National Facility for In Vivo MR Imaging of Human Tissue Microstructure
Lead Research Organisation:
CARDIFF UNIVERSITY
Department Name: Sch of Psychology
Abstract
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanners are used throughout the world to image the human body in hospitals and for research. They are used to diagnose disease and to understand the workings of the healthy body. In clinical settings, MRI scanners most often collect images which show objects down to about 1 mm in size. These are useful for some diagnoses, but are unable to capture tissue properties at microscopic length scales (thousandths of a millimetre), at which important processes may occur, e.g. in the 'axons' (the cells forming connections between different brain areas), or in cells in vital organs, such as the liver or kidney. Such detailed examination usually requires a 'biopsy' to remove tissue which is then examined under a microscope. However, biopsies only look at a tiny sample of tissue and can be risky to collect, e.g. in the brain.
This project will develop MRI in new ways to quantify tissue structure at the microscopic scale. The principal method looks at how water molecules moving in the body are impeded by fine structure within the tissue. While diffusion MRI has existed for 30 years, current MRI machines restrict us to measuring only relatively large molecular movements. This blurs our picture of the tissue, prohibiting us from looking at important characteristics, such as the dimensions of individual cells, or the density or packing of nerve fibres.
The main factor that can sharpen the picture, by sensitising MRI to smaller molecular movements, is a substantial increase in magnetic field gradients. These gradients are controlled alterations in the magnetic field strength within the MRI scanner. We will partner with a scanner manufacturer to create a system that produces gradients about 7 times stronger than available on standard MRI machines. There is only one similar system anywhere else in the world (in the USA) and we therefore propose to establish a 'National Facility for the In Vivo Imaging of Tissue Microstructure' here in the UK, serving as a national hub for development and application of advanced microstructural imaging methods.
Our first scientific aim will be to achieve robust and reliable measurements. We will develop methods to reduced the impact of inevitable imperfections in the hardware, and the effects of the person moving during scanning. About 75% of the project will be spent developing novel engineering and physics methods to obtain the best possible measurements. The increased sensitivity will allow us to characterise tissue in a range of organs to an unprecedented level of detail. In the brain, the white matter is the 'wiring' that interconnects different regions and is affected in many diseases including dementia, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, depression and multiple sclerosis. Measurements on standard hardware lack the ability to show exactly how white matter is affected by these diseases, but at the NMIF we will be able to distinguish any changes in the shape or size of the axons (the tube-like structures), from changes in the myelin (the fatty insulation layer that wraps around axons). This will allow us to make better predictions about the white matter's ability to carry information. In cancer, we aim to replace the tumour biopsy with advanced microstructural imaging, being able to quantify non-invasively cell size, and density. The ultimate goal is to provide earlier and more accurate diagnoses, more specific and better-targeted therapy, improved treatment monitoring and overall improved outcome for patients with a range of debilitating diseases.
The project will develop and benefit from academic and industrial research partnerships in the UK and internationally. There is great potential for application in drug development, a strong industrial sector in the UK, for the development and delivery of new and effective treatments. This project will help maintain the UK's longheld position at the the international forefront of neuroimaging research.
This project will develop MRI in new ways to quantify tissue structure at the microscopic scale. The principal method looks at how water molecules moving in the body are impeded by fine structure within the tissue. While diffusion MRI has existed for 30 years, current MRI machines restrict us to measuring only relatively large molecular movements. This blurs our picture of the tissue, prohibiting us from looking at important characteristics, such as the dimensions of individual cells, or the density or packing of nerve fibres.
The main factor that can sharpen the picture, by sensitising MRI to smaller molecular movements, is a substantial increase in magnetic field gradients. These gradients are controlled alterations in the magnetic field strength within the MRI scanner. We will partner with a scanner manufacturer to create a system that produces gradients about 7 times stronger than available on standard MRI machines. There is only one similar system anywhere else in the world (in the USA) and we therefore propose to establish a 'National Facility for the In Vivo Imaging of Tissue Microstructure' here in the UK, serving as a national hub for development and application of advanced microstructural imaging methods.
Our first scientific aim will be to achieve robust and reliable measurements. We will develop methods to reduced the impact of inevitable imperfections in the hardware, and the effects of the person moving during scanning. About 75% of the project will be spent developing novel engineering and physics methods to obtain the best possible measurements. The increased sensitivity will allow us to characterise tissue in a range of organs to an unprecedented level of detail. In the brain, the white matter is the 'wiring' that interconnects different regions and is affected in many diseases including dementia, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, depression and multiple sclerosis. Measurements on standard hardware lack the ability to show exactly how white matter is affected by these diseases, but at the NMIF we will be able to distinguish any changes in the shape or size of the axons (the tube-like structures), from changes in the myelin (the fatty insulation layer that wraps around axons). This will allow us to make better predictions about the white matter's ability to carry information. In cancer, we aim to replace the tumour biopsy with advanced microstructural imaging, being able to quantify non-invasively cell size, and density. The ultimate goal is to provide earlier and more accurate diagnoses, more specific and better-targeted therapy, improved treatment monitoring and overall improved outcome for patients with a range of debilitating diseases.
The project will develop and benefit from academic and industrial research partnerships in the UK and internationally. There is great potential for application in drug development, a strong industrial sector in the UK, for the development and delivery of new and effective treatments. This project will help maintain the UK's longheld position at the the international forefront of neuroimaging research.
Planned Impact
Our proposal to establish the UK's National Microstructure Imaging Facility (NMIF) would benefit a wide range of stakeholders that can put to important uses new and more sensitive medical imaging tools.
Basic biological and clinical researchers would benefit from the non-invasive imaging tool that can be applied to living humans. It will allow them to address their research questions over the structure and function of the human body in a way that has only been possible previously with invasive sampling of tissue through biopsy. Longitudinal clinical studies become possible examining the fine structure of human organs as they develop, age and change with disease. This benefits researchers and clinicians focusing on, for example brain, heart, muscles, kidney, prostate, liver bone and bowel. The subsequent healthcare and economic benefits are, therefore, substantial. Diseases with a particularly high societal burden, including dementia and cancer, will be an early target for clinical translation and therefore rapid impact. Commonly, in cancer, tumour cells are organized differently with respect to normal healthy tissue. The techniques we develop within the NMIF will aim to detect such subtle microstructural changes, helping to diagnose cancer and monitor treatment response, allowing better therapeutic decisions to be made.
The new imaging methods developed at the NIMF will provide sensitive biomarkers of dementia in the brain promoting its early diagnosis and the improved stratification of patient groups. Perhaps more pressing is the need for tools to help understand the basic pathology of dementia in the living brain and therefore to drive the development and accelerated testing of new treatments. This potentially rapid impact is exemplified by our partnership with Acuitas Medical which aims to use the high-gradient system to identify dementia-related changes in microstructural columns within the brain.
We have already identified key industrial partnerships that will accelerate benefits to industry, particularly in the UK, focusing on the medical device and pharmaceutical industries. Renishaw will be working with us to model brain tissue structure and produce improved software tools for drug delivery neurosurgery. There is a pressing need for more sensitive and specific biomarkers in the pharmaceutical industry to reduce the costs of development by providing early signals of drug efficacy and allowing the most promising compounds to be taken forward in development as rapidly as possible. This will lead to more treatments to more patients more quickly. We will partner with GlaxoSmithKline, the UK's largest pharmaceutical company, on the NMIF project to develop imaging markers useful in drug development. The MR scanner manufacturers are likely to benefit by extending MRI into new territory and new clinical applications, setting a new standard for a future generation of clinical hardware. Magstim will exploit the NMIF to improve their coil designs and paradigms for brain stimulation. The benefits to medical device and pharmaceutical research are likely to be realized in the next 3-5 years with the initiation of early clinical trials. The wider benefits to routine measurements would naturally take longer to realise, typically 5+ years. In addition to the direct scientific benefits the NMIF and the associated research and industrial network will produce a professional training opportunity unparalleled in Europe producing highly skilled imaging methodologists to work in research and industry.
Finally, our proposal includes plans to engage with the UK art community to engage the public in our science. There are many beneficiaries to this, including the scientists themselves (gaining new insights through two-way interaction), the artists (gaining new inspiration for their work), the museums and art galleries that will host the travelling exhibition, and the public that attends the exhibitions.
Basic biological and clinical researchers would benefit from the non-invasive imaging tool that can be applied to living humans. It will allow them to address their research questions over the structure and function of the human body in a way that has only been possible previously with invasive sampling of tissue through biopsy. Longitudinal clinical studies become possible examining the fine structure of human organs as they develop, age and change with disease. This benefits researchers and clinicians focusing on, for example brain, heart, muscles, kidney, prostate, liver bone and bowel. The subsequent healthcare and economic benefits are, therefore, substantial. Diseases with a particularly high societal burden, including dementia and cancer, will be an early target for clinical translation and therefore rapid impact. Commonly, in cancer, tumour cells are organized differently with respect to normal healthy tissue. The techniques we develop within the NMIF will aim to detect such subtle microstructural changes, helping to diagnose cancer and monitor treatment response, allowing better therapeutic decisions to be made.
The new imaging methods developed at the NIMF will provide sensitive biomarkers of dementia in the brain promoting its early diagnosis and the improved stratification of patient groups. Perhaps more pressing is the need for tools to help understand the basic pathology of dementia in the living brain and therefore to drive the development and accelerated testing of new treatments. This potentially rapid impact is exemplified by our partnership with Acuitas Medical which aims to use the high-gradient system to identify dementia-related changes in microstructural columns within the brain.
