Microstructural Characteristics of Cervical Spinal Cord Using High Angular Resolution Diffusion Imaging (HARDI) and...

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Spinal Cord Anatomy
• Diffusion Tensor Imaging

Background:

• Spinal cord microstructure characterization is crucial for understanding neurological conditions.
• High angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) offers advanced insights into tissue organization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize cervical spinal cord microstructure in healthy subjects using HARDI and tractography.
• To establish a normative database for spinal cord microstructural parameters.

Main Methods:

• Prospective study of 49 healthy subjects (18-50 years).
• Acquired cervical spinal cord HARDI data using a 3T MRI scanner with specific parameters (64 directions, b=1000s/mm², reduced FOV, opposed phase-encoding).
• Corrected distortions, performed deterministic fiber tracking, and extracted tensor metrics (FA, MD, AD, RD) and tractography statistics.

Main Results:

• Significant differences in microstructural organization were observed between upper and lower cervical spine levels (e.g., decreased FA and AD, increased RD in lower levels).
• White matter exhibited significantly higher FA, MD, AD, and RD values compared to grey matter.
• Age showed significant associations with MD, AD, and RD, but not FA.

Conclusions:

• This study successfully generated a cervical spinal cord HARDI database for healthy subjects.
• The findings provide a foundation for comparing microstructural organization in patients with spinal cord pathologies.
• Spinal cord tractography can reveal fiber architecture and spinal tract organization.