Salon 2
Development of a neuroimaging biomarker for lesion recovery in multiple sclerosis (303297)
Ciprian Crainiceanu , Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthAni Eloyan, Brown University
Russell Shinohara, University of Pennsylvania
*Elizabeth Sweeney , Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Keywords: multiple sclerosis, brain imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, biomarker
While neuroimaging studies are widely used in clinical practice and research, the number of neuroimaging-based biomarkers is small. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system that is characterized by brain and spinal chord lesions. In multiple sclerosis (MS) clinical trials the only major neuroimaging biomarkers for disease-modifying treatments are total lesion volume and the number of new and enhancing lesions. These biomarkers are essential, but do not capture the recovery process of lesions, which may be important in understanding the efficacy of MS treatments. The partial or complete recovery of lesions may depend both on the ability of the brain to heal and on external factors, such as treatment or environmental and behavioral exposures. In this presentation, I will present the methods for developing a lesion recovery biomarker: image intensity normalization, lesion identification or segmentation, longitudinal co-registration of lesions, and the analysis of longitudinal intensities over time. In addition I will relate the lesion biomarker to clinical information, such as the use of steroids and disease-modifying treatment.