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Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a noninvasive medical imaging technique based on a phenomenon of nuclear physics discovered in the 1930s, in which matter exposed to magnetic fields and radio waves was found to emit radio signals. In 1970, a physician and researcher named Raymond Damadian noticed that malignant (cancerous) tissue gave off different signals than normal body tissue. He applied for a patent for the first MRI scanning device in clinical use by the early 1980s. The early MRI...

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Updated: May 7, 2025

Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Analysis of Neurodegenerative Diseases

Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Analysis of Neurodegenerative Diseases

Published on: July 28, 2013

Relationship between sodium and diffusion MRI metrics in multiple sclerosis.

Emilio Cipriano¹, Giacomo Boffa^1,2, Nicole Graziano³

¹Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, 16132 Genoa, Italy.

Brain Communications

|January 7, 2025

Summary

Sodium MRI reveals changes in brain sodium levels in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Elevated intracellular sodium concentration may indicate early metabolic dysfunction, even before tissue damage is apparent.

Keywords:

diffusion MRI intra-cellular and extra-cellular sodium concentration multiple sclerosis sodium MRI

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Last Updated: May 7, 2025

Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Analysis of Neurodegenerative Diseases

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Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Chronic Spinal Cord Compression

Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Chronic Spinal Cord Compression

Published on: May 7, 2019

Area of Science:

Neuroimaging
Biomarkers
Multiple Sclerosis Research

Background:

Sodium MRI measures in vivo sodium concentrations in multiple sclerosis (MS).
The link between sodium alterations and metabolic dysfunction, independent of tissue damage, requires further investigation.
Increased total and extracellular sodium concentrations suggest tissue disruption, while increased intracellular sodium may signal early neuronal insult.

Purpose of the Study:

To explore the relationship between total sodium concentration, intracellular sodium concentration, and extracellular sodium concentration (via intracellular sodium volume fraction) with microstructural metrics in MS.
To assess the utility of different sodium measures as biomarkers for tissue damage and metabolic dysfunction in MS.

Main Methods:

Fifty-two individuals with MS and 26 healthy controls underwent 1H/23Na MRI.
Diffusion MRI techniques, including Diffusion Basis Spectrum Imaging (DBSI) and Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging (NODDI), were used to derive microstructural parameters.
Histology-validated microstructural metrics were compared with sodium MRI findings.

Main Results:

A progressive increase in total sodium concentration and intracellular sodium volume fraction was observed from healthy controls to normal-appearing white matter and into MS lesions.
Total sodium concentration and intracellular sodium volume fraction, but not intracellular sodium concentration, correlated with DBSI and NODDI metrics within MS lesions.
These findings suggest that total sodium concentration and extracellular sodium concentration reflect extracellular space expansion and axonal loss.

Conclusions:

Total sodium concentration and extracellular sodium concentration are reliable indicators of extracellular expansion and axonal loss in MS.
Intracellular sodium concentration emerges as a valuable biomarker for detecting metabolic dysfunction in MS, potentially preceding overt tissue damage.