Development of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Biomarkers for Traumatic Brain Injury

The purpose of this research program is to develop an imaging-based protocol to improve diagnosis and outcome prediction of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). It includes the development of a modern technology for processing susceptibility maps to evaluate the presence of bleeding and deoxyhemoglobin and the study of sensitivity of new MR imaging technology in detecting mild TBI. Our major findings relate directly to our specific aims. First, we have demonstrated that these new advanced MRI methods nicely complement conventional imaging methods in their ability to detect mTBI in the acute setting. Second, susceptibility weighted imaging and mapping (SWIM) are able to delineate venous structures and microbleeds making it possible to quantify and monitor evolution of pathological changes. Third, we have developed the process by which to evaluate DTI data throughout the entire brain to look for local variations in ADC and FA values to assess tissue damage. And fourth, we have begun to collect imaging and neuropsychological data for both volunteers and mTBI patients during the last quarter of this year. The significance of this work to date is that we are now able to find evidence of damage in mTBI where that has heretofore been difficult with cMRI.