Accelerated Diffusion MRI for Diagnosis of Hungtington Disease
Condition: Huntington Disease
MeSH terms: Huntington Disease
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      The hypotheses of the project are

        1. Diffusion MRI using compressed sensing could have reduced motion sensitivity and
           improved susceptibility related artifact because of accelerated acquisition.

        2. The macromolecule deposition in the brain of patients with Huntington Disease (HD) can
           lead to changes detectible by diffusion MRI.

      To validate the hypothesis that the new accelerated diffusion MRI technique could produce a
      new biomarker for HD, patients with Huntington Disease will be recruited. The diffusion index
      will be calculated using accelerated acquisition. The diagnostic performance will be
      evaluated for data reconstructed with and without acceleration. The correlation with the
      disease severity will be assessed.
    

Detailed description: 
      Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging has emerged as a sensitive, noninvasive tool for
      assessing the abnormalities in the central nervous system. Applications have been reported in
      many neurological disorders. However, because of the motion-sensitizing diffusion gradient
      and the prolonged diffusion encoding time, clinical practice could be difficult especially in
      patients with motor disorders such as Huntington Disease. Currently there existed no useful
      biomarker which could reflect either the disease progression or severity of Huntington
      disease. There is a growing interest in imaging Huntington disease using diffusion magnetic
      resonance imaging because of its capability to depict the micro-environmental changes.

      Unfortunately the excessive motor abnormality such as chorea yields the acquisition of
      diffusion magnetic resonance imaging unfeasible in a clinical setting. The diffusion MRI with
      compressed sensing demonstrated reduced motion sensitivity and improved susceptibility
      related artifact because of the accelerated acquisition. Because of the reduced acquisition
      time, diffusion MRI in patient with Huntington Disease would be possible. It is therefore
      expected that the macromolecule deposition in the brain of patients with HD can lead to
      detectible changes in diffusion properties. The accelerated diffusion MRI techniques will be
      used to acquire data from healthy volunteers and patients with Huntington disease. The aim of
      the study is to develop and optimize a novel accelerated diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging
      (MRI) technique using advanced compressed sensing techniques. The joint sparsity constraint
      algorithm will be implemented in an in-line reconstruction platform for the diffusion MRI
      processing.

      The second aim is to test the efficiency of the new accelerated diffusion MRI technique from
      phantom and in healthy human. Finally to validate the hypothesis that the new accelerated
      diffusion MRI technique could produce a new biomarker for HD, patients with Huntington
      Disease will be recruited. The diffusion index will be calculated using accelerated
      acquisition. The diagnostic performance will be evaluated for data reconstructed with and
      without acceleration. The correlation with the disease severity will be assessed. A risk
      management report will be concluded at the end of project execution for registration in the
      department of health. The acceleration diffusion MRI could provide new insight to the
      etiology of the disease. The in-line image reconstruction platform could be used for
      pediatric or psychiatric patients who cannot hold still in the scanner for a prolonged period
      and in patients with movement disorders.
    

Observational model: Case-Control
Time perspective: Prospective
Sampling method: Non-Probability Sample
Study population: 
        1. Healthy Controls:

             The healthy controls will be recruited from the local community, or the neurological
             clinic. The cognitive performance will be evaluated by Mini-Mental State Examination
             (MMSE). A complete physical and neurological examination will be performed.

          2. Huntington Disease:

        Patients with Huntington Disease will be referred from the department of neurology in
        ChangGung Memorial Hospital, LinKou. Established diagnosis will be made by a neurological
        examination and genetic assessment of CAG expansion in the Htt gene. The severity and
        progression of the disease will be assessed by the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating
        Scale (UHDRS) (18). The cognitive performance will be evaluated by Mini-Mental State
        Examination (MMSE). The inclusion criteria are the following:
      
Keywords: Huntington Disease, diffusion MRI, diagnosis, fast imaging