Exploring white matter dynamics and morphology through interactive numerical phantoms: the White Matter Generator

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Biophysics
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Brain white matter is a dynamic tissue that reorganizes in response to stimuli and pathology.
• Glial cells are crucial for tissue repair, inflammation modulation, and neural recovery.
• Glial cell activity influences axon morphology and the diffusion-weighted MRI signal.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the White Matter Generator (WMG) tool for studying glial cell-induced changes in axon morphology.
• To investigate how these morphological changes affect diffusion-weighted MRI signals.
• To enable the evaluation of diffusion-weighted MRI microstructure models in controlled white matter environments.

Main Methods:

• The WMG tool uses ellipsoids to model myelinated axons, unmyelinated axons, and cell clusters.
• Interactive phantom generation allows for optimization of white matter configurations.
• Ellipsoid models are converted to mesh representations for Monte-Carlo diffusion simulations.

Main Results:

• The WMG tool facilitates the study of dynamic white matter processes and their impact on MRI signals.
• It allows for the creation of bio-mimicking white matter phantoms for model evaluation.
• The tool enables effective assessment of tissue microstructure models.

Conclusions:

• The WMG tool provides valuable insights into white matter's adaptive nature and its implications for diffusion-weighted MRI.
• It supports the advancement of clinical diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation for neurological disorders.
• This tool aids in understanding the relationship between white matter microstructure and MRI-based diagnostics.