MMDTIAN · Multi-modal Diffusion Tensor Imaging of Active Neurons: Searching for Functional and Other Biophysical Components

Multi-modal Diffusion Tensor Imaging of Active Neurons: Searching for Functional and Other Biophysical Components

General My research as proposed originally to the FP7-IRG was primarily in MRI and Biophysics. Within these fields I am interested specifically in the biophysical basis of Diffusion Weighted MRI (DWI) and in the mechanical aspects of brain stimulation. Follows is a list of my main achievements in these fields during the period of the IRG grant. Brain Activity and water displacement The study of the biophysical basis for this phenomenon was a central theme in this proposal. We demonstrated for the first time that enhanced brain activity significantly affects water displacement in the neural tissue and is not merely a blood oxygenation side effect (Tirosh & Nevo, 2013). This work was done using our unique experimental model of excised vital new-born rat spinal cord, under chemical stimulation. This work was awarded the 2012 Best poster award of the ISMRM diffusion study group, and independently won a Magna Cum Laude award for presented work in the ISMRM 2012). We also use theoretical biophysical work to understand water displacement in nerve cells. For example, we lately described the possible outcome of axonal transport on the displacement of water molecules (Mussel et al. in press). These works relate to my long term attempt to prove that neuronal activity includes a mechanical dimension that complements, and clarifies the phenomenological knowledge on the electro-chemical events that occur during neuronal function. Quantification of Pore Size Distributions by diffusion weighted NMR We developed during the past four years a novel method for accurate estimation of pore-size distribution from multiple diffusion weighted experiments (see Benjamini, Katz & Nevo 2012; Benjamini & Nevo 2013). The method is unique and provides experimental results previously impossible. We also demonstrated that this method is applicable for complex structures as porous polymers (Benjamini et al., submitted). A new work (Katz & Nevo, Submitted) establishes our technique into a framework for handling experimental design for solution of ill-posed problems, with proven results. Imaging and Biomedical Application with a mobile NMR We developed methods to accelerate imaging with a mobile, low-cost unilateral NMR scanner. This was done by the development of fast imaging methods and compressed sensing (Liberman et al. 2013) and by the development of methods in signal processing for better image reconstruction (Bergman et al. 2013) and for better evaluation of NMR decay times (Bergman et al., in press). These works allowed us initiate projects on the use of the mobile NMR for biomedical applications. One of these projects (skin profiling) is currently applied clinically.

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