Effective representation of the four-dimensional diffusion MRI signal –
varying over three-dimensional q-space and diffusion time – is a sought-after
and still unsolved challenge in diffusion MRI (dMRI). We propose a functional
basis approach that is specifically designed to represent the dMRI signal in
this qtau-space [Fick2017]. Following recent terminology, we refer to our
qtau-functional basis as \(q\tau\)-dMRI. We use GraphNet regularization –
imposing both signal smoothness and sparsity – to drastically reduce the
number of diffusion-weighted images (DWIs) that is needed to represent the dMRI
signal in the qtau-space. As the main contribution, \(q\tau\)-dMRI provides
the framework to – without making biophysical assumptions – represent the
\(q\tau\)-space signal and estimate time-dependent q-space indices
(\(q\tau\)-indices), providing a new means for studying diffusion in
nervous tissue. \(q\tau\)-dMRI is the first of its kind in being
specifically designed to provide open interpretation of the
\(q\tau\)-diffusion signal. \(q\tau\)-dMRI can be seen as a time-dependent extension of the MAP-MRI
functional basis [Ozarslan2013], and all the previously proposed q-space
can be estimated for any diffusion time. These include rotationally
invariant quantities such as the Mean Squared Displacement (MSD), Q-space
Inverse Variance (QIV) and Return-To-Origin Probability (RTOP). Also
directional indices such as the Return To the Axis Probability (RTAP) and
Return To the Plane Probability (RTPP) are available, as well as the
Orientation Distribution Function (ODF). In this example we illustrate how to use the \(q\tau\)-dMRI to estimate
time-dependent q-space indices from a \(q\tau\)-acquisition of a mouse. First import the necessary modules: Download and read the data for this tutorial. \(q\tau\)-dMRI requires data with multiple gradient directions, gradient
strength and diffusion times. We will use the test-retest acquisitions of two
mice that were used in the test-retest study by [Fick2017]. The data itself
is freely available and citeable at [Wassermann2017]. data contains 4 qt-dMRI datasets of size [80, 160, 5, 515]. The first two are
the test-retest datasets of the first mouse and the second two are those of the
second mouse. cc_masks contains 4 corresponding binary masks for the corpus
callosum voxels in the middle slice that were used in the test-retest study.
Finally, gtab contains the qt-dMRI gradient tables for the DWIs in the dataset. The data consists of 515 DWIs, divided over 35 shells, with 7 “gradient
strength shells” up to 491 mT/m, 5 equally spaced “pulse separation shells”
(big_delta) between [10.8-20] ms and a pulse duration (small_delta) of 5ms. To visualize qt-dMRI acquisition schemes in an intuitive way, the qtdmri module
provides a visualization function to illustrate the relationship between
gradient strength (G), pulse separation (big_delta) and b-value: In the figure the dots represent measured DWIs in any direction, for a given
gradient strength and pulse separation. The background isolines represent the
corresponding b-values for different combinations of G and big_delta. Next, we visualize the middle slices of the test-retest data sets with their
corresponding masks. To better illustrate the white matter architecture in the
data, we calculate DTI’s fractional anisotropy (FA) over the whole slice and
project the corpus callosum mask on the FA image.: Next, we use qt-dMRI to estimate of time-dependent q-space indices
(q:math:tau-indices) for the masked voxels in the corpus callosum of each dataset.
In particular, we estimate the Return-to-Original, Return-to-Axis and
Return-to-Plane Probability (RTOP, RTAP and RTPP), as well as the Mean Squared
Displacement (MSD). In this example we don’t extrapolate the data beyond the maximum diffusion
time, so we estimate \(q\tau\) indices between the minimum and maximum
diffusion times of the data at 5 equally spaced points. However, it should the
noted that qt-dMRI’s combined smoothness and sparsity regularization allows
for smooth interpolation at any \(q\tau\) position. In other words, once
the basis is fitted to the data, its coefficients describe the the entire
\(q\tau\)-space, and any \(q\tau\)-position can be freely recovered.
