AIMS: describe a new "profilometry" framework for the multimetric analysis of white matter tracts, and demonstrate its application to multiple sclerosis (MS) with radial diffusivity (RD) and myelin water fraction (MWF). METHODS: A cohort of 15 normal controls (NC) and 141 MS patients were imaged with T1, T2 FLAIR, T2 relaxometry and diffusion MRI (dMRI) sequences. T1 and T2 FLAIR allowed for the identification of patients having lesion(s) on the tracts studied, with a special focus on the forceps minor. T2 relaxometry provided MWF maps, while dMRI data yielded RD maps and the tractography required to compute MWF and RD tract profiles. The statistical framework combined a multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and a linear discriminant analysis (LDA) both accounting for age and gender, with multiple comparison corrections. RESULTS: In the single-case case study the profilometry visualization showed a clear departure of MWF and RD from the NC normative data at the lesion location(s). Group comparison from MANCOVA demonstrated significant differences at lesion locations, and a significant age effect in several tracts. The follow-up LDA analysis suggested MWF better discriminates groups than RD. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: While progress has been made in both tract-profiling and metrics for white matter characterization, no single framework for a joint analysis of multimodality tract profiles accounting for age and gender is known to exist. The profilometry analysis and visualization appears to be a promising method to compare groups using a single score from MANCOVA while assessing the contribution of each metric with LDA.
AIMS: describe a new "profilometry" framework for the multimetric analysis of white matter tracts, and demonstrate its application to multiple sclerosis (MS) with radial diffusivity (RD) and myelin water fraction (MWF). METHODS: A cohort of 15 normal controls (NC) and 141 MSpatients were imaged with T1, T2 FLAIR, T2 relaxometry and diffusion MRI (dMRI) sequences. T1 and T2 FLAIR allowed for the identification of patients having lesion(s) on the tracts studied, with a special focus on the forceps minor. T2 relaxometry provided MWF maps, while dMRI data yielded RD maps and the tractography required to compute MWF and RD tract profiles. The statistical framework combined a multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and a linear discriminant analysis (LDA) both accounting for age and gender, with multiple comparison corrections. RESULTS: In the single-case case study the profilometry visualization showed a clear departure of MWF and RD from the NC normative data at the lesion location(s). Group comparison from MANCOVA demonstrated significant differences at lesion locations, and a significant age effect in several tracts. The follow-up LDA analysis suggested MWF better discriminates groups than RD. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: While progress has been made in both tract-profiling and metrics for white matter characterization, no single framework for a joint analysis of multimodality tract profiles accounting for age and gender is known to exist. The profilometry analysis and visualization appears to be a promising method to compare groups using a single score from MANCOVA while assessing the contribution of each metric with LDA.
Authors: Martin Cousineau; Pierre-Marc Jodoin; Félix C Morency; Verena Rozanski; Marilyn Grand'Maison; Barry J Bedell; Maxime Descoteaux Journal: Neuroimage Clin Date: 2017-07-25 Impact factor: 4.881
Authors: Michael Dayan; Sandra M Hurtado Rúa; Elizabeth Monohan; Kyoko Fujimoto; Sneha Pandya; Eve M LoCastro; Tim Vartanian; Thanh D Nguyen; Ashish Raj; Susan A Gauthier Journal: Front Neurosci Date: 2017-05-26 Impact factor: 4.677
Authors: Maxime Chamberland; Erika P Raven; Sila Genc; Kate Duffy; Maxime Descoteaux; Greg D Parker; Chantal M W Tax; Derek K Jones Journal: Neuroimage Date: 2019-06-20 Impact factor: 6.556
Authors: Francois Rheault; Alessandro De Benedictis; Alessandro Daducci; Chiara Maffei; Chantal M W Tax; David Romascano; Eduardo Caverzasi; Felix C Morency; Francesco Corrivetti; Franco Pestilli; Gabriel Girard; Guillaume Theaud; Ilyess Zemmoura; Janice Hau; Kelly Glavin; Kesshi M Jordan; Kristofer Pomiecko; Maxime Chamberland; Muhamed Barakovic; Nil Goyette; Philippe Poulin; Quentin Chenot; Sandip S Panesar; Silvio Sarubbo; Laurent Petit; Maxime Descoteaux Journal: Hum Brain Mapp Date: 2020-01-10 Impact factor: 5.038
Authors: John Kruper; Jason D Yeatman; Adam Richie-Halford; David Bloom; Mareike Grotheer; Sendy Caffarra; Gregory Kiar; Iliana I Karipidis; Ethan Roy; Bramsh Q Chandio; Eleftherios Garyfallidis; Ariel Rokem Journal: Apert Neuro Date: 2021-11-17
Authors: Sebastian M Toescu; Lisa Bruckert; Rashad Jabarkheel; Derek Yecies; Michael Zhang; Christopher A Clark; Kshitij Mankad; Kristian Aquilina; Gerald A Grant; Heidi M Feldman; Katherine E Travis; Kristen W Yeom Journal: Neuroimage Clin Date: 2022-03-30 Impact factor: 4.891