Junting Zou¹, Jilei Zhang², Zhao Xiance², Yuanyuan Xie¹, Bing Zhang¹, and Xiaoli Mai^1
1Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing, China, ²Philips Healthcare, Shanghai, China

Tracing and monitoring the growth of transplanted stem cells in vivo has become a focus of research. The purpose of this study is to realize the dynamic tracing of transplanted mesenchymal stem cells labeled with nano-iron(SPIO-huc-MSCs), and preliminarily explore the feasibility of indirect tracing of SPIO-huc-MSCs by QSM technology. The results show that susceptibility values in the areas containing iron are significantly different from those in the normal spinal cord, which indicates that the iron concentration in the injured area decreases gradually. By quantifying iron concentration, QSM technology can be used to dynamically trace SPIO labeled stem cells in vivo.

Dipak Roy¹ and Anant Bahadur Patel^1
1NMR Microimaging and Spectroscopy Facility, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India

In this study we have evaluated the neurometabolic activity of a transgenic (SOD1^G37R) mouse model of ALS by ¹H-[¹³C]-NMR spectroscopy together with an infusion of ¹³C labeled substrates (glucose/acetate). Reduced motor performance and abnormal gait were observed in 18-month old male SOD1^G37R mice. The glutamatergic and GABAergic neurometabolic rates were decreased, while astroglial metabolic flux was increased in the spinal cord of the SOD1^G37R mice. In contrast, neuronal and astroglial metabolic activities were increased in the cerebral cortex of these mice.

Samira Mchinda^1,2, Sarah Demortière³, Henitsoa Rasoanandrianina⁴, Claire Costes^1,2, Jean Pelletier^2,5, Shahram Attarian⁶, Aude-Marie Grapperon⁶, Bertrand Audoin^2,5, Annie Vershueren⁶, and Virginie Callot^1,2
1Aix-Marseille Univ, CNRS, CRMBM, Marseille, France, ²APHM, Hôpital Universitaire Timone, CEMEREM, Marseille, France, ³APHM, Hôpital Universitaire Timone, Neurology Department, Marseille, France, ⁴Departement of Research and Innovation, Olea Medical, La Ciotat, France, ⁵. APHM, Hôpital Universitaire Timone, Neurology Department, Marseille, France, ⁶APHM, Hôpital Universitaire Timone, Reference Center for Neuromuscular Disorders and ALS, Marseille, France

The MP2RAGE sequence has never been applied for T₁ quantification in the context of neurodegenerative spinal cord pathologies. In this study, the technique demonstrated good discrimination between WM and GM in healthy controls,  better detection of cervical lesions in Multiple Sclerosis patients, and increased T₁ values in corticospinal tracts of  both Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis patients and MS patients , and lateral sensory tracts of MS patients. Very robust and compatible with clinical scan time, the MP2RAGE may be a technique of choice for longitudinal studies.

Mengze Zhang¹, Hanqiang Ouyang¹, Dan Jing¹, Jiangfang Liu¹, Chunjie Wang¹, Huishu Yuan¹, and Liang Jiang^1
1Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China

Previous studies have confirmed that conventional MRI parameters lack stability, and the evaluation of the prognosis of CSM sometimes is controversial. In our study, we first introduced radiomics, a quantitative analysis of image features, into the study of CSM and obtained a reliable and stable model. By analysis features' importance and unboxing the extremely randomized trees model, we came up with assumptions of the relationship between specific features and post-surgical recovery prediction.

Paola Valsasina¹, Maria A. Rocca^1,2,3, Claudio Gobbi^4,5, Chiara Zecca^4,5, Alex Rovira⁶, Xavier Montalban⁷, Hugh Kearney⁸, Olga Ciccarelli⁸, Lucy Matthews⁹, Jacqueline Palace⁹, Antonio Gallo¹⁰, Alvino Bisecco¹⁰, Achim Gass¹¹, Philipp Eisele¹¹, and Massimo Filippi^{1,2,3,12,13
1}Neuroimaging Research Unit, Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy, ²Neurology Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy, ³Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, ⁴Multiple Sclerosis Center, Department of Neurology, Neurocenter of Southern Switzerland, Civic Hospital, Lugano, Switzerland, ⁵Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Università della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, Switzerland, ⁶Section of Neuroradiology, Department of Radiology, Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona, Spain, ⁷Department of Neurology/Neuroimmunology, Multiple Sclerosis Center of Catalonia, Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona, Spain, ⁸NMR Research Unit, Queen Square MS Centre, Department of Neuroinflammation, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom, ⁹Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, ¹⁰Department of Advanced Medical and Surgical Sciences, and 3T MRI Center, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy, ¹¹Department of Neurology, Universitätsmedizin Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany, ¹²Neurorehabilitation Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy, ¹³Neurophysiology Service, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy

Here, we used a longitudinal, voxel-wise analysis to characterize baseline cervical cord tissue loss and its progression over 1-year follow-up in a cohort of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) acquired at 7 European sites. Results indicated that baseline cord atrophy was severe in MS patients vs controls, with a prevalent involvement of posterior/lateral regions of the upper cord, a differential effect across phenotypes and a strong correlation with disability. Cord atrophy significantly increased over time in all MS patients, was more widespread in relapsing-remitting MS than in other phenotypes and contributed to explain clinical disability at 1-year follow-up.

