Imaging the structural connectome with hybrid MRI-microscopy tractography
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.
Authors
- Greg Daubney
- Nicole Eichert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7818-5787)
- Connor Scott (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2316-1707)
- Amy Howard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1154-1913)
- Adele Smart (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4293-5942)
- Saâd Jbabdi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3234-5639)
- Jeroen Mollink
- Taylor Hanayik (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0751-9844)
- István N. Huszár
- Michiel Cottaar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4679-7724)
- Jérôme Sallet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7878-0209)
- Karla L. Miller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2511-3189)
- Rogier B. Mars (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6302-8631)
- Alexandre A. Khrapitchev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7616-6635)
- Silei Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2443-2708)
Institutions
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (FR)
- Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
- Inserm (FR)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging (GB)
- Institut Cellule Souche et Cerveau (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Medical Image Analysis
- Published
- 2025-02-06
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.media.2025.103498
- Citations
- 8
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 9.52
Funders
- Wellcome Trust
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council