Patrick Anton Bruno Freund1,2, Catherine
Dalton3, Claudia Angela Michela Wheeler-Kingshott3,
Janice Glensman1, David Bradbury1, Alan James Thompson2,
Nikolaus Weiskopf1
1Wellcome Trust Centre for
Neuroimaging, UCL Institue of Neurology, London, United Kingdom; 2Brain
Repair and Rehabilitation, UCL Institue of Neurology, London, United Kingdom;
3Neuroinflammation, UCL Institue of Neurology, London, United
Kingdom
We
have developed and validated a method for fast, simultaneous and high-quality
imaging of the brain and cervical spinal cord (< 14 mins., 1 mm isotropic
resolution) with the potential to detect, besides volumetric changes at
cortical level, also changes at cervical level. It is based on a 3D MDEFT
scan using an 8-channel receive head coil. Measures of cross sectional cord
area, obtained with the MDEFT-based method, are in good agreement with the
established standard based on 3D MPRAGE scans with dedicated spine coils, as
determined in a group of healthy controls and subjects with traumatic
cervical spinal cord injury.