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Jiang X, Devan SP, Xie J, Gore JC, Xu J. Improving MR cell size imaging by inclusion of transcytolemmal water exchange. NMR Biomed 2022; 35:e4799. [PMID: 35794795 PMCID: PMC10124991 DOI: 10.1002/nbm.4799] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2021] [Revised: 06/27/2022] [Accepted: 07/05/2022] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
The goal of the current study is to include transcytolemmal water exchange in MR cell size imaging using the IMPULSED model for more accurate characterization of tissue cellular properties (e.g., apparent volume fraction of intracellular space v in ) and quantification of indicators of transcytolemmal water exchange. We propose a heuristic model that incorporates transcytolemmal water exchange into a multicompartment diffusion-based method (IMPULSED) that was developed previously to extract microstructural parameters (e.g., mean cell size d and apparent volume fraction of intracellular space v in ) assuming no water exchange. For t diff ≤ 5 ms, the water exchange can be ignored, and the signal model is the same as the IMPULSED model. For t diff ≥ 30 ms, we incorporated the modified Kärger model that includes both restricted diffusion and exchange between compartments. Using simulations and previously published in vitro cell data, we evaluated the accuracy and precision of model-derived parameters and determined how they are dependent on SNR and imaging parameters. The joint model provides more accurate d values for cell sizes ranging from 10 to 12 microns when water exchange is fast (e.g., intracellular water pre-exchange lifetime τ in ≤ 100 ms) than IMPULSED, and reduces the bias of IMPULSED-derived estimates of v in , especially when water exchange is relatively slow (e.g., τ in > 200 ms). Indicators of transcytolemmal water exchange derived from the proposed joint model are linearly correlated with ground truth τ in values and can detect changes in cell membrane permeability induced by saponin treatment in murine erythroleukemia cancer cells. Our results suggest this joint model not only improves the accuracy of IMPULSED-derived microstructural parameters, but also provides indicators of water exchange that are usually ignored in diffusion models of tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyu Jiang
- Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
- Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Sean P Devan
- Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
- Chemical and Physical Biology Program, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Jingping Xie
- Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - John C. Gore
- Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
- Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Junzhong Xu
- Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
- Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
- Corresponding author: Address: Vanderbilt University, Institute of Imaging Science, 1161 21 Avenue South, AA 1105 MCN, Nashville, TN 37232-2310, United States. Fax: +1 615 322 0734. (Junzhong Xu). Twitter: @JunzhongXu
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Jiang X, Xu J, Gore JC. Mapping hepatocyte size in vivo using temporal diffusion spectroscopy MRI. Magn Reson Med 2020; 84:2671-2683. [PMID: 32333469 DOI: 10.1002/mrm.28299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2019] [Revised: 03/11/2020] [Accepted: 04/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE The goal of this study is to implement a noninvasive method for in vivo mapping of hepatocyte size. This method will have a broad range of clinical and preclinical applications, as pathological changes in hepatocyte sizes are relevant for the accurate diagnosis and assessments of treatment response of liver diseases. METHODS Building on the concepts of temporal diffusion spectroscopy in MRI, a clinically feasible imaging protocol named IMPULSED (Imaging Microstructural Parameters Using Limited Spectrally Edited Diffusion) has been developed, which is able to report measurements of cell sizes noninvasively. This protocol acquires a selected set of diffusion imaging data and fits them to a model of water compartments in tissues to derive robust estimates of the cellular structures that restrict free diffusion. Here, we adapt and further develop this approach to measure hepatocyte sizes in vivo. We validated IMPULSED in livers of mice and rats and implemented it to image healthy human subjects using a clinical 3T MRI scanner. RESULTS The IMPULSED-derived mean hepatocyte sizes for rats and mice are about 15-20 µm and agree well with histological findings. Maps of mean hepatocyte size for humans can be achieved in less than 15 minutes, a clinically feasible scan time. CONCLUSION Our results suggest that this method has potential to overcome major limitations of liver biopsy and provide noninvasive mapping of hepatocyte sizes in clinical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyu Jiang
- Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.,Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Junzhong Xu
- Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.,Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.,Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.,Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - John C Gore
- Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.,Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.,Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.,Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.,Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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Xu J, Li H, Li K, Harkins KD, Jiang X, Xie J, Kang H, Dortch RD, Anderson AW, Does MD, Gore JC. Fast and simplified mapping of mean axon diameter using temporal diffusion spectroscopy. NMR Biomed 2016; 29:400-410. [PMID: 27077155 PMCID: PMC4832578 DOI: 10.1002/nbm.3484] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Mapping axon diameter is of interest for the potential diagnosis and monitoring of various neuronal pathologies. Advanced diffusion-weighted MRI methods have been developed to measure mean axon diameters non-invasively, but suffer major drawbacks that prevent their direct translation into clinical practice, such as complex non-linear data fitting and, more importantly, long scanning times that are usually not tolerable for most human subjects. In the current study, temporal diffusion spectroscopy using oscillating diffusion gradients was used to measure mean axon diameters with high sensitivity to small axons in the central nervous system. Axon diameters have been found to be correlated with a novel metric, DDR⊥ (the rate of dispersion of the perpendicular diffusion coefficient with gradient frequency), which is a model-free quantity that does not require complex data analyses and can be obtained from two diffusion coefficient measurements in clinically relevant times with conventional MRI machines. A comprehensive investigation including computer simulations and animal experiments ex vivo showed that measurements of DDR⊥ agree closely with histological data. In humans in vivo, DDR⊥ was also found to correlate well with reported mean axon diameters in human corpus callosum, and the total scan time was only about 8 min. In conclusion, DDR⊥ may have potential to serve as a fast, simple and model-free approach to map the mean axon diameter of white matter in clinics for assessing axon diameter changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junzhong Xu
- Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA; Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
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Xu J, Does MD, Gore JC. Quantitative characterization of tissue microstructure with temporal diffusion spectroscopy. J Magn Reson 2009; 200:189-97. [PMID: 19616979 PMCID: PMC2758625 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmr.2009.06.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2009] [Revised: 06/26/2009] [Accepted: 06/29/2009] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
The signals recorded by diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) are dependent on the micro-structural properties of biological tissues, so it is possible to obtain quantitative structural information non-invasively from such measurements. Oscillating gradient spin echo (OGSE) methods have the ability to probe the behavior of water diffusion over different time scales and the potential to detect variations in intracellular structure. To assist in the interpretation of OGSE data, analytical expressions have been derived for diffusion-weighted signals with OGSE methods for restricted diffusion in some typical structures, including parallel planes, cylinders and spheres, using the theory of temporal diffusion spectroscopy. These analytical predictions have been confirmed with computer simulations. These expressions suggest how OGSE signals from biological tissues should be analyzed to characterize tissue microstructure, including how to estimate cell nuclear sizes. This approach provides a model to interpret diffusion data obtained from OGSE measurements that can be used for applications such as monitoring tumor response to treatment in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junzhong Xu
- Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232-2310, USA.
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