96. Journey into the depths of brain – diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging

Dominika Ciupek – Extreme-scale Data and Computing Team, Sano Centre for Computational Medicine, Krakow, PL

Abstract

Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW MRI) provides information about the cellular structure and thus can be successfully used for non-invasive assessment of the brain microstructure. Characterization of white matter by DW MRI shows high sensitivity to changes occurring during brain maturation and aging, as well as to a wide range of neurological diseases. Additionally, it is currently the only technique capable of in vivo mapping the white matter pathways.

During this seminar, I will introduce the most important topics related to the DW MRI, including the diffusion-weighted data acquisition and diffusion tensor imaging. In addition, I will discuss multicompartment models and the accuracy of their use with diffusion-relaxometry data and various optimization algorithms, as well as tractography algorithms and their application in the analysis of brain maturation and aging.

About the author

Dominika Ciupek is a graduate of Biomedical Engineering at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Automatics, Computer Science and Biomedical Engineering at the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow. In 2021, she defended her engineering thesis “Multicompartment models in diffusion-relaxometry magnetic resonance imaging” and in 2022, with distinction, her master’s thesis on the analysis of the variability of microstructural parameters along the white matter pathways across the lifespan. Currently, she is pursuing her PhD at Sano as part of the Extreme-scale Data and Computing team.