Masaaki Hori^1,2, Kouhei Kamiya^1,2, Akifumi Hagiwara^2,3, Kazumasa Yokoyama⁴, Issei Fukunaga⁵, Katsuhiro Sano², Koji Kamagata², Katsutoshi Murata⁶, Shohei Fujita², Christina Andica², Akihiko Wada², Julien Cohen-Adad⁷, and Shigeki Aoki^2
1Radiology, Toho University Omori Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan, ²Radiology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan, ³Radiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ⁴Neurology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan, ⁵Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan, ⁶Siemens Japan K.K, Tokyo, Japan, ⁷NeuroPoly Lab, Polytechnique Montreal, Montréal, QC, Canada

We investigated free water eliminated kurtosis-based white matter tract integrity to distinguish microstructural changes in the spinal cords of patients with MS and Neuromyelitis Optica. FA was significant higher in spinal cord white matter in MS (P=0.0025). There was no significant difference in other diffusion model-based metrics. The values of FA seem to be non-specific but robust. Therefore, clinical feasible and more optimized diffusion microstructural models and data acquisitions for spinal cord may be needed to provide an additional information and to be biomarker in patients with MS and NMOSD in vivo.

Kevin Vallotton¹, Gergely David¹, Armin Curt¹, Michael Fehlings², Claudia A. M. Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott^3,4,5, Rebecca S. Samson⁶, Julien Cohen-Adad⁷, Muhammad Ali Akbar², Patrick Freund^1,8,9, and Maryam Seif^1
1Spinal Cord Injury Center, University Hospital Balgrist, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, Zuerich, Switzerland, ²University of Toronto Spine Program and Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada, ³NMR Research Unit, Queen Square MS Centre, Department of Neuroinflammation, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London (UCL), London, United Kingdom, ⁴Department of Brain and Behavioural Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy, Pavia, Italy, ⁵Brain Connectivity Center Research Department, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy, ⁶Queen Square MS Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Faculty of Brain Sciences, London, United Kingdom, London, United Kingdom, ⁷Functional Neuroimaging Unit, CRIUGM, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada, Montreal, QC, Canada, ⁸Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany, ⁹Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom

Evidence suggests that degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) induces neurodegeneration along the entire spinal cord, i.e. rostral and caudal to the compression level. To investigate macro- and microstructural changes along the spinal cord, we applied high-resolution T2*- and diffusion-weighted MRI at both cervical and lumbar cord levels in mild to moderate DCM patients and healthy controls. This study shows that tissue-specific spinal cord neurodegeneration is evident rostral and caudal to the compression site in DCM with mild or moderate symptoms and that the extent of cervical and lumbar cord atrophy is similar.

Vanessa Wiggermann¹, Henrik Lundell¹, Mads Alexander Just Madsen¹, Christopher Fugl Madelung¹, and Hartwig Roman Siebner^1,2,3
1Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Centre for Functional and Diagnostic Imaging and Research, Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre, Hvidovre, Denmark, ²Dept. of Neurology, Copenhagen University Hospital Bispebjerg, Copenhagen, Denmark, ³Institute for Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Spinal cord atrophy is a highly relevant measure of disease progression in multiple sclerosis. Here, we assessed whether cord area measurements from head MRI scans at 7T are feasible with semi- and fully-automated tools. Although different tools can yield systematically different absolute cord areas, measurements were highly consistent within studies as well as across field strengths, if images with similar voxel sizes were used. At higher spatial resolution, the volume of partial signal voxels is reduced and smaller cord areas and diameters were measured than typically reported in literature.

Seung Yi Lee¹, Shekar Kurpad², and Matthew Budde^2
1Biophysics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States, ²Neurosurgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States

This work aims to investigate the relationship neurological outcomes from a cervical contusion spinal cord injury model in rats with early MRI markers including edema, hemorrhage, and diffusion weighted imaging. A rat-specific MRI template was constructed from a histological atlas to permit inter-subject registration. Compared to diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics, filtered-DWI diminished the confounding effects of vasogenic edema and improved depiction of the acute damage. Collectively, the registration pipeline facilitated analysis, and the results support the role of MRI in preclinical assessment of cervical SCI. 