This including points beyond the dataset’s maximum \(q\tau\) value
(although this should be done with caution). The estimated \(q\tau\)-indices, for the chosen diffusion times, are now
stored in msds, rtops, rtaps and rtpps. The trends of these
\(q\tau\)-indices over time say something about the restriction of
diffusing particles over time, which is currently a hot topic in the dMRI
community. We evaluate the test-retest reproducibility for the two subjects by
plotting the \(q\tau\)-indices for each subject together. This example
will produce similar results as Fig. 10 in [Fick2017]. We first define a small function to plot the mean and standard deviation of the
\(q\tau\)-index trends in a subject. We start by showing the test-retest MSD of both subjects over time. We plot the
\(q\tau\)-indices together with \(q\tau\)-index trends of free
diffusion with different diffusivities as background. You can see that the MSD in both subjects increases over time, but also slowly
levels off as time progresses. This makes sense as diffusing particles are
becoming more restricted by surrounding tissue as time goes on. You can also
see that for Subject 1 the index trends nearly perfectly overlap, but for
subject 2 they are slightly off, which is also what we found in the paper. Next, we follow the same procedure to estimate the test-retest RTAP, RTOP and
RTPP over diffusion time for both subject. For ease of comparison, we will
estimate all three in the same unit [1/mm] by taking the square root of RTAP
and the cubed root of RTOP. Similarly as MSD, the RTOP is related to the restriction that particles are
experiencing and is also rotationally invariant. RTOP is defined as the
probability that particles are found at the same position at the time of both
gradient pulses. As time increases, the odds become smaller that a particle
will arrive at the same position it left, which is illustrated by all RTOP
trends in the figure. Notice that the estimated RTOP trends decrease less fast
than free diffusion, meaning that particles experience restriction over time.
Also notice that the RTOP trends in both subjects nearly perfectly overlap. Next, we estimate two directional \(q\tau\)-indices, RTAP and RTPP,
describing particle restriction perpendicular and parallel to the orientation
of the principal diffusivity in that voxel. If the voxel describes coherent
white matter (which it does in our corpus callosum example), then they describe
properties related to restriction perpendicular and parallel to the axon
bundles. As those of RTOP, the trends in RTAP and RTPP also decrease over time. It can
be seen that RTAP:math:^{1/2} is always bigger than RTPP, which makes sense as
particles in coherent white matter experience more restriction perpendicular to
the white matter orientation than parallel to it. Again, in both subjects the
test-retest RTAP and RTPP is nearly perfectly consistent. Aside from the estimation of \(q\tau\)-space indices, \(q\tau\)-dMRI
also allows for the estimation of time-dependent ODFs. Once the Qtdmri model
is fitted it can be simply called by qtdmri_fit.odf(sphere,
s=sharpening_factor). This is identical to how the mapmri module functions,
and allows to study the time-dependence of ODF directionality. This concludes the example on qt-dMRI. As we showed, approaches such as qt-dMRI
can help in studying the (finite-\(\tau\)) temporal properties of diffusion
in biological tissues. Differences in \(q\tau\)-index trends could be
indicative of underlying structural differences that affect the time-dependence
of the diffusion process. Example source code You can download Estimating diffusion time dependent q-space indices using qt-dMRI
from dipy.data.fetcher import (fetch_qtdMRI_test_retest_2subjects,
read_qtdMRI_test_retest_2subjects)
from dipy.reconst import qtdmri, dti
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
fetch_qtdMRI_test_retest_2subjects()
data, cc_masks, gtabs = read_qtdMRI_test_retest_2subjects()
plt.figure()
qtdmri.visualise_gradient_table_G_Delta_rainbow(gtabs[0])
plt.savefig('qt-dMRI_acquisition_scheme.png')
subplot_titles = ["Subject1 Test", "Subject1 Retest",
"Subject2 Test", "Subject2 Retest"]
fig = plt.figure()
plt.subplots(nrows=2, ncols=2)
for i, (data_, mask_, gtab_) in enumerate(zip(data, cc_masks, gtabs)):
# take the middle slice
data_middle_slice = data_[:, :, 2]
mask_middle_slice = mask_[:, :, 2]
# estimate fractional anisotropy (FA) for this slice
tenmod = dti.TensorModel(gtab_)
tenfit = tenmod.fit(data_middle_slice, data_middle_slice[..., 0] > 0)
fa = tenfit.fa
# set mask color to green with 0.5 opacity as overlay
mask_template = np.zeros(np.r_[mask_middle_slice.shape, 4])
mask_template[mask_middle_slice == 1] = np.r_[0., 1., 0., .5]
# produce the FA images with corpus callosum masks.
plt.subplot(2, 2, 1 + i)
plt.title(subplot_titles[i], fontsize=15)
plt.imshow(fa, cmap