Diffusion Tensor MRI and Spherical-Deconvolution-Based Tractography on an Ultra-Low Field Portable MRI System

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that ultra-low-field MRI can reliably perform diffusion tensor imaging and tractography, producing results comparable to high-field MRI, thus expanding access to advanced brain imaging in resource-limited settings.

Contribution

First demonstration of diffusion tensor and tractography imaging on a portable ultra-low-field MRI system with results comparable to high-field MRI.

Findings

Successful retrieval of major white matter bundles in healthy brains

Strong correlation between ULF and high-field scalar maps

Good agreement of fibre orientation distributions with high-field references

Abstract

Ultra-low-field (ULF) MRI is emerging as an alternative modality to high-field (HF) MRI due to its lower cost, minimal siting requirements, portability, and enhanced accessibility factors that enable large-scale deployment. Although ULF-MRI exhibits lower signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), advanced imaging and data-driven denoising methods enabled by high-performance computing have made contrasts like diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) feasible at ULF. This study investigates the potential and limitations of ULF tractography, using data acquired on a 0.064 T commercially available mobile point-of-care MRI scanner. The results demonstrate that most major white matter bundles can be successfully retrieved in healthy adult brains within clinically tolerable scan times. This study also examines the recovery of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)-derived scalar maps, including fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity. Strong correspondence is observed between scalar maps obtained with ULF-MRI and those acquired at high field strengths. Furthermore, fibre orientation distribution functions reconstructed from ULF data show good agreement with high-field references, supporting the feasibility of using ULF-MRI for reliable tractography. These findings open new opportunities to use ULF-MRI in studies of brain health, development, and disease progression particularly in populations traditionally underserved due to geographic or economic constraints. The results show that robust assessments of white matter microstructure can be achieved with ULF-MRI, effectively democratising microstructural MRI and extending advanced imaging capabilities to a broader range of research and clinical settings where resources are typically limited.