[Spinal cord magnetic resonance imaging: methods and applications].

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Spinal cord magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an emerging technique primarily used in the cervical cord.
• It has applications in basic research (human sensation, motor function) and clinical settings (spinal cord injury, myelitis, chronic pain).
• Spinal cord MRI development lags behind brain MRI due to technological and data analysis limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the methods and applications of spinal cord MRI in cognitive neuroscience and clinical practice.
• To discuss current technical challenges and potential solutions in spinal cord MRI data processing.
• To explore the current status and future prospects of spinal cord MRI.

Main Methods:

• Introduction to imaging principles, methods, and measurement standards for multimodal spinal cord MRI.
• Detailed overview of quantitative techniques (structural, diffusion, spectroscopy, myelin water, MT, CEST) and functional MRI (fMRI).
• Discussion of data processing challenges: denoising, pipeline optimization, repeatability, and reliability.

Main Results:

• Comprehensive review of commonly used spinal cord MRI techniques and their applications.
• Identification of key technical challenges in spinal cord MRI data processing.
• Analysis of current applications and future directions for spinal cord MRI.

Conclusions:

• Spinal cord MRI is a valuable tool with growing applications in neuroscience and clinical diagnostics.
• Addressing technical limitations in imaging and data analysis is essential for future advancements.
• Continued research promises to expand the utility of spinal cord MRI in understanding and treating neurological conditions.