Diffusion MRI simulation in thin-layer and thin-tube media using a discretization on manifolds

A simulation-driven supervised learning framework to estimate brain microstructure using diffusion MRI

We propose a framework to train supervised learning models on synthetic data to estimate brain microstructure parameters using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI). Although further validation is necessary, the proposed framework aims to seamlessly incorporate realistic simulations into dMRI microstructure estimation. Synthetic data were generated from over 1,000 neuron meshes converted from digital neuronal reconstructions and linked to their neuroanatomical parameters (such as soma volume and neurite length) using an optimized diffusion MRI simulator that produces intracellular dMRI signals from the solution of the Bloch-Torrey partial differential equation. By combining random subsets of simulated neuron signals with a free diffusion compartment signal, we constructed a synthetic dataset containing dMRI signals and 40 tissue microstructure parameters of 1.45 million artificial brain voxels. To implement supervised learning models we chose multilayer perceptrons (MLPs) and trained them on a subset of the synthetic dataset to estimate some microstructure parameters, namely, the volume fractions of soma, neurites, and the free diffusion compartment, as well as the area fractions of soma and neurites. The trained MLPs perform satisfactorily on the synthetic test sets and give promising in-vivo parameter maps on the MGH Connectome Diffusion Microstructure Dataset (CDMD). Most importantly, the estimated volume fractions showed low dependence on the diffusion time, the diffusion time independence of the estimated parameters being a desired property of quantitative microstructure imaging. The synthetic dataset we generated will be valuable for the validation of models that map between the dMRI signals and microstructure parameters. The surface meshes and microstructures parameters of the aforementioned neurons have been made publicly available.

Diffusion MRI simulation of realistic neurons with SpinDoctor and the Neuron Module

The diffusion MRI signal arising from neurons can be numerically simulated by solving the Bloch-Torrey partial differential equation. In this paper we present the Neuron Module that we implemented within the Matlab-based diffusion MRI simulation toolbox SpinDoctor. SpinDoctor uses finite element discretization and adaptive time integration to solve the Bloch-Torrey partial differential equation for general diffusion-encoding sequences, at multiple b-values and in multiple diffusion directions. In order to facilitate the diffusion MRI simulation of realistic neurons by the research community, we constructed finite element meshes for a group of 36 pyramidal neurons and a group of 29 spindle neurons whose morphological descriptions were found in the publicly available neuron repository NeuroMorpho.Org. These finite elements meshes range from having 15,163 nodes to 622,553 nodes. We also broke the neurons into the soma and dendrite branches and created finite elements meshes for these cell components. Through the Neuron Module, these neuron and cell components finite element meshes can be seamlessly coupled with the functionalities of SpinDoctor to provide the diffusion MRI signal attributable to spins inside neurons. We make these meshes and the source code of the Neuron Module available to the public as an open-source package. To illustrate some potential uses of the Neuron Module, we show numerical examples of the simulated diffusion MRI signals in multiple diffusion directions from whole neurons as well as from the soma and dendrite branches, and include a comparison of the high b-value behavior between dendrite branches and whole neurons. In addition, we demonstrate that the neuron meshes can be used to perform Monte-Carlo diffusion MRI simulations as well. We show that at equivalent accuracy, if only one gradient direction needs to be simulated, SpinDoctor is faster than a GPU implementation of Monte-Carlo, but if many gradient directions need to be simulated, there is a break-even point when the GPU implementation of Monte-Carlo becomes faster than SpinDoctor. Furthermore, we numerically compute the eigenfunctions and the eigenvalues of the Bloch-Torrey and the Laplace operators on the neuron geometries using a finite elements discretization, in order to give guidance in the choice of the space and time discretization parameters for both finite elements and Monte-Carlo approaches. Finally, we perform a statistical study on the set of 65 neurons to test some candidate biomakers that can potentially indicate the soma size. This preliminary study exemplifies the possible research that can be conducted using the Neuron Module.

Practical computation of the diffusion MRI signal of realistic neurons based on Laplace eigenfunctions

The complex transverse water proton magnetization subject to diffusion-encoding magnetic field gradient pulses in a heterogeneous medium such as brain tissue can be modeled by the Bloch-Torrey partial differential equation. The spatial integral of the solution of this equation in realistic geometry provides a gold-standard reference model for the diffusion MRI signal arising from different tissue micro-structures of interest. A closed form representation of this reference diffusion MRI signal called matrix formalism, which makes explicit the link between the Laplace eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the biological cell and its diffusion MRI signal, was derived 20 years ago. In addition, once the Laplace eigendecomposition has been computed and saved, the diffusion MRI signal can be calculated for arbitrary diffusion-encoding sequences and b-values at negligible additional cost. Up to now, this representation, though mathematically elegant, has not been often used as a practical model of the diffusion MRI signal, due to the difficulties of calculating the Laplace eigendecomposition in complicated geometries. In this paper, we present a simulation framework that we have implemented inside the MATLAB-based diffusion MRI simulator SpinDoctor that efficiently computes the matrix formalism representation for realistic neurons using the finite element method. We show that the matrix formalism representation requires a few hundred eigenmodes to match the reference signal computed by solving the Bloch-Torrey equation when the cell geometry originates from realistic neurons. As expected, the number of eigenmodes required to match the reference signal increases with smaller diffusion time and higher b-values. We also convert the eigenvalues to a length scale and illustrate the link between the length scale and the oscillation frequency of the eigenmode in the cell geometry. We give the transformation that links the Laplace eigenfunctions to the eigenfunctions of the Bloch-Torrey operator and compute the Bloch-Torrey eigenfunctions and eigenvalues. This work is another step in bringing advanced mathematical tools and numerical method development to the simulation and modeling of diffusion MRI.

Portable simulation framework for diffusion MRI

The numerical simulation of the diffusion MRI signal arising from complex tissue micro-structures is helpful for understanding and interpreting imaging data as well as for designing and optimizing MRI sequences. The discretization of the Bloch-Torrey equation by finite elements is a more recently developed approach for this purpose, in contrast to random walk simulations, which has a longer history. While finite element discretization is more difficult to implement than random walk simulations, the approach benefits from a long history of theoretical and numerical developments by the mathematical and engineering communities. In particular, software packages for the automated solutions of partial differential equations using finite element discretization, such as FEniCS, are undergoing active support and development. However, because diffusion MRI simulation is a relatively new application area, there is still a gap between the simulation needs of the MRI community and the available tools provided by finite element software packages. In this paper, we address two potential difficulties in using FEniCS for diffusion MRI simulation. First, we simplified software installation by the use of FEniCS containers that are completely portable across multiple platforms. Second, we provide a portable simulation framework based on Python and whose code is open source. This simulation framework can be seamlessly integrated with cloud computing resources such as Google Colaboratory notebooks working on a web browser or with Google Cloud Platform with MPI parallelization. We show examples illustrating the accuracy, the computational times, and parallel computing capabilities. The framework contributes to reproducible science and open-source software in computational diffusion MRI with the hope that it will help to speed up method developments and stimulate research collaborations.