Anna JE Combes^1,2, Kristin P O'Grady^1,2, Baxter P Rogers^1,2, Kurt G Schilling^1,2, Richard D Lawless^2,3, Mereze Visagie², Delaney Houston², Colin D McKnight¹, Francesca R Bagnato⁴, John C Gore^1,2,3,4, and Seth A Smith^1,2,3
1Radiology & Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States, ²Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States, ³Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ⁴Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States

Tissue integrity and functional connectivity in the cervical spinal cord were assessed with diffusion tensor imaging and resting-state fMRI in a group of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis participants with low disability and healthy controls. Lower fractional anisotropy and higher radial diffusivity, markers of tissue damage, were associated with higher dorsal network connectivity in the patient group, but not in controls. These results suggest that increased connectivity may represent a compensatory mechanism in response to structural damage, in order to maintain relatively preserved clinical function in this group.

Chunyao Wang¹, Xiao Han², Wen Jiang², Guangqi Li¹, Jinchao Wang², Donghang Li², Hua Guo¹, and Huijun Chen^1
1Center for Biomedical Imaging Research, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, ²Jishuitan hospital, Beijing, China

Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy (CSM) is a chronic progressive disorder of spinal cord with a relatively ill-defined onset of pathogenesis. A series of state-of-art quantitative and functional MR imaging techniques has been proposed aiming to find out specific indicators in prediction and diagnosis of CSM at early phase, but lack of sufficient evidences. Spinal cord blood supply change was recognized as one of the crucial pathophysiological process in CSM. Thus, this study investigated the potential of pre-operative blood supply condition measured by DSC MRI with a non-parametric model in prediction of post-operative prognosis for patients with CSM.

Silvan Büeler¹, Patrick Freund^2,3,4,5, Martina Liechti¹, and Gergely David^1,2
1Department of Neuro-Urology, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, ²Spinal Cord Injury Center, Balgrist University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, ³Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom, ⁴Department of Neurophysics, , Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany, ⁵Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom

In this study, we aimed to provide recommendations on the number of echoes and averages when imaging the lumbosacral spinal cord using a multi-echo gradient-echo sequence. We found that while more echoes increase the white matter/cerebrospinal fluid contrast, the gray matter/white matter contrast plateaus at 3 echoes. Also, the signal and contrast-to-noise ratios increased only minimally after 6 averages. Overall, we recommend a minimum of 3 and maximum of 4 echoes as an optimal trade-off between segmentability and artifact level, and 6 signal averages (or measurements) for robust segmentations.

Zeng qi¹, Zhang ziwei¹, Nie lisha², Zhu xia¹, Huang zaoshu¹, and Song lingling^1
1The affiliated hospital of Guizhou mdeical university, Guizhou guiyang, China, ²GE Healthcare,MR Resertch China, Beijing, China

Lumbar disc degeneration is an important cause of lower back pain, sedentary, prolonged-standing behavior accelerates its course. In this study we evaluate intervertebral disc degeneration quantified by T1ρ and T2 mapping magnetic resonance imaging in sedentary and long standing populations compared with a healthy control group matched for age. We conclude that prolonged-standing is more likely to affect the L1 / 2 level discs, while sedentary is more likely to affect the lower segment discs (L4 / 5 and L5/S1).

Alicia Cronin^1,2, Sarah Detombe³, Camille Duggal², Neil Duggal³, and Robert Bartha^1,2
1Medical Biophysics, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada, ²Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping, Robarts Research Institute, London, ON, Canada, ³Clinical Neurological Sciences, University Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre, London, ON, Canada

Degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) is one of the most common forms of spinal cord dysfunction. Predicting functional recovery after surgery remains elusive. The extent of cortical activation in the primary motor cortex was assessed using fMRI when DCM patients performed a controlled finger-tapping task.  Spine compression severity was quantified using T₂-weighted imaging. Patients with severe spine compression showed larger activation volumes. Recruitment of neurons to compensate for functional deficits may explain these activation changes. Hypoxia at the spine compression site may drive this cortical plasticity. Future studies should measure hypoxia and explore prognostic determinants.

