Can magnetic resonance elastography serve as a diagnostic tool for gradual-onset brain disorders?

Excerpt

Brain disorders are becoming increasingly prevalent in the USA, affecting approximately 6.75% of the adult population [2]. However, diagnosing these disorders remains challenging due to the variability and overlap of symptoms, the lack of definitive biomarkers, and the intricacies underlying their mechanisms and pathophysiology. Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques primarily focus on quantifying and describing lesions, but their relationship with clinical conditions is not always unambiguously established [1]. Brain magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) is an emerging diagnostic tool that offers complementary insights to traditional MRI techniques. In a clinical context, an analogy can be drawn between the results of brain MRE and the manual palpation of brain tissue. MRE involves applying mechanical vibrations to the brain, which are then encoded and detected using vibration-synchronized phase-contrast MRI [3]. This innovative imaging method captures the motion generated by applied vibrations, enabling the quantification of brain material properties such as loss and elastic modulus, stiffness, and harmonic shear strain through advanced inversion algorithms. The non-invasive and rapid nature of MRE, coupled with its ability to provide detailed insights into brain material properties, makes it appealing to clinicians and promotes the widespread adoption of this diagnostic tool in clinical practice. …