Development of a new diagnostic method for multiple sclerosis using advanced MRI technique quantify brain microstructures

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K17177
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 52040:Radiological sciences-related
• Research Institution: Juntendo University
• Principal Investigator: Fujita Shohei 順天堂大学, 医学部, 非常勤助手 (60827244)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 磁気共鳴画像 / イメージング / 多発性硬化症

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We conducted an evaluation of quantitative synthetic MRI in the detection ability of plaques in patients with multiple sclerosis and demonstrated that it was possible to maintain detection ability while reducing the imaging time by about half (Fujita et al. AJNR 2021). Furthermore, we explored the distribution and degree of characteristic disease impairments through ROI analysis and image statistics analysis of various quantitative values, including longitudinal relaxation time (T1), transverse relaxation time (T2), proton density (PD), and myelin content. We successfully performed these analyses not only on a single scanner but also on multiple scanners from different vendors (Fujita et al. Proc. ISMRM 2022).

Free Research Field

放射線科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

多発性硬化症のMRI検査において、撮像時間を約半分に短縮しながら、従来の方法と同等のプラーク検出能力を維持できることが示されました。また、病気に特有の障害分布や程度を調べることが可能であることも明らかになりました。この研究成果は、より迅速で正確な多発性硬化症の診断と治療につながり、患者の生活の質の向上に貢献することが期待されます。さらに、撮像時間の短縮によって、検査待ち時間の短縮にもつながる可能性があります。