Arash Forodighasemabadi^1,2,3,4, Henitsoa Rasoanandrianina^1,2,3,4, Mohamed Mounir El Mendili^1,2, Maxime Guye^1,2, and Virginie Callot^1,2,4
1Aix-Marseille Univ, CNRS, CRMBM, Marseille, France, ²APHM, Hopital Universitaire Timone, CEMEREM, Marseille, France, ³Aix-Marseille Univ, Université Gustave Eiffel, LBA, Marseille, France, ⁴iLab-Spine International Associated Laboratory, Montreal, Canada, Marseille, France

Magnetization Prepared 2 Rapid Acquisition Gradient Echo (MP2RAGE) is a T₁ mapping technique used broadly on brain and recently on spinal cord (SC).The growing interest for combined investigation of brain and SC brings about the need for optimization with regards to spatial coverage, high CNR, low B₁⁺ sensitivity, short acquisition time and high robustness.This work proposes an optimized sub-millimetric protocol for simultaneous brain and cervical spinal cord (BCSC) MP2RAGE acquisition at 3T and subsequent post-processing pipeline. It shows excellent agreement with previously proposed brain or SC protocols, with good reproducibility, which opens up great perspectives for clinical applications.

Caspar Florin¹ and Jürgen Finsterbusch^1
11Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg–Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany

Inner field-of-view EPI provides a good image quality for diffusion-weighted imaging of the spinal cord in healthy subjects but suffers from severe artifacts in the vicinity of metallic implants that may be present in patients with traumatic injuries. Here, inner-field-of-view imaging based on cross-sectional RF pulses is used to obtain a single-shot fast spin echo technique that combined with multi acquisition variable-resonance imaging (MAVRIC) and view angle tilt (VAT) offers a more robust access to small target regions close to metallic implants and, thus, may be feasible for diffusion-weighted imaging of patients with traumatic spinal cord injury.

Mark A Hoggarth¹, Max C Wang², Kimberly J Hemmerling^1,2, Zachary A Smith³, Kenneth A Weber II⁴, and Molly G Bright^1,2
1Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States, ²Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States, ³Neurosurgery, Oklahoma University, Oklahoma City, OK, United States, ⁴Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, United States

Contouring the cervical spinal cord in functional MRI is a difficult but necessary task, that is typically performed manually. Differences between raters in drawing these masks could directly affect overall study results. This work compared the differences between spinal cord masks drawn by raters of varied experience with an expert rater on temporal mean fMRI images from 14 healthy participants; then the resultant warped atlas masks in functional space after non-linear registration using the Spinal Cord Toolbox. Performing non-linear registration increased overall agreement of the masks as a whole and along the edges where most disagreement occurs.

Nan Zhang¹, Qingwei Song², Ailian Liu², Renwang Pu², Haonan Zhang², Jiazheng Wang³, and Liangjie Lin^3
1The First Affilliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China, ²The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China, ³Philips Healthcare, Beijing, China, Beijing, China

DTI can provide valuable structural information that may become an innovative tool in evaluating lumbosacral plexus nerve entrapment. Multiband SENSE technique could be used to accelerate the image acquisition .The present study aims to explore the feasibility of DTI with multiband SENSE on normal lumbosacral plexus nerve. The study showed that MB SENSE=2 was recommended for DTI on normal lumbosacral plexus nerve, which facilitated a xx% shorter image acquisition time than conventional SENSE accelerated diffusion tensor imaging.

Jianxing Qiu¹, Jing Liu¹, Qingping Gu², Peng Sun², and Naishan Qin^1
1Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, China, ²Philips Healthcare, Beijing, China, Beijing, China

Compressed sensing algorithm (CS-MRI) could accelerate 3D MRI scanning time. In this study, we investigate the feasibility of CS-MRI in 2D spinal MRI. Totally 78 consecutive patients (29, 11 and 38 patients were examined by cervical vertebral, thoracic vertebral, thoracic vertebral MRI protocol respectively) were enrolled for both conventional MRI and CS-MRI. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted to compare the image quality and lesion diagnosis on conventional MRI and CS-MRI. And our results revealed that CS-MRI was valuable for improving the overall workflow of spinal MRI with scanning time saved and image quality improved.
 

Yuancheng Jiang¹, Xiao Han², Jinchao Wang², Sisi Li³, Ke Wang⁴, Yandong Liu⁵, Wei Liang⁵, Wen Jiang⁵, and Hua Guo^3
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, ²Department of spine surgery, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, Beijing, China, ³Center for Biomedical Imaging Research, Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, ⁴Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States, ⁵Department of Radiology, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, Beijing, China

DTI and MTR have been reported to be useful in aiding the diagnosis of DCM. Some of the DTI and MTR metrics are significantly correlated with mJOA and thus can assist clinical assessment. However, previous studies have tended to only focus on a limited number of metrics. We aim to propose a comprehensive imaging index that correlates well with mJOA. It is based on the analysis of multiple metrics in different ROIs. In this preliminary study, we examine the correlation between mJOA and metrics at the C2 level. The plan and framework of the follow-up study are also presented.