We have already identified key industrial partnerships that will accelerate benefits to industry, particularly in the UK, focusing on the medical device and pharmaceutical industries. Renishaw will be working with us to model brain tissue structure and produce improved software tools for drug delivery neurosurgery. There is a pressing need for more sensitive and specific biomarkers in the pharmaceutical industry to reduce the costs of development by providing early signals of drug efficacy and allowing the most promising compounds to be taken forward in development as rapidly as possible. This will lead to more treatments to more patients more quickly. We will partner with GlaxoSmithKline, the UK's largest pharmaceutical company, on the NMIF project to develop imaging markers useful in drug development. The MR scanner manufacturers are likely to benefit by extending MRI into new territory and new clinical applications, setting a new standard for a future generation of clinical hardware. Magstim will exploit the NMIF to improve their coil designs and paradigms for brain stimulation. The benefits to medical device and pharmaceutical research are likely to be realized in the next 3-5 years with the initiation of early clinical trials. The wider benefits to routine measurements would naturally take longer to realise, typically 5+ years. In addition to the direct scientific benefits the NMIF and the associated research and industrial network will produce a professional training opportunity unparalleled in Europe producing highly skilled imaging methodologists to work in research and industry.
Finally, our proposal includes plans to engage with the UK art community to engage the public in our science. There are many beneficiaries to this, including the scientists themselves (gaining new insights through two-way interaction), the artists (gaining new inspiration for their work), the museums and art galleries that will host the travelling exhibition, and the public that attends the exhibitions.
Organisations
- CARDIFF UNIVERSITY (Lead Research Organisation)
- Linkoping University (Collaboration)
- University of Valladolid (Collaboration)
- Aarhus University (Collaboration)
- Siemens Healthcare (Collaboration)
- University College London (Collaboration)
- Case Western Reserve University (Collaboration)
- Renishaw (United Kingdom) (Collaboration)
- University of Verona (Collaboration)
- National Yang Ming University (Collaboration)
- NYU Langone Medical Center (Collaboration)
- Lund University (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD (Collaboration)
- Maastricht University (UM) (Collaboration)
- Max Planck Society (Collaboration)
- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) (Collaboration)
- East China Normal University (ECNU) (Collaboration)
- TracInnovations ApS (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS (Collaboration)
- New York University (Collaboration)
- Champalimaud Foundation (Collaboration)
- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) (Collaboration)
- THE MAGSTIM COMPANY LIMITED (Collaboration)
Publications
Afzali M
(2021)
Computing the orientational-average of diffusion-weighted MRI signals: a comparison of different techniques.
in Scientific reports
Afzali M
(2020)
Direction-averaged diffusion-weighted MRI signal using different axisymmetric B-tensor encoding schemes.
in Magnetic resonance in medicine
Afzali M
(2024)
In vivo diffusion MRI of the human heart using a 300 mT/m gradient system
in Magnetic Resonance in Medicine
Afzali M
(2021)
The sensitivity of diffusion MRI to microstructural properties and experimental factors.
in Journal of neuroscience methods
Afzali M
(2022)
Quantification of Tissue Microstructure Using Tensor-Valued Diffusion Encoding: Brain and Body
in Frontiers in Physics
Afzali M
(2021)
SPHERIOUSLY? The challenges of estimating sphere radius non-invasively in the human brain from diffusion MRI.
in NeuroImage
Afzali Maryam
(2021)
The sensitivity of diffusion MRI to microstructural properties and experimental factors
in JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE METHODS
Aja-Fernández S
(2022)
Anisotropy measure from three diffusion-encoding gradient directions.
in Magnetic resonance imaging
Aja-Fernández S
(2021)
Apparent propagator anisotropy from single-shell diffusion MRI acquisitions.
in Magnetic resonance in medicine
Aja-Fernández S
(2022)
Moment-based representation of the diffusion inside the brain from reduced DMRI acquisitions: Generalized AMURA
in Medical Image Analysis
Alexander DC
(2017)
Image quality transfer and applications in diffusion MRI.
in NeuroImage
Alfaro-Almagro F
(2018)
Image processing and Quality Control for the first 10,000 brain imaging datasets from UK Biobank.
in NeuroImage
Baker RR
(2022)
Image-Guided Magnetic Thermoseed Navigation and Tumor Ablation Using a Magnetic Resonance Imaging System.
in Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)
Barakovic M
(2021)
Resolving bundle-specific intra-axonal T2 values within a voxel using diffusion-relaxation tract-based estimation.
in NeuroImage
Barakovic M
(2021)
Bundle-Specific Axon Diameter Index as a New Contrast to Differentiate White Matter Tracts
in Frontiers in Neuroscience
Chamberland M
(2021)
Detecting microstructural deviations in individuals with deep diffusion MRI tractometry.
in Nature computational science
Chamberland M
(2018)
Meyer's loop tractography for image-guided surgery depends on imaging protocol and hardware.
in NeuroImage. Clinical
Chamberland M
(2019)
Dimensionality reduction of diffusion MRI measures for improved tractometry of the human brain.
in NeuroImage
Coelho S
(2019)
Resolving degeneracy in diffusion MRI biophysical model parameter estimation using double diffusion encoding.
in Magnetic resonance in medicine
De Almeida Martins JP
(2021)
Computing and visualising intra-voxel orientation-specific relaxation-diffusion features in the human brain.
in Human brain mapping
Drakesmith M
(2019)
Estimating axon conduction velocity in vivo from microstructural MRI.
in NeuroImage
Drobnjak I
(2016)
PGSE, OGSE, and sensitivity to axon diameter in diffusion MRI: Insight from a simulation study.
in Magnetic resonance in medicine
Engel M
(2024)
Maximizing SNR per unit time in diffusion MRI with multiband T-Hex spirals.
in Magnetic resonance in medicine
Ferizi U
(2017)
Diffusion MRI microstructure models with in vivo human brain Connectome data: results from a multi-group comparison.
in NMR in biomedicine
Ganepola T
(2018)
Using diffusion MRI to discriminate areas of cortical grey matter.
in NeuroImage
Garcia-Hernandez R
(2022)
Mapping microglia and astrocyte activation in vivo using diffusion MRI.
in Science advances
Genc S
(2020)
Impact of b-value on estimates of apparent fibre density.
in Human brain mapping
Genc S
(2020)
Impact of b-value on estimates of apparent fibre density
Genc S
(2023)
Novel insights into axon diameter and myelin content in late childhood and adolescence.
in Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)
Grussu F
(2016)
A framework for optimal whole-sample histological quantification of neurite orientation dispersion in the human spinal cord.
in Journal of neuroscience methods
Grussu F
(2017)
Neurite dispersion: a new marker of multiple sclerosis spinal cord pathology?
in Annals of clinical and translational neurology
Guo F
(2021)
The effect of gradient nonlinearities on fiber orientation estimates from spherical deconvolution of diffusion magnetic resonance imaging data.
in Human brain mapping
Helfenstein J
(2022)
An approach for comparing agricultural development to societal visions.
in Agronomy for sustainable development
Henriques RN
(2021)
Toward more robust and reproducible diffusion kurtosis imaging.
in Magnetic resonance in medicine
Huang CC
(2021)
Validating pore size estimates in a complex microfiber environment on a human MRI system.
in Magnetic resonance in medicine
Ianus A
(2017)
Double oscillating diffusion encoding and sensitivity to microscopic anisotropy.
in Magnetic resonance in medicine
Ianus A
(2017)
Modeling, Analysis, and Visualization of Anisotropy
Ianus A
(2016)
Simulation and Synthesis in Medical Imaging
Ianus A
(2016)
Model-based estimation of microscopic anisotropy using diffusion MRI: a simulation study.
in NMR in biomedicine
Kaden E
(2016)
Multi-compartment microscopic diffusion imaging.
