title: Evaluation of diffusion kurtosis imaging in ex vivo hypomyelinated mouse brains.
abstract: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI), and DKI-derived white matter tract integrity metrics (WMTI) were experimentally evaluated ex vivo through comparisons to histological measurements and established magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of myelin in two knockout mouse models with varying degrees of hypomyelination. DKI metrics of mean and radial kurtosis were found to be better indicators of myelin content than conventional DTI metrics. The biophysical WMTI model based on the DKI framework reported on axon water fraction with good accuracy in cases with near normal axon density, but did not provide additional specificity to myelination. Overall, DKI provided additional information regarding white matter microstructure compared with DTI, making it an attractive method for future assessments of white matter development and pathology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, USA; Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, USA.
authors.forename: Nathaniel D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Kelm
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, USA; Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, USA.
authors.forename: Kathryn L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: West
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, USA; Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, USA.
authors.forename: Robert P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Carson
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, USA; Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Gochberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, USA; Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Ess
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, USA; Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, USA; Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, USA; Department of Electrical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, USA. Electronic address: mark.does@vanderbilt.edu.
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Does
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000648:ultrastructure; D001921:Brain / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D004058:Diffusion; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D000076226:Rapamycin-Insensitive Companion of mTOR Protein; D014402:Tuberous Sclerosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D000077005:Tuberous Sclerosis Complex 2 Protein; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D066127:White Matter / Q000648:ultrastructure*
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D000076226:Rapamycin-Insensitive Companion of mTOR Protein; D000077005:Tuberous Sclerosis Complex 2 Protein; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; C525637:rictor protein, mouse
keywords: Diffusion; Kurtosis; MRI; Myelin; Quantitative histology; White matter