Imaging the structural connectome with hybrid MRI-microscopy tractography
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Mapping how neurons are structurally wired into whole-brain networks can be challenging, particularly in larger brains where 3D microscopy is not available. Multi-modal datasets combining MRI and microscopy provide a solution, where high resolution but 2D microscopy can be complemented by whole-brain but lowresolution MRI. However, there lacks unified approaches to integrate and jointly analyse these multi-modal data in an insightful way. To address this gap, we introduce a data-fusion method for hybrid MRI-microscopy fibre orientation and connectome reconstruction. Specifically, we complement precise “in-plane” orientations from microscopy with “through-plane” information from MRI to construct 3D hybrid fibre orientations at resolutions far exceeding that of MRI whilst preserving microscopy's myelin specificity, resulting in superior fibre tracking. Our method is openly available, can be deployed on standard 2D microscopy, including different microscopy contrasts, and is species agnostic, facilitating neuroanatomical investigation in both animal models and human brains.
Date Issued
2025-05-01
Date Acceptance
2025-02-05
Citation
Medical Image Analysis, 2025, 102
ISSN
1361-8415
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Journal / Book Title
Medical Image Analysis
Volume
102
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Identifier
10.1016/j.media.2025.103498
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
103498
Date Publish Online
2025-02-06