in NeuroImage
Title | "In Vitro" and "The Left Hemisphere" videos and printed artworks |
Description | Two video files entitlted "In Vitro" and "The Left Hemisphere" were created by our commissioned artist Shardcore (funded by the EPSRC engagement grant) and projected onto the large screen in the CUBRIC Reception area during the Brain Night event held on 6th Dec 2018. The artist was inspired by the unseeable structures revealed through science and the beautiful artworks were created from a 100,000 fibre connectom dataset collected from the EPSRC-funded Connectom scanner. Six printed pieces of artwork around the two themes were also delivered to CUBRIC before Christmas 2018. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Impact | The audience attending Brain Night, the public engagement event held in CUBRIC, were very much impressed with the artistic way that the microstructural MRI brain imaging data was presented through the art-science collaboration. |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUG8pC5W5_Y |
Title | A Fifth Oil Painting |
Description | A fifth oil painting was further delivered by our commissioned artist Lee Wright in March 2019 which features diffusion MRI works. |
Type Of Art | Artwork |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Impact | During the whole process of developing his 5th painting, the artist Lee Wright worked closely with the leading PI of the EPSRC award Prof Derek Jones to see how best to present the diffusion MRI works in the artistic way. Inspired by the unique microstructural MRI imaging enabled by the Connectom scanner with ultra-strong gradients, and the discussions held with Prof Jones on how the much higher resolution images were generated by diffusion MRI, Lee created the fifth painting. The delivered artwork itself is the result of art-science collaboration, and it will better engage the public with the advanced research in the planned art exhibition and maximise the impact of the scientific research. |
Title | B-tensor data |
Description | Diffusion-weighted images (from two healthy participants) were acquired with 10 b=0 and 8 non-zero shells (b=1, 2, 3, 4.5, 6, 7.5, 9, 10.5 ms/um^2) in (10, 31, 31, 31, 31, 61, 61, 61, 61) directions for linear tensor encoding (LTE) and 5 shells (b=1, 2, 3, 4.5, 6 ms/um^2) in (31, 31, 31, 31, 61) directions for planar tensor encoding (PTE) and 5 shells for spherical tensor encoding (STE) (b=0.2, 1, 2, 3, 4.5 ms/um^2$) in (6, 9, 9, 12, 15) using a 3T Connectom MR imaging system with 300 mT/m gradients (Siemens Healthineers, Erlangen, Germany). Forty-two axial slices with 3 mm isotropic voxel size and a 78x78 matrix size, TE = 88 ms, TR = 3000 ms, partial Fourier factor = 6/8, were obtained for each individual. To take full advantage of q-space trajectory imaging, it is imperative to respect the constraints imposed by the hardware, while at the same time maximizing the diffusion encoding strength. Sjolund et al. 2015 provided a tool for achieving this by solving a constrained optimization problem that accommodates constraints on maximum gradient amplitude, slew rate, coil heating, and positioning of radiofrequency pulses. The gradient waveform is optimized and Maxwell-compensated based on a framework that maximizes the b-value for a given measurement b-tensor shape and echo time. Substantial gains in terms of reduced echo times and increased signal-to-noise ratio can be achieved, in particular as compared with naive planar and spherical tensor encoding. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
URL | https://research.cardiff.ac.uk/converis/portal/detail/Dataset/135083057?auxfun=&lang=en_GB |
Title | Four oil paintings |
Description | Four pieces of oil paintings were delivered before Christmas 2017 by one of our commissioned artists Lee Wright (funded by the EPSRC engagement award). 'Healthy and diseased human brains' were highlighted in the artworks. |
Type Of Art | Artwork |
Year Produced | 2017 |
Impact | The artworks were initially developed by the artist. The investigators on the EPSRC equipment award for the Connectom scanner were then consulted for feedback/input to the artwork, following which the artist refined and completed the artworks before Christmas 2017. Therefore, the delivered artwork itself was the result of art-science collaboration, the aim of which is to engage the public more with the advanced research and to maximise the impact of the scientific research. |
Title | Lightbox with transparent digital Artsci work and oil/acrylic on canvas |
Description | Our commissioned artist Penelope Rose Cowley on the EPSRC engagement grant has completed and delivered to us 6 pieces of artwork in August 2018, one of which is via a lightbox with transparent digital artsci work entitled "Illumunated Tractography", two are in the form of acrylic on canvas, entitled "Mindscape" and "Braintree", three are oil on canvas, entitled "The Magnet", "Behind My Face Coronal", and "Head Down Axial". |
Type Of Art | Artwork |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Impact | To create the artwork, the artist visited CUBRIC several times, sitting in the Connectom scanner lab, watching the researchers operating the scanner / monitoring the data acquisition based on the established protocols, and discussing with the researchers about the unique advantage of microstructural MRI imaging enabled by the Connectom scanner. The interaction with the scientists brought the artist inspiration for their artworks. The successful delivery of the artworks funded by EPSRC is itself a productive art-science collaboration which will maximise the research impact and better engage the public in the planned art exhibition. |
Title | Planar tensor encoding data |
Description | Diffusion-weighted images were acquired with 60 gradient directions for planar tensor encoding (PTE) on a 3T Connectom MR imaging system (Siemens Healthineers, Erlangen, Germany). Twenty axial slices with a voxel size of 4mm isotropic (given the strong signal attenuations investigated here, a low resolution of 4 mm isotropic was used) and a 64×64 matrix size, TE = 88 ms, TR = 3000 ms, were obtained for each individual. |
Type Of Art | Image |
Year Produced | 2020 |
URL | https://research.cardiff.ac.uk/converis/portal/detail/Dataset/100087604?auxfun=&lang=en_GB |
Description | The 'New Signals' project, a collaboration between art and science, has made significant strides toward its objectives, albeit with some challenges encountered along the way. The scientific investigators successfully completed the 'visualisation' images intended for inclusion with the delivered artworks just before the onset of the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020. Prior to the pandemic, efforts were underway to secure suitable venues for a traveling exhibition, as outlined in the original grant proposal. Notably, several impactful artworks were delivered by commissioned artists, including Lee Wright's fifth painting in March 2019, inspired by detailed discussions on diffusion MRI work enabled by the EPSRC-funded Connectom scanner. Additionally, Penelope Rose Cowley completed and delivered six pieces of artwork in August 2018, each offering unique insights into the intersection of art and science. Despite the diligent preparation of publicity materials for the planned 'New Signals' art-science exhibition scheduled for April 23, 2020, all exhibition activities were postponed due to the COVID-19 lockdown and associated restrictions. Unfortunately, by the time these restrictions were lifted, the grant period had ended, leaving the project with impactful artworks but insufficient funds to hold the intended exhibition-a disappointing outcome. In terms of strategic objectives, progress was made toward establishing a National Microstructural Imaging Facility (NMIF). A conference showcasing the facility attracted over 150 international attendees, marking the beginning of efforts to promote and support NMIF usage within the UK EPS community and beyond. The EPSRC-funded Connectom scanner played a pivotal role in generating grant applications, papers, and abstracts submitted to prestigious conferences, such as the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) meetings. Several successful fellowship applications and collaborations based on the Connectom microstructural brain imaging study underscored its impact. Additionally, collaborations with industrial partners, including Siemens Healthineers, have led to innovative research initiatives, such as exploring imaging below the neck and sponsoring a PhD student to conduct research on microstructure in the prostate. Despite challenges, significant advancements were made in utilizing the Connectom scanner, with innovations supported by internal efforts and collaborative partnerships. Notably, the scanner enabled groundbreaking research, such as the WAND study, which was featured on BBC Radio Wales' Science Café programme. While the project faced setbacks, particularly due to the unforeseen impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, its contributions to both art-science collaboration and scientific research demonstrate its lasting significance. Continued efforts to secure funding and explore collaborative opportunities will be crucial for sustaining the project's momentum and maximizing its impact in the future. |
Exploitation Route | Please refer to the continuous output of papers from this investment and follow-on funding that has all been leveraged by the investment |
Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Education Healthcare Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology Culture Heritage Museums and Collections Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
Description | We engaged with the BBC news to have a detailed 3 minute feature on the system on the main 6 pm and 10 pm bulletins (see https://vimeo.com/224202631), the BBC news website, and the feature was broadcast and taken up by news agencies around the world. This publicity clearly engaged the general public (based on number of enquiries received), raised their awareness of the Connectom scanner, following which they might volunteer to be the participants of the MRI physics development work. It has also provided additional inspiration for artists to produce the artwork and helped us with the delivery of the art-science collaboration project for better public engagement (all commissioned artworks delivered to us by March 2019). On 25th January 2018 BBC news, Dr Chantal Tax from CUBRIC talked with singer Charlotte Church about the Connectom scanner on the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-42805693. An actual picture of living brain connections taken by the Connetom scanner was included in the BBC news. In addition, the YouTube video about the Connectom scanner made by Tom Scott (and filmed by Paul Allen, School of Psychology) has just passed 228,350 views! Prof Derek Jones, Director of CUBRIC gave the lay talk in the video to raise the general public's awareness of the stunning images enabled by the Connectom scanner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diPiSHxfGyE&feature=youtu.be. The impressive number of YouTube hits showed the scale of engagement from the general public which maximised the impact of the methodological advances facilitated by the advanced facility. The EPSRC-funded Connectom scanner enables the most ambitious microstructural brain imaging study to be conducted in CUBRIC as part of the WAND (Welsh Advanced Neuroimaging Database) study http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/1286914-most-advanced-brain-imaging-study-in-wales . The Science Café programme featuring the WAND study was broadcast on 25th September 2018 on BBC Radio Wales - Prof Derek Jones, Dr Hannah Chandler and Dr John Evans from CUBRIC were interviewed in the programme, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000hq7. It reaches the general public audience who will know more about the microstructural MRI imaging enabled by the Connectom scanner and how to volunteer to participate in the WAND study including MRI scan session in the Connectom. As of 28th Feb 2020 79 participants have participated in the Connectom scan as part of their WAND study visit. COVID lock down and restrictions since March 2020 significantly delayed the human participants research conduction. As of 4th March 2021, a total of 94 participants (only 15 more participants in the reporting period) have participated in the Connectom scan as part of their WAND study visit. |
Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education |
Impact Types | Cultural Societal |
Description | Assessing Placental Structure and Function by Unified Fluid Mechanical Modelling and in-vivo MRI |
Amount | £1,124,021 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/V034537/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2022 |
End | 07/2024 |
Description | Characterising brain network differences during scene perception and memory in young adult APOE-e4 carriers: multi-modal imaging in ALSPAC |
Amount | £1,420,574 (GBP) |
Funding ID | MR/N01233X/1 |
Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2017 |
End | 06/2021 |
Description | Countering the curse of dimensionality in microstructural MRI |
Amount | € 250,000 (EUR) |
Organisation | NWO Rubicon Fellowship |
Sector | Private |
Country | Netherlands |
Start | 02/2020 |
End | 02/2024 |
Description | Diffusion-relaxometry in prostate using ultra-strong gradients |
Amount | £55,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Siemens AG |
Department | Siemens plc |
Sector | Private |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2019 |
End | 09/2022 |
Description | EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Intelligent, Integrated Imaging In Healthcare (i4health) |
Amount | £6,034,274 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/S021930/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 08/2019 |
End | 03/2028 |
Description | Enabling Clinical Decisions From Low-power MRI In Developing Nations Through Image Quality Transfer |
Amount | £1,035,545 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/R014019/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 02/2018 |
End | 01/2022 |
Description | Enabling clinical decisions from low-power MRI in developing nations through image quality transfer |
Amount | £1,020,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/R014019/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 02/2018 |
End | 01/2021 |
Description | Exploiting ultra-strong gradients in multi-modal MRI for comprehensive assessment of white matter microstructure in the living human brain |
Amount | £139,200 (GBP) |
Organisation | Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) |
Sector | Public |
Country | Netherlands |
Start | 05/2017 |
End | 08/2020 |
Description | Influence of Sleep on Human Brain Structure |
Amount | £250,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | 209192/Z/17/Z |
Organisation | Wellcome Trust |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 07/2018 |
End | 08/2024 |
Description | JPND: Stratification of presymptomatic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: the development of novel imaging biomarkers |
Amount | € 1,600,000 (EUR) |
Funding ID | MR/T046473/1 |
Organisation | JPND Research |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | Global |
Start | 06/2020 |
End | 07/2023 |
Description | Making advanced characterisation of tissue microstructure clinically practical: a data-driven approach to efficient microstructural MRI |
Amount | £300,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | 215944/Z/19/Z |
Organisation | Wellcome Trust |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 07/2019 |
End | 08/2025 |
Description | Making the Invisible Visible: a Multi-Scale Imaging Approach to Detect and Characterise Cortical Pathology |
Amount | £1,003,042 (GBP) |
Funding ID | MR/W031566/1 |
Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2023 |
End | 01/2025 |
Description | Mapping Neurodevelopmental Trajectories for Adult Psychiatric Disorder: ALSPAC-MRI-II |
Amount | £1,854,195 (GBP) |
Funding ID | MR/S003436/1 |
Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2019 |
End | 02/2024 |
Description | Microstructural Imaging Data Centre (MIDaC) |
Amount | £73,918 (GBP) |
Funding ID | ST/S00209X/1 |
Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 11/2018 |
End | 08/2019 |
Description | Microstructural Imaging Suite |
Amount | £1,000,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | PR/cmf/19801 |
Organisation | The Wolfson Foundation |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 06/2014 |
End | 07/2019 |
Description | New Horizons in Clinical Cardiac Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging |
Amount | £1,766,596 (GBP) |
Organisation | Wellcome Trust |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2020 |
End | 03/2024 |
Description | OCEAN: One-stop-shop microstructure-sensitive perfusion/diffusion MRI: Application to vascular cognitive impairment |
Amount | £1,302,402 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/M006328/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2015 |
End | 09/2018 |
Description | Statistical reconstruction of histology data based on magnetic resonance imaging (HistoStat) |
Amount | £186,938 (GBP) |
Funding ID | BB/T011564/1 |
Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 04/2020 |
End | 10/2020 |
Description | Water Exchange in the Vasculature of the Brain (WEX-BRAIN) |
Amount | £86,059 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/S031375/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 11/2019 |
End | 10/2022 |
Description | Wellcome Trust Strategic Award |
Amount | £4,953,467 (GBP) |
Funding ID | 104943/Z/14/Z |
Organisation | Wellcome Trust |
Department | Wellcome Trust Strategic Award |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 06/2016 |
End | 06/2021 |
Title | MICRA: Microstructural image compilation with repeated acquisitions |
Description | This is a publically accessible data set collected on the scanner funded by this grant. The full details can be found in this paper: MICRA: Microstructural image compilation with repeated acquisitions Kristin Koller, Umesh Rudrapatna, Maxime Chamberland, Erika P Raven, Greg D Parker, Chantal M W Tax, Mark Drakesmith, Fabrizio Fasano, David Owen, Garin Hughes, Cyril Charron , C John Evans, Derek K Jones Neuroimage 2021 Jan 15;225:117406. PMID: 33045335 PMCID: PMC7779421 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117406 We have put this data set onto the Open Science Framework for the community to use it. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The data set has been downloaded by multiple investigators around the globe given its unique features, to establish reproducibility of pipelines. It was used recently in the international BrainHack |
URL | https://osf.io/z3mkn/ |
Title | Noninvasive quantification of axon radii using diffusion MRI |
Description | Axon size plays a crucial role in determining conductance velocity and, consequently, in the the timing and synchronization of neural activation. Noninvasive measurement of axon radii could have significant impact on the understanding of healthy and diseased neural processes. However, until now, accurate axon radius mapping has eluded in vivo neuroimaging, mainly due to a lack of sensitivity of the MRI signal to micron-sized axons. Here, we show how -- when confounding factors such as extra-axonal water and axonal orientation dispersion are eliminated -- heavily diffusion-weighted MRI signals becomes sensitive to axon radii. However, diffusion MRI is only capable of estimating a single metric representing the entire axon radius distribution within a voxel that emphasizes the largest axons. Our findings, both in rodents and humans, enable noninvasive mapping of critical information on axon radii, as well as resolve the long-standing debate on whether axon radii can be quantified. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | http://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.4qrfj6q66 |
Description | Estimating axial diffusivity in the NODDI model |
Organisation | University of Oxford |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We provided the data acquisition, data sets, and pre-processing and had extended discussions with the team at Oxford about the complexities of estimating axial diffusivity from the NODDI model |
Collaborator Contribution | This was a real team effort (see above) but Dr Amy Howard really led the writing of the paper. |
Impact | Estimating axial diffusivity in the NODDI model. Howard AF, Cottaar M, Drakesmith M, Fan Q, Huang SY, Jones DK, Lange FJ, Mollink J, Rudrapatna SU, Tian Q, Miller KL, Jbabdi S. Neuroimage. 2022 Nov 15;262:119535. |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | GSK |
Organisation | GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) |
Country | Global |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | We made the 3TM Connectom MRI scanner available for research. We will recruit a PhD student to do the research funded by GSK studentship. |
Collaborator Contribution | GSK agreed to fund a 3 year PhD studentship to carry out research on microstructural imaging technology. |
Impact | GSK agreed to fund a 3 year PhD studentship to carry out research on microstructural imaging technology. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Laboratorio de Procesado de Imagen - CUBRIC |
Organisation | University of Valladolid |
Country | Spain |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We collaborated on a number of projects, including strategies to denoise diffusion MRI data, identify reduced acquisition strategies for faster encoding of diffusion anisotropy, and to establish conditions under which a power law can describe the signal decay for different microstructural substrates and diffusion encoding wave-forms. |
Collaborator Contribution | Santiago made an extended visit to CUBRIC for face-to-face discussions on the above topics, and we have continued Zoom calls ever since. He has now sent a postdoc to spend 2 years with us, as a result of the ongoing collaboration |
Impact | Direction-averaged diffusion-weighted MRI signal using different axisymmetric B-tensor encoding schemes. Afzali M, Aja-Fernández S, Jones DK. Magn Reson Med. 2020 Sep;84(3):1579-1591. Apparent propagator anisotropy from single-shell diffusion MRI acquisitions. Aja-Fernández S, Tristán-Vega A, Jones DK. Magn Reson Med. 2021 May;85(5):2869-2881 On the generalizability of diffusion MRI signal representations across acquisition parameters, sequences and tissue types: Chronicles of the MEMENTO challenge. De Luca A, Ianus A, Leemans A, Palombo M, Shemesh N, Zhang H, Alexander DC, Nilsson M, Froeling M, Biessels GJ, Zucchelli M, Frigo M, Albay E, Sedlar S, Alimi A, Deslauriers-Gauthier S, Deriche R, Fick R, Afzali M, Pieciak T, Bogusz F, Aja-Fernández S, Özarslan E, Jones DK, Chen H, Jin M, Zhang Z, Wang F, Nath V, Parvathaneni P, Morez J, Sijbers J, Jeurissen B, Fadnavis S, Endres S, Rokem A, Garyfallidis E, Sanchez I, Prchkovska V, Rodrigues P, Landman BA, Schilling KG. Neuroimage. 2021 Oct 15;240:118367 Anisotropy measure from three diffusion-encoding gradient directions. Aja-Fernández S, París G, Martín-Martín C, Jones DK, Tristán-Vega A. Magn Reson Imaging. 2022 May;88:38-43. |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Maastricht-Cardiff Collaboration for Implementation of MDT into CUBRIC Pipeline |
Organisation | Maastricht University (UM) |
Department | Psychology Maastricht |
