäldchen S, Hetzer S, Braun J, Sack I. Time-Resolved Response of Cerebral Stiffness to Hypercapnia in Humans. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2020 Apr;46(4):936-943. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2019.12.019. Epub 2020 Jan 28. Erratum in: Ultrasound Med Biol. 2020 Jun;46(6):1551. PMID: 32001088.
- Hetzer S, Dittmann F, Bormann K, Hirsch S, Lipp A, Wang DJ, Braun J, Sack I. Hypercapnia increases brain viscoelasticity. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2019 Dec;39(12):2445-2455. doi: 10.1177/0271678X18799241. Epub 2018 Sep 5. PMID: 30182788; PMCID: PMC6893988.
