J K A M A R T I N
ICERT REU BRAIN MAPPING
Quantitative Biomarker Analysis of MRI Images of Stroke Patients
Neurons in the human brain as they transfer information among each other. Want a map of this? It could take a while.
©iStockphoto.com/Kiyoshi Takahase Segundo
What is Brain Mapping ?
Brain mapping attempts to relate the brain's structure to its function, or finding what parts give us certain abilities. For example, what aspect of our brain allows us to be creative or logical? This is calledlocalization of function. In mapping brain functions, scientists use imaging to watch the brain working on various tasks. In this research project we look at MRI images of brains which were subjected to ischemic stroke.
What is Ischemic Stroke ?
Ischemic Stroke occurs as a result of an obstruction within a blood vessel supplying blood to the brain. It accounts for 87 percent of all stroke cases.
Background on Project
Accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment decisions are crucial for obtaining the best possible outcomes in patients experiencing acute ischemic stroke. Currently, imaging-based approaches (CT angiograms and MRI imaging) are used to diagnose the size and location of the ischemia in the brain, however the potential benefit of using imaging to make treatment decisions is not yet clear.
Previous studies (referenced below) have reported a potential role for MRI in identifying patients that are likely to positively respond to reperfusion therapies such as tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). In particular, the mismatch between perfusion weighted imaging (PWI) and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) of lesion volumes, as well as the size of the lesions, has been shown to be a useful biomarker for identifying patients likely to benefit from tPA.
However, there is not yet a clear consensus on the value of target mismatch, and DWI/PWI are not routinely performed in community hospitals. We therefore propose to analyze the mismatch region from DWI/PWI imaging for additional signals that might provide information useful for identifying patients likely to experience improved outcomes.