SCIENCE@home

Validating Pore Size Estimates in a Complex Microfibre Environment on a Human MRI System

Chu-Chung Huang,C. Hsu,F. Zhou,S. Kusmia,Mark Drakesmith,G. Parker,Ching-Po Lin,Derek K. Jones

Published 2021 in bioRxiv

ABSTRACT

Purpose Recent advances in diffusion-weighted MRI provide ‘restricted diffusion signal fraction’ and restricting pore size estimates. Materials based on co-electrospun oriented hollow cylinders have been introduced to provide validation for such methods. This study extends this work, exploring accuracy and repeatability using an extended acquisition on a 300 mT/m gradient human MRI scanner, in substrates closely mimicking tissue, i.e., non-circular cross-sections, intra-voxel fibre crossing, intra-voxel distributions of pore-sizes and smaller pore-sizes overall. Methods In a single-blind experiment, diffusion-weighted data were collected from a biomimetic phantom on a 3T Connectom system using multiple gradient directions/diffusion times. Repeated scans established short-term and long-term repeatability. The total scan time (54 minutes) matched similar protocols used in human studies. The number of distinct fibre populations was estimated using spherical deconvolution, and median pore size estimated through the combination of CHARMED and AxCaliber3D framework. Diffusion-based estimates were compared with measurements derived from scanning electron microscopy. Results The phantom contained substrates with different orientations, fibre configurations and pore size distributions. Irrespective of one or two populations within the voxel, the pore-size estimates (~5μm) and orientation-estimates showed excellent agreement with the median values of pore-size derived from scanning electron microscope and phantom configuration. Measurement repeatability depended on substrate complexity, with lower values seen in samples containing crossing-fibres. Sample-level repeatability was found to be good. Conclusion While no phantom mimics tissue completely, this study takes a step closer to validating diffusion microstructure measurements for use in vivo by demonstrating the ability to quantify microgeometry in relatively complex configurations.

PUBLICATION RECORD

CITATION MAP

EXTRACTION MAP

CLAIMS

  • No claims are published for this paper.

CONCEPTS

  • No concepts are published for this paper.

REFERENCES

Showing 1-58 of 58 references · Page 1 of 1

CITED BY

Showing 1-7 of 7 citing papers · Page 1 of 1