Country | Netherlands |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This was a collaboration with Robbert Harms at Maastricht University to implement his MDT toolbox into the CUBRIC pipeline for fitting of complex tissue microstructural models to diffusion MRI data. We established the acquisition protocols, sequences etc. and the theory to estimate conduction velocity from microstructural measurements. We worked together to get in vivo estimates of conduction velocity, that are now being used in subsequent papers and grant applications. This approach is now central to our current work in linking measures of functional connectivity (e.g. from MEG) to structural connectivity |
Collaborator Contribution | Robbert Harms worked with us, including extended visits to CUBRIC, to implement the Maastricht Diffusion Toolbox (MDT) into the CUBRIC pipeline to provide more robust fitting of advanced models so that we could extract reliable estimates of axon density, diameter and g-ratio. (Ref for prior work: Robust and fast nonlinear optimization of diffusion MRI microstructure models. Harms RL, Fritz FJ, Tobisch A, Goebel R, Roebroeck A. Neuroimage. 2017 Jul 15;155:82-96) |
Impact | Estimating axon conduction velocity in vivo from microstructural MRI. Drakesmith M, Harms R, Rudrapatna SU, Parker GD, Evans CJ, Jones DK. Neuroimage. 2019 Dec;203:116186. |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Magstim Co Ltd |
Organisation | The Magstim Company Limited |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | We made the 3TM Connectom MRI scanner available for research. We will recruit a PhD student to do the research funded by Magstim studentship. |
Collaborator Contribution | Magstim agreed to fund a 3 year PhD studentship to carry out research on microstructural imaging technology. |
Impact | Magstim agreed to fund a 3 year PhD studentship to carry out research on microstructural imaging technology. We will recruit a PhD student to do the research funded by Magstim studentship. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Microscopic susceptibility anisotropy imaging |
Organisation | University College London |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This was a collaboration based on orientational effects, spherical averaging and diffusion MRI - following visits from Enrico Karen to CUBRIC to discuss with members of the WSA group about microstructure. |
Collaborator Contribution | The paper was predominantly written by the team at UCL, with Enrico Kaden and Naomi Gyori, with additional team conversations held with Mark Does at Vanderbilt University |
Impact | " - Microscopic susceptibility anisotropy imaging" https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32378746/ |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Multi-Dimensional Diffusion Prepped MR Fingerprinting |
Organisation | Case Western Reserve University |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This is a joint collaboration with the team at Case Western Reserve University (Dan Ma and Mark Griswold). They are the inventors of MR Fingerprinting (MRF), and had not incorporated multi-dimensional (b-tensor) encoding into the MRF pipeline. Our team in Cardiff contributed the diffusion MR expertise to implement, analyse, interpret and debug the multi-dimensional diffusion-prepped MRF approach. The Cardiff team identified the source of artefact (cardiac pulsation) and this has led to further collaborations (papers under review) to get dMRF working without external pulse gating. Moreover, the Case Western team are co-PIs on an MRC-funded grant (led by Derek Jones) |
Collaborator Contribution | As noted above, this was a team effort with face-to-face visits and many regular Zoom calls to implement a multi-dimensional diffusion encoding. We had input from Filip Szczepankiewicz at Lund University (on spherical tensor encoding). Dan Ma implemented the sequence first at Case Western and it was ported, via PulseSeq, to CUBRIC. |
Impact | MR Fingerprinting with b-Tensor Encoding for Simultaneous Quantification of Relaxation and Diffusion in a Single Scan. Afzali M, Mueller L, Sakaie K, Hu S, Chen Y, Szczepankiewicz F, Griswold MA, Jones DK, Ma D. Magn Reson Med. 2022 Nov;88(5):2043-2057. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Multi-Dimensional Diffusion Prepped MR Fingerprinting |
Organisation | Lund University |
Country | Sweden |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This is a joint collaboration with the team at Case Western Reserve University (Dan Ma and Mark Griswold). They are the inventors of MR Fingerprinting (MRF), and had not incorporated multi-dimensional (b-tensor) encoding into the MRF pipeline. Our team in Cardiff contributed the diffusion MR expertise to implement, analyse, interpret and debug the multi-dimensional diffusion-prepped MRF approach. The Cardiff team identified the source of artefact (cardiac pulsation) and this has led to further collaborations (papers under review) to get dMRF working without external pulse gating. Moreover, the Case Western team are co-PIs on an MRC-funded grant (led by Derek Jones) |
Collaborator Contribution | As noted above, this was a team effort with face-to-face visits and many regular Zoom calls to implement a multi-dimensional diffusion encoding. We had input from Filip Szczepankiewicz at Lund University (on spherical tensor encoding). Dan Ma implemented the sequence first at Case Western and it was ported, via PulseSeq, to CUBRIC. |
Impact | MR Fingerprinting with b-Tensor Encoding for Simultaneous Quantification of Relaxation and Diffusion in a Single Scan. Afzali M, Mueller L, Sakaie K, Hu S, Chen Y, Szczepankiewicz F, Griswold MA, Jones DK, Ma D. Magn Reson Med. 2022 Nov;88(5):2043-2057. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Nonivasive quantification of axon radii using diffusion MRI |
Organisation | Champalimaud Foundation |
Department | Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown |
Country | Portugal |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This has been a large group effort to gain better estimates of axon diameter than the method we originally proposed in the Wellcome Strategic Award proposal (based on AxCaliber / AxCaliber3D). The initial project/collaboration was just with New York University (Centre for Biomedical Imaging) to provide a demonstration of utilising ultra-strong gradients (on the CUBRIC Connectom scanner) to estimate axon diameter in the living human brain, exploiting deviations from a power-law relationship between signal and diffusion-weighting. Once this proof-of-principle was established (with histological validation with our partners in the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown in Lisbon), we extended this work to include another Connectom scanner at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig to establish inter- and intra-site reproducibility/ repeatability. We continue to collaborate with Jelle Veraart on a number of projects exploiting this way to estimate axon diameter. |
Collaborator Contribution | Team effort - as described above. The original theoretical approach to estimating the axon diameter from the deviation from the power law was led by the team (Jelle Veraart at NYU), and the histological validation by the team at Champalimaud (Noam Shemesh). The Leipzig team, in the second paper, implemented the protocols we developed in Cardiff - and data were shared to enable the cross-site comparisons. |
Impact | Nonivasive quantification of axon radii using diffusion MRI. Veraart J, Nunes D, Rudrapatna U, Fieremans E, Jones DK, Novikov DS, Shemesh N. Elife. 2020 Feb 12;9:e49855. The variability of MR axon radii estimates in the human white matter. Veraart J, Raven EP, Edwards LJ, Weiskopf N, Jones DK. Hum Brain Mapp. 2021 May;42(7):2201-2213 |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Nonivasive quantification of axon radii using diffusion MRI |
Organisation | Max Planck Society |
Department | Max Plank Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This has been a large group effort to gain better estimates of axon diameter than the method we originally proposed in the Wellcome Strategic Award proposal (based on AxCaliber / AxCaliber3D). The initial project/collaboration was just with New York University (Centre for Biomedical Imaging) to provide a demonstration of utilising ultra-strong gradients (on the CUBRIC Connectom scanner) to estimate axon diameter in the living human brain, exploiting deviations from a power-law relationship between signal and diffusion-weighting. Once this proof-of-principle was established (with histological validation with our partners in the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown in Lisbon), we extended this work to include another Connectom scanner at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig to establish inter- and intra-site reproducibility/ repeatability. We continue to collaborate with Jelle Veraart on a number of projects exploiting this way to estimate axon diameter. |
Collaborator Contribution | Team effort - as described above. The original theoretical approach to estimating the axon diameter from the deviation from the power law was led by the team (Jelle Veraart at NYU), and the histological validation by the team at Champalimaud (Noam Shemesh). The Leipzig team, in the second paper, implemented the protocols we developed in Cardiff - and data were shared to enable the cross-site comparisons. |
Impact | Nonivasive quantification of axon radii using diffusion MRI. Veraart J, Nunes D, Rudrapatna U, Fieremans E, Jones DK, Novikov DS, Shemesh N. Elife. 2020 Feb 12;9:e49855. The variability of MR axon radii estimates in the human white matter. Veraart J, Raven EP, Edwards LJ, Weiskopf N, Jones DK. Hum Brain Mapp. 2021 May;42(7):2201-2213 |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Nonivasive quantification of axon radii using diffusion MRI |
Organisation | New York University |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This has been a large group effort to gain better estimates of axon diameter than the method we originally proposed in the Wellcome Strategic Award proposal (based on AxCaliber / AxCaliber3D). The initial project/collaboration was just with New York University (Centre for Biomedical Imaging) to provide a demonstration of utilising ultra-strong gradients (on the CUBRIC Connectom scanner) to estimate axon diameter in the living human brain, exploiting deviations from a power-law relationship between signal and diffusion-weighting. Once this proof-of-principle was established (with histological validation with our partners in the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown in Lisbon), we extended this work to include another Connectom scanner at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig to establish inter- and intra-site reproducibility/ repeatability. We continue to collaborate with Jelle Veraart on a number of projects exploiting this way to estimate axon diameter. |
Collaborator Contribution | Team effort - as described above. The original theoretical approach to estimating the axon diameter from the deviation from the power law was led by the team (Jelle Veraart at NYU), and the histological validation by the team at Champalimaud (Noam Shemesh). The Leipzig team, in the second paper, implemented the protocols we developed in Cardiff - and data were shared to enable the cross-site comparisons. |
Impact | Nonivasive quantification of axon radii using diffusion MRI. Veraart J, Nunes D, Rudrapatna U, Fieremans E, Jones DK, Novikov DS, Shemesh N. Elife. 2020 Feb 12;9:e49855. The variability of MR axon radii estimates in the human white matter. Veraart J, Raven EP, Edwards LJ, Weiskopf N, Jones DK. Hum Brain Mapp. 2021 May;42(7):2201-2213 |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Renishaw Plc |
