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SKULL-BASED MORPHOMETRICS AND BRAIN TISSUE DEFORMATION CHARACTERIZATION OF CHIARI MALFORMATION TYPE I

Nwotchouang, Blaise Simplice Talla
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2479-0903
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1595877233083287

Abstract Details

2020, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, Biomedical Engineering.
Chiari malformation type I (CMI) is a neurological disorder that is typically diagnosed by a descent of the cerebellar tonsils greater than 5 mm below the foramen magnum. Even though the descent of the cerebellar tonsils has been used as radiological evidence of CMI, recent studies have shown that the degree of tonsillar descent is limited in identifying subjects with symptomatic CMI. Moreover, studies have shown that the cerebellar tonsillar position is poorly related to symptom severity. The main goal of this research was to identify brain or skull-based parameters that may be specific to CMI subjects. The second and third chapters of this research investigated two and three-dimensional brain morphometrics in subjects with CMI and healthy controls, respectively. Brain and skull-based structures evaluated include—the clivus, posterior cranial fossa, anterior and posterior cerebrospinal fluid spaces. Clivus bone volume was shown to be reduced by 31% on average in CMI subjects when compared to healthy controls. Additionally, the clivus length was found to be 3.7 mm shorter in CMI subjects compared to healthy controls. These findings revealed that morphometric properties of the clivus discriminate between subjects with CMI and healthy controls, and thus, serve as an additional distinctive criterion unique to CMI pathophysiology. The third and fourth chapters of this research focused on the deformation of the brain. Cardiac-induced brain tissue displacement and principal strain were quantified using an MRI methodology called displacement encoding with stimulated echoes (DENSE). Prior to quantifying brain tissue deformation, the accuracy of DENSE MRI was determined using a tissue motion phantom with displacements representative of those observed for in-vivo brain tissue. Displacement and strain were identified in eight different brain regions—the brainstem, cerebellum, cingulate gyrus, corpus callosum, frontal lobe, occipital lobe, parietal lobe, and the sella turcica. Mean displacements in the cerebellum and brainstem were found to be 106% and 64% higher, respectively, for CMI subjects than controls (p < .001). Mean principal compression and extension strains in the cerebellum were 52% and 50% higher, respectively, for CMI subjects (p < .001). Brainstem mean extension strain was 41% higher for CMI subjects (p < .001), but no significant difference in compression strain was observed. The other brain structures revealed no significant differences between CMI and controls. These findings demonstrate that brain tissue displacement and strain in the cerebellum and brainstem represent two new biomarkers to distinguish between CMI subjects and controls.
Francis Loth (Advisor)
Rouzbeh Amini (Advisor)
Jiang Zhe (Committee Member)
Lawrence D. Noble (Committee Member)
Philip A. Allen (Committee Member)
214 p.
Biomedical Research; Medical Imaging; Morphology
Chiari malformation; DENSE MRI; Experimental validation; Brain tiissue displacement and strain; Clivus bone; Sphenoid sinus; Brain Morphometrics; Brain dynamics

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Citations

  • Nwotchouang, B. S. T. (2020). SKULL-BASED MORPHOMETRICS AND BRAIN TISSUE DEFORMATION CHARACTERIZATION OF CHIARI MALFORMATION TYPE I [Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1595877233083287

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Nwotchouang, Blaise Simplice Talla. SKULL-BASED MORPHOMETRICS AND BRAIN TISSUE DEFORMATION CHARACTERIZATION OF CHIARI MALFORMATION TYPE I. 2020. University of Akron, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1595877233083287.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Nwotchouang, Blaise Simplice Talla. "SKULL-BASED MORPHOMETRICS AND BRAIN TISSUE DEFORMATION CHARACTERIZATION OF CHIARI MALFORMATION TYPE I." Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1595877233083287

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

akron1595877233083287
436
© 2020, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License SKULL-BASED MORPHOMETRICS AND BRAIN TISSUE DEFORMATION CHARACTERIZATION OF CHIARI MALFORMATION TYPE I by Blaise Simplice Talla Nwotchouang is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by University of Akron and OhioLINK.