Abstract #4083

Tractography-informed estimation of local axonal damage in multiple sclerosis

Sara Bosticardo^1,2,3,4, Matteo Battocchio¹, Mario Alberto Ocampo-Pineda^2,3,4, Alessandro Cagol^2,3,4,5, Po-Jui Lu^2,3,4, Esther Ruberte^2,3,4, Nina De Oliveira S. Siebenborn^2,3,4,6, Xinjie Chen^2,3,4, Lester Melie-Garcia^2,3,4, Matthias Weigel^2,3,4,7, Ludwig Kappos^2,3,4, Jens Kuhle^3,4, Alessandro Daducci¹, and Cristina Granziera^2,3,4

¹Diffusion Imaging and Connectivity Estimation (DICE) Lab, Department of Computer Science, University of Verona, Verona, Italy, ²Translational Imaging in Neurology (ThINk) Basel, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Basel, Allschwil, Switzerland, ³Multiple Sclerosis Centre, Departments of Neurology, Clinical Research and Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland, ⁴Research Center for Clinical Neuroimmunology and Neuroscience Basel (RC2NB), University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland, ⁵Department of Health Sciences, University of Genova, Genoa, Italy, ⁶Medical Image Analysis Center (MIAC) and Quantitative Biomedical Imaging Group, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland, ⁷Division of Radiological Physics, Department of Radiology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland

Synopsis

Keywords: Multiple Sclerosis, Microstructure

Motivation: Assessing myelin damage in multiple sclerosis (MS) is essential, as it can yield crucial insights into disease mechanisms.

Goal(s): This work provides a novel method to assess myelin damage in MS, offering detailed information that outperforms traditional measures.

Approach: We extended a microstructure-informed tractography framework by adding an ad-hoc compartment that explicitly models potential myelin loss of the fiber tracts affected by lesions.

Results: The estimated myelin loss significantly correlates with motor disability and disease progression, enhancing our understanding of demyelination in MS pathology.

Impact: In this work, we used an innovative method to compute myelin loss, providing insight that a standard myelin-sensitive map couldn’t provide. These values significantly correlate with motor disability and disease progression, enhancing our understanding of MS pathology and treatment effects.

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