Organisation | Renishaw PLC |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | We have recruited one student Iain Majer to the PhD studentship. Iain, however, left the programme due to ill health. We are currently recruiting a replacement student. |
Collaborator Contribution | Renishaw provided the PhD CASE Studentship to fund the PhD research study to be carried out. |
Impact | Renishaw provided the PhD CASE Studentship to fund the PhD research study to be carried out. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Resolving degeneracy in diffusion MRI biophysical model parameter estimation |
Organisation | University of Leeds |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This was a team effort to explore how extending the dimensionality of the diffusion encoding space (from single axis Stejskal-Tanner to n-dimensional encoding) could ameliorate the challenge of model degeneracy. This is something that CUBRIC has looked at for some time, and (in a separate collaboration with Lund University, we have been looking at the relative benefits of spherical tensor encoding, planar tensor encoding etc.). This has sprung further work (e.g. Direction-averaged diffusion-weighted MRI signal using different axisymmetric B-tensor encoding schemes. Afzali M, Aja-Fernández S, Jones DK. Magn Reson Med. 2020 Sep;84(3):1579-1591. SPHERIOUSLY? The challenges of estimating sphere radius non-invasively in the human brain from diffusion MRI. Afzali M, Nilsson M, Palombo M, Jones DK. Neuroimage. 2021 Aug 15;237:118183. Afzali M, Chatziantoniou C, Tax CMW, Jones DK. 2019. Comparison of different tensor encoding combinations in microstructural parameter estimation. Proc IEEE 16th International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI 2019) pp. 1471-1474. Afzali M, Tax CMW, Chatziantoniou C, Jones DK. Comparison of different tensor encoding combinations in microstructural parameter estimation. International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Montreal, 2019 - see: https://cds.ismrm.org/protected/19MProceedings/PDFfiles/0060.html |
Collaborator Contribution | As noted above, this was a productive collaboration where both sides contributed equally to discussion, analysis of simulations through a series of online conversations and face-to-face chats (in Leeds and Cardiff) |
Impact | Resolving degeneracy in diffusion MRI biophysical model parameter estimation using double diffusion encoding. Coelho S, Pozo JM, Jespersen SN, Jones DK, Frangi AF. Magn Reson Med. 2019 Jul;82(1):395-410 |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Robust Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging |
Organisation | Aarhus University |
Country | Denmark |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This was a team effort to robustify the estimate of diffusion kurtosis. The first author (Rafael Henriques) came to Cardiff to collect data on our Connectom scanner and this lead to conversations about characterisation of non-Gaussian diffusion. We have collectively implemented double diffusion encoding on the Connectom with a view to characterising micro-kurtosis using correlation tensor imaging. |
Collaborator Contribution | As noted - this is a joint collaboration. Rafael Henriques (Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown) was the main 'hands on' driver of this work, and our collaborators in Aarhus University (Sune Jespersen) and New York University (Jelle Veraart) provided additional theoretical input. We will continue to work on the implementation of correlation tensor imaging together (with a recently made plan to extend to characterisation of the tumour microenvironment in prostate cancer). |
Impact | Toward more robust and reproducible diffusion kurtosis imaging. Henriques RN, Jespersen SN, Jones DK, Veraart J. Magn Reson Med. 2021 Sep;86(3):1600-1613. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Robust Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging |
Organisation | Champalimaud Foundation |
Department | Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown |
Country | Portugal |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This was a team effort to robustify the estimate of diffusion kurtosis. The first author (Rafael Henriques) came to Cardiff to collect data on our Connectom scanner and this lead to conversations about characterisation of non-Gaussian diffusion. We have collectively implemented double diffusion encoding on the Connectom with a view to characterising micro-kurtosis using correlation tensor imaging. |
Collaborator Contribution | As noted - this is a joint collaboration. Rafael Henriques (Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown) was the main 'hands on' driver of this work, and our collaborators in Aarhus University (Sune Jespersen) and New York University (Jelle Veraart) provided additional theoretical input. We will continue to work on the implementation of correlation tensor imaging together (with a recently made plan to extend to characterisation of the tumour microenvironment in prostate cancer). |
Impact | Toward more robust and reproducible diffusion kurtosis imaging. Henriques RN, Jespersen SN, Jones DK, Veraart J. Magn Reson Med. 2021 Sep;86(3):1600-1613. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Robust Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging |
Organisation | NYU Langone Medical Center |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This was a team effort to robustify the estimate of diffusion kurtosis. The first author (Rafael Henriques) came to Cardiff to collect data on our Connectom scanner and this lead to conversations about characterisation of non-Gaussian diffusion. We have collectively implemented double diffusion encoding on the Connectom with a view to characterising micro-kurtosis using correlation tensor imaging. |
Collaborator Contribution | As noted - this is a joint collaboration. Rafael Henriques (Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown) was the main 'hands on' driver of this work, and our collaborators in Aarhus University (Sune Jespersen) and New York University (Jelle Veraart) provided additional theoretical input. We will continue to work on the implementation of correlation tensor imaging together (with a recently made plan to extend to characterisation of the tumour microenvironment in prostate cancer). |
Impact | Toward more robust and reproducible diffusion kurtosis imaging. Henriques RN, Jespersen SN, Jones DK, Veraart J. Magn Reson Med. 2021 Sep;86(3):1600-1613. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Scanner manufacturer Siemens |
Organisation | Siemens Healthcare |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | We've been collaborating with Siemens on multiple aspects. |
Collaborator Contribution | Siemens are closely involved from the start to ensure correct installation and working of the 3TM scanner Connectom. They are keen to remain involved in its development. |
Impact | The 3TM Connectom MRI scanner has been delivered and installed in CUBRIC Centre. We have received a 64 channel head coil from Siemens for the Connectom scanner. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Spherical averaging of diffusion MRI signals with imperfect coverage of the unit sphere |
Organisation | Linkoping University |
Department | Department of Biomedical Engineering (IMT) |
Country | Sweden |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This was a collaboration to identify the best and most robust way to estimate the spherical average of the diffusion-weighted MRI signal and coping with imperfect coverage of a unit-sphere. This was really an extended discussion with iterations between data collection in Cardiff, in silico simulations and visualisation of results. the paper on this topic was written by Maryam Afzali in Cardiff. |
Collaborator Contribution | The Linkoping team (Ozarslan and Knuttson) predominantly contributed on the theoretical side of the different analyses of encoding schemes. All parties were involved in analysis and interpretation of the data and reviewing the paper. |
Impact | Computing the orientational-average of diffusion-weighted MRI signals: a comparison of different techniques. Afzali M, Knutsson H, Özarslan E, Jones DK. Sci Rep. 2021 Jul 12;11(1):14345. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | TracInnovations |
Organisation | TracInnovations ApS |
Country | Denmark |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | TracInnovations makes an markerless optical tracking system for prospective/retrospective motion correction in the MRI scanner (see: https://tracinnovations.com/) The EPSRC equipment grant includes provision for an optical tracking system. While we originally intended to purchase another system (from Kineticor), the TracInnovations solution appears optimal. However, the challenge is that the system was developed for another MRI scanner - and interfacing it into the Connectom scanner (funded by this grant) is challenging due to reduced field-of-view afforded by the RF hardware, and due to the smaller bore of the scanner. We have therefore committed to explore ways in which we can develop solutions (with the company) to get the system to work in the Connectom. This includes some preliminary work on an alternative system in CUBRIC (a 3T Prisma system) |
Collaborator Contribution | The company has agreed to hold regular (monthly) teleconferences with D. Jones, and to provide materials and spare parts to help develop solutions to this problem, with joint team meetings to review progress and results. |
Impact | None yet |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Tract Specific Measurements |
Organisation | Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) |
Country | Switzerland |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | This has been an extended collaboration with the group at EPFL and team members that have moved on, where we exploit the power of the Connectom gradients in CUBRIC to obtain suppression of the extra-axonal signal (for intra-axonal T2 measurements), for robust estimates of axon diameter (for tract-specific axon diameter measurements). We have hosted Muhamed Barakovic, Simona Schiavi etc. - and have had extensive face-to-face and Zoom calls with various members of the team (some of which have moved on to University of Verona (Schiavi) and Basel (Barakovic), but we continue to collaborate |
Collaborator Contribution | Extended discussions - as noted above. Incoming lab visits and provided foreground 'know how' on the COMMIT framework which sits at the base of much of the collaboration. |
Impact | Resolving bundle-specific intra-axonal T2 values within a voxel using diffusion-relaxation tract-based estimation. Barakovic M, Tax CMW, Rudrapatna U, Chamberland M, Rafael-Patino J, Granziera C, Thiran JP, Daducci A, Canales-Rodríguez EJ, Jones DK. Neuroimage. 2021 Feb 15;227:117617. Measuring compartmental T2-orientational dependence in human brain white matter using a tiltable RF coil and diffusion-T2 correlation MRI. Tax CMW, Kleban E, Chamberland M, Barakovic M, Rudrapatna U, Jones DK. Neuroimage. 2021 Aug 1;236:117967. Bundle-Specific Axon Diameter Index as a New Contrast to Differentiate White Matter Tracts. Barakovic M, Girard G, Schiavi S, Romascano D, Descoteaux M, Granziera C, Jones DK, Innocenti GM, Thiran JP, Daducci A. Front Neurosci. 2021 Jun 15;15:646034. Bundle myelin fraction (BMF) mapping of different white matter connections using microstructure informed tractography. Schiavi S, Lu PJ, Weigel M, Lutti A, Jones DK, Kappos L, Granziera C, Daducci A. Neuroimage. 2022 Apr 1;249:118922. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Tract Specific Measurements |
Organisation | University of Verona |
Country | Italy |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This has been an extended collaboration with the group at EPFL and team members that have moved on, where we exploit the power of the Connectom gradients in CUBRIC to obtain suppression of the extra-axonal signal (for intra-axonal T2 measurements), for robust estimates of axon diameter (for tract-specific axon diameter measurements). We have hosted Muhamed Barakovic, Simona Schiavi etc. - and have had extensive face-to-face and Zoom calls with various members of the team (some of which have moved on to University of Verona (Schiavi) and Basel (Barakovic), but we continue to collaborate |
Collaborator Contribution | Extended discussions - as noted above. Incoming lab visits and provided foreground 'know how' on the COMMIT framework which sits at the base of much of the collaboration. |
Impact | Resolving bundle-specific intra-axonal T2 values within a voxel using diffusion-relaxation tract-based estimation. Barakovic M, Tax CMW, Rudrapatna U, Chamberland M, Rafael-Patino J, Granziera C, Thiran JP, Daducci A, Canales-Rodríguez EJ, Jones DK. Neuroimage. 2021 Feb 15;227:117617. Measuring compartmental T2-orientational dependence in human brain white matter using a tiltable RF coil and diffusion-T2 correlation MRI. Tax CMW, Kleban E, Chamberland M, Barakovic M, Rudrapatna U, Jones DK. Neuroimage. 2021 Aug 1;236:117967. Bundle-Specific Axon Diameter Index as a New Contrast to Differentiate White Matter Tracts. Barakovic M, Girard G, Schiavi S, Romascano D, Descoteaux M, Granziera C, Jones DK, Innocenti GM, Thiran JP, Daducci A. Front Neurosci. 2021 Jun 15;15:646034. Bundle myelin fraction (BMF) mapping of different white matter connections using microstructure informed tractography. Schiavi S, Lu PJ, Weigel M, Lutti A, Jones DK, Kappos L, Granziera C, Daducci A. Neuroimage. 2022 Apr 1;249:118922. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Validating pore size estimates in a complex microfiber environment on a human MRI system |
Organisation | East China Normal University (ECNU) |
Country | China |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We obtained the biomimetic phantoms, and oversaw the data collection and analysis - but this was really a team effort with colleagues from East China Normal University, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, and University College London. The entire data collection / experiments were conducted in CUBRIC - hosting Chu-Chung Huang and Chin-Chin Hsu in CUBRIC for an extended visit to perform the validation |
Collaborator Contribution | Chu-Chung Huang and Chin-Chin Hsu were a key part of the MRI data acquisition and analysis for this collaboration, with Chu-Chung Huang leading the writing of the paper. Fenglei Zhou at UCL performed the electron-microscopy on the samples and did the analysis. |
Impact | Validating pore size estimates in a complex microfiber environment on a human MRI system. Huang CC, Hsu CH, Zhou FL, Kusmia S, Drakesmith M, Parker GJM, Lin CP, Jones DK. Magn Reson Med. 2021 Sep;86(3):1514-1530. |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Validating pore size estimates in a complex microfiber environment on a human MRI system |
Organisation | National Yang Ming University |
Country | Taiwan, Province of China |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We obtained the biomimetic phantoms, and oversaw the data collection and analysis - but this was really a team effort with colleagues from East China Normal University, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, and University College London. The entire data collection / experiments were conducted in CUBRIC - hosting Chu-Chung Huang and Chin-Chin Hsu in CUBRIC for an extended visit to perform the validation |
Collaborator Contribution | Chu-Chung Huang and Chin-Chin Hsu were a key part of the MRI data acquisition and analysis for this collaboration, with Chu-Chung Huang leading the writing of the paper. Fenglei Zhou at UCL performed the electron-microscopy on the samples and did the analysis. |
Impact | Validating pore size estimates in a complex microfiber environment on a human MRI system. Huang CC, Hsu CH, Zhou FL, Kusmia S, Drakesmith M, Parker GJM, Lin CP, Jones DK. Magn Reson Med. 2021 Sep;86(3):1514-1530. |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Validating pore size estimates in a complex microfiber environment on a human MRI system |
Organisation | University College London |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We obtained the biomimetic phantoms, and oversaw the data collection and analysis - but this was really a team effort with colleagues from East China Normal University, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, and University College London. The entire data collection / experiments were conducted in CUBRIC - hosting Chu-Chung Huang and Chin-Chin Hsu in CUBRIC for an extended visit to perform the validation |
Collaborator Contribution | Chu-Chung Huang and Chin-Chin Hsu were a key part of the MRI data acquisition and analysis for this collaboration, with Chu-Chung Huang leading the writing of the paper. Fenglei Zhou at UCL performed the electron-microscopy on the samples and did the analysis. |
Impact | Validating pore size estimates in a complex microfiber environment on a human MRI system. Huang CC, Hsu CH, Zhou FL, Kusmia S, Drakesmith M, Parker GJM, Lin CP, Jones DK. Magn Reson Med. 2021 Sep;86(3):1514-1530. |
Start Year | 2019 |
Title | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MAGNETIC RESONANCE FINGERPRINTING WITH RELAXATION AND DIFFUSION DATA ACQUISITION |
Description | A method for multi-dimensional, relaxation-diffusion magnetic resonance fingerprinting (MRF) includes performing, using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, a pulse sequence that integrates free-waveform b-tensor diffusion encoding into a magnet resonance fingerprinting pulse sequence to perform a multi-dimensional, relaxation-diffusion encoding while acquiring MRF signal evolutions, processing, using a processor, the acquired MRF signal evolutions to determine at least one relaxation parameter and at least one diffusivity parameter, and generating, using the processor, a report including at least one of the at least one relaxation parameter and the at least diffusivity parameter. |
IP Reference | 17661736 |
Protection | Patent / Patent application |
Year Protection Granted | 2022 |
Licensed | No |
Impact | None as yet. Follow-up papers that mean cardiac triggering is not needed are in the pipeline. |
Title | Implementation of FEXI sequence on Connectom 300 mT/m MRI system |
Description | This is implementation of the filtered exchange imaging (FEXI) sequence that is critical to the WEX-BRAIN project (EP/S031510/1). This sub-project to Cardiff was explicitly to implement the sequence on the Siemens Connectom scanner, one of just four in the world, with ultra-strong (300 mT/m) gradients. The sequence had to be built from basics and a working prototype has been created. This is still under evaluation in collaboration with the main WEX-BRAIN partners at UCL (EP/S031510/1) |
Type Of Technology | New/Improved Technique/Technology |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | None as yet - still under evaluation |
Description | "Inside your Brain" - the Science Café programme featuring the WAND study |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | The Science Café programme "Inside your Brain" featuring the WAND (Welsh Advanced Neuroimaging Database) study was broadcast on 25th September 2018 on BBC Radio Wales - Prof Derek Jones, Dr Hannah Chandler and Dr John Evans from CUBRIC were interviewed in the programme, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000hq7. This promoted the WAND study to the general public, introduced the design of the study which included a session of the MRI scan in the EPSRC-funded Connectom scanner, and presented to the public the opportunity to participate in the study and how to contact the CUBRIC study team if they want to volunteer for it. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000hq7 |
Description | 27th Annual Scientific Meeting of the ISMRM, Montreal |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | We submitted abstracts to the Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM). This is the premier international meeting for MRI research, drawing 6500-8000 attendees from all over the world. At the 27th Annual Scientific Meeting of the ISMRM (on 11-16 May 2019 in Montreal, Canada) CUBRIC researchers will give 6 oral presentations based on the accepted abstracts entitled "Comparison of different tensor encoding combinations in microstructural parameter estimation", "Metrics that Matter: Improved statistical power to detect differences in tissue microstructure through dimensionality reduction", "New insights into the development of white matter microstructure across childhood and adolescence from ultra-strong gradients", "Separating intra- and extra-axonal susceptibility effects using a Diffusion-Filtered Asymmetric Spin Echo (D-FASE) sequence", "Diffusion MRI with b=1000 s/mm2 at TE < 22 ms using single-shot spiral readout and ultra-strong gradients: Implications for microstructure imaging", "Characterizing diffusion of myelin water in the living human brain using ultra-strong gradients and spiral readout", and 2 power pitches entitled "Mapping axonal conduction velocities from in vivo MRI data", "A GRANDIOSE sequence to time-lock BOLD and diffusion-weighted fMRI contrasts in humans using ultra-strong gradients and spirals", as well as 6 digital posters, entitled "Characterising tissue heterogeneity in cerebral metastases using multi-shell multi-tissue constrained spherical deconvolution", "Powering Up Microstructural Imaging: assessing cross-metric and cross-tract statistical power on an ultra-strong gradient MRI system", "What are the consequences of ignoring non-Gaussian diffusion in models of convection-enhanced drug delivery to the human brain?", "Gradient profiles of myelin and microstructure metrics across the developing brain", "Can unprecedented echo times in human diffusion weighted fMRI help reveal its biological underpinnings?", "Tractography of complex white matter bundles: limitations of diffusion MRI data upsampling". Besides, based on the accepted abstracts on our collaborative work with others, 3 oral presentations will be given, entitled "Mapping of fibre-specific relaxation and diffusivities in heterogeneous brain tissue" (collaborating with Lund University), "Temporal Diffusion Ratio (TDR): A Diffusion MRI technique to map the fraction and spatial distribution of large axons in the living human brain" (collaborating with King's College London), "A Joint Recommendation for Optimized Preprocessing of Connectom Diffusion MRI Data" (collaborating with Max Planck Institute, Leipeig Germany & Harvard Medical School). One digital poster will also be presented, entitled "Double diffusion encoding enables unique parameter estimation of the Standard Model in diffusion MRI" (collaborating with University of Leeds). The results generated from the EPSRC funded 3TM Connectom scanner will be presented at the ISMRM to maximize the impact of research enabled by Connectom scanner. We will keep engaging the MR physics community and beyond through the biomedical MR conferences like the ISMRM. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019 |
URL | https://www.ismrm.org |
Description | A presentation at the ISMRM |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | We submitted the abstract entitled "Disentangling in two dimensions in the living human brain: Feasibilty of relaxometry diffusometry using ultra-strong gradients" by Chantal MW Tax , Umesh S Rudrapatna , Thomas Witzel , and Derek K Jones and it was accepted for an oral presentation at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) on 22-28 April 2017. We intend to show our first results generated from 3TM scanner, and engage the MR physics community and beyond through the biomedical MR conferences like the ISMRM. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Academic collaborations arisen from the 'outreach' activities |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | We have initiated projects (with data collection) with: New York University (investigator = Jelle Veraart), Alicante (investigator = Silvia de Santis), University of Lund (investigator = Filip Szczepankiewiecz), University of Pavia (investigator = Giovanni Savini), University of Antwerp (investigator = Ben Jeurissen), University of Melbourne (investigator = Sila Genc), and with several UK Universities (Manchester University; Nottingham University; Swansea University; University College London). These academic collaborations have arisen from 'outreach' activities, including actively communicating with researchers who we believe could benefit from the enhanced capability of the system. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018 |
Description | An invited presentation (on behalf of Siemens Healthineers) entitled "New Windows on Brain Structure and Function" at the ISMRM in Paris |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Prof Derek Jones, Director of CUBRIC, has given a talk on Connectom entitled "New Windows on Brain Structure and Function" at the Siemens Lunch Symposium on 19th June 2018 during the 26th Annual Scientific Meeting of the ISMRM in Paris, reaching an audience of 4,000 to 4,500 people worldwide, https://www.healthcare.siemens.com/magnetic-resonance-imaging/magnetom-world/clinical-corner/clinical-talks/new-windows-on-brain-structure-and-function.html . As a direct result, Siemens Healthineers committed to putting a Siemens scientist permanently on site to work with the CUBRIC Connectom physicist. This includes a new venture, i.e. imaging 'below the neck' where Cardiff University will be the world's first site to explore these new applications. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://www.healthcare.siemens.com/magnetic-resonance-imaging/magnetom-world/clinical-corner/clinica... |
Description | BBC news release |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | We engaged with the BBC news to have a detailed 3 minute feature on the system on the main 6 pm and 10 pm bulletins (see https://vimeo.com/224202631), the BBC news website, and the feature was broadcast and taken up by news agencies around the world. This publicity clearly engaged the general public (based on number of enquiries received), raised their awareness of the Connectom scanner, following which they might volunteer to be the participants of the MRI physics development work. It will also provide additional inspiration for artists to produce the artwork and help us with the delivery of the art-science collaboration project for better public engagement. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | https://vimeo.com/224202631 |
Description | BBC visit |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | The BBC is coming to visit CUBRIC Centre at the end of this month March 2017 - specifically to feature the National Microstructure Imaging Facility on the main news bulletin. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Brain Night - public engagement event |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | During the Brain Night event held on 6th December 2018 in CUBRIC, to better engage the members of the public, we uploaded the two video files containing the artworks created by our commissioned artist Shardcore (funded by the EPSRC engagement grant) onto the large screen in the Reception area. While talking with the audience about our neuroimaging research conducted in CUBRIC, we referred them to the large screen show to see how fascinating the imaging data collected from the Connectom scanner are - the beautiful artworks were created from a 100,000 fibre connectom dataset. The audience were very much impressed with the artistic way that the brain imaging data was presented through the art-science collaboration. Conducting MRI scans in the EPSRC-funded Connectom scanner is part of the WAND (Welsh Advanced Neuroimaging Database) study. We set up a WAND stand, promoting the study to the members of public and it was well received at this fun social occasion. More than 70 printouts of the Volunteer Information Sheets, Debriefing Form and Study Consent Form were all taken away by the audience after their chatting with the CUBRIC researchers. They showed genuine interest in the study and asked questions about the different scan sessions. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGRrAbkFViI |
Description | Chinese Radiological Society Annual Meeting, Hangzhou China |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Invited keynote at the Chinese radiological society meeting. Raising awareness of advanced microstructural imaging techniques. As a result, several people got in touch and asked about imaging with ultra-strong gradients. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
Description | Connectom scanner included in the BBC news |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | On 25th January 2018 BBC news, Dr Chantal Tax from CUBRIC talked with singer Charlotte Church about the Connectom scanner on the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-42805693. An actual picture of living brain connections taken by the Connetom scanner was included in the BBC news. It helped maximise the impact of the methodological advances facilitated by the advanced facility. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-42805693 |
Description | First NMIF Conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | On 31st January - 1st February 2017, we held our first National Microstructural Imaging Facility (NMIF) conference, show casing the facility - with 150+ international attendees, and supported by the EPSRC grant. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Invited Keynote at the Annual Retreat of the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | This was the annual retreat of the McConnell Brain Imaging Centre at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) where I was the sole keynote speaker and presented on our latest work in Tractometry. As a result, this led to new collaborations being formed with a core of physics colleagues (Christine Tardif, Ilana Lepert, Jennifer Campbell) to apply magnetization transfer-preparation to the diffusion read out for tract-specific MT measurements. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://www.mcgill.ca/bic/retreat-2018 |
Description | Invited opening talk at Gordon Research Conference on Tissue Microstructure Imaging, Mt Holyoke, Massachusetts |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | I was one of two invited opening speakers at the inaugural Gordon Research Conference on Tissue Microstructure Imaging with a talk entitled "New MRI Windows on White Matter Microstructure in the Living Human Brain". The Gordon Conferences are well known for their rigour and international standing. i presented our latest work and this led to many extended discussions (as is the format of the Gordon conferences) that have led to ongoing collaborations. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.grc.org/tissue-microstructure-imaging-conference/2019/?elqTrackId=432e05ac9dc54881942444... |
Description | Invited presentation, International Society for Magnetic Resonance Technologists, Paris 2018 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | This was a talk to the world annual meeting of MRI Technologists/ Radiographers in Paris, explaining our latest developments and opportunities on the Connectom scanner in CUBRIC, and what ultra-strong gradients might provide. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://www.ismrm.org/smrt/18m/ |
Description | Oral Presentations, e-poster and power pitch at the 26th ISMRM |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | We submitted abstracts to the Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM). This is the premier international meeting for MRI research, drawing 6500-8000 attendees from all over the world. At the 26th Annual Scientific Meeting of the ISMRM (on 16-21 June 2018 in Paris, France) CUBRIC researchers will be giving three oral presentations based on the accepted abstracts entitled " The Dot - Wherefore Art Thou? Search for the isotropic restricted diffusion compartment in the brain with spherical tensor encoding and strong gradients ", "Strategies for correcting gradient-nonlinearity effects in ultra-high gradient Diffusion MRI experiments", "Cross-vendor and Cross-protocol harmonisation of diffusion MRI data: a comparative study", one Power pitch entitled "What is the feasibility of estimating axonal conduction velocity from in vivo microstructural MRI?", and one e-poster entitled "the neurosurgical implication of scanner, gradient performance and acquisition protocol on Meyer's loop reconstruction". They will show our early results generated from 3TM Connectom scanner. Also, based on their accepted abstracts, Collaborators from New York University will be presenting one oral presentation entitled "Breaking the power law scaling of the dMRI signal on the Connectom scanner reveals its sensitivity to axon diameter" and one e-poster entitled "In vivo feasibility and reproducibility study on bundle-specific axon diameter mapping at 300mT/m" to maximize the impact of research enabled by Connectom scanner. We will keep engaging the MR physics community and beyond through the biomedical MR conferences like the ISMRM. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Public Understanding of Science in Health (PUSH) lecture series presentation |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | On 8th Feb 2018, as part of the Public Understanding of Science in Health (PUSH) lecture series, Prof Derek Jones from CUBRIC gave a presentation entitled 'Advances in Imaging the Human Brain: The CUBRIC Story'. The presentation was supported by a team from CUBRIC and included live presentations of fMRI and MEG (via video link back to CUBRIC), and EEG and TMS (in the lecture theatre). This public lecture was open to all, but was to encourage A-level students to consider STEM subjects for their careers. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Seminar on phantoms |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | On Monday 5th Feb 2018, Prof Geoff Parker, from University of Manchester gave us a seminar entitled "Biomimetic phantoms for microstructural imaging". The talk focused on the latest developments in microstructural imaging phantoms, and covered the methods of production of phantoms derived from a range of novel materials for diffusion MRI, designed to mimic white matter, grey matter and pathology including tumours and examples of their use for validation diffusion MRI methods and in multicentre studies. The talk was of interest and beneficial to researchers on microstructural imaging brain research. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | YouTube video about the Connectom scanner |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | The YouTube video about the Connectom scanner made by Tom Scott (and filmed by Paul Allen, School of Psychology) has just passed 201,110 views! Prof Derek Jones, Director of CUBRIC gave the lay talk in the video to raise the general public's awareness of the stunning images enabled by the Connectom scanner. The impressive number of YouTube hits so far showed the scale of engagement from the general public which maximised the impact of the methodological advances facilitated by the advanced facility. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diPiSHxfGyE&feature=youtu.be |