Descripción del proyecto
Combinar la obtención de imágenes encefálicas precisas con la biofísica
La combinación de la resonancia magnética nuclear con modelos biofísicos informáticos proporciona parámetros tisulares a escala micrométrica. Sin embargo, la falta de datos sobre la validez de esta metodología en distintos casos dificulta a hoy día su adopción clínica. En el proyecto MRStain, financiado por el Consejo Europeo de Investigación, se pretende validar este método a gran escala utilizando cortes cerebrales de pacientes con epilepsia del lóbulo temporal. El objetivo es integrar los datos obtenidos en un nuevo modelo de identificación de zonas cerebrales diana para la cirugía. Por ello, se prevé que el proyecto mejore de forma sustancial el tratamiento de la epilepsia y de enfermedades neuropsiquiátricas parecidas. Las actividades de MRStain no solo favorecerán una visualización precisa de las microestructuras del cerebro humano, sino que además darán lugar a una alternativa atraumática a los métodos clínicos de referencia actuales.
Objetivo
Ex-vivo histology is the gold standard to investigate human brain microstructure. However, its invasive nature precludes its use in monitoring disease progression and the investigation of the pathophysiological origin of neurological disorders. MRStain will address this shortcoming by exploiting the sensitivity of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) signal to estimate aggregated histological metrics in the human brain non-invasively. Like established histology staining methods (e.g. myelin-basic protein), MRStain will be sensitive to changes in cellular populations, axons, myelin, and iron. This will be achieved by augmenting the MRI measurements with computational biophysical models, which can disentangle tissue metrics at the micron-scale using the macroscopic spatial resolution (1–4 mm) of MRI. However, the clinical use of these models has not been employed because their validity and generalizability across disease trajectories has yet to be tested against the ex-vivo histological gold standard.
This project will address this shortcoming by generating a globally unique multi-modal dataset that combines novel in-vivo and ex-vivo MRI techniques with biophysical models as well as cutting-edge large-scale 3D histology. The project will benefit from a unique translational university hospital environment where large sections of freshly excised brain tissue from drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy patients (TLE, 80 sections of about 3 x 2 x cm^3) can be examined, enabling in-vivo MRI-based biophysical tissue parameters to be validated against their histological gold standard. I will develop an MRStain model to identify TLE relevant changes that will achieve a paradigm shift in how epilepsy is treated by identifying target brain areas for surgery that will help to predict seizure-free outcome after surgery. The final validated MRStain models will also pave the way for similar noninvasive investigations of other neuropsychiatric diseases with unprecedented precision.
Ámbito científico
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Régimen de financiación
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsInstitución de acogida
23562 Lübeck
Alemania