Extracting Human Brain Stiffness In Vivo From Magnetic Resonance Elastography
Knowing brain stiffness is important because it could lead to earlier detection, better diagnosis, and more efficient treatment of brain tumors and possibly other diseases. Brain stiffness can be extracted from humans in vivo using a technique called Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE). This technique consists of using a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine to view a brain being subjected to shear stress by means of a mechanical actuator. The actuator vibrates a head-rest, on which a human subject has laid his head, at a certain frequency causing shear waves to form. The MRI machine is then used to view these waves using a phase-shift equation and inversion using the wave equation is then used to create an elastogram of the brain, a map showing its stiffness. While this experiment is still ongoing, so far the results show promise. This is valuable because although similar experiments have been done in the past, the results have been mixed and inconclusive. Until now the value of brain stiffness is still unknown and is being debated among scientists. Perhaps this experiment will validate the results of a previously published experiment or it may even become the new standard of solving for brain stiffness.
School:
Ohio State University
Department:
Mechanical Engineering
Research Advisor:
John G. Georgiadis
Department of Research Advisor:
Mechanical Science & Engineering
Year of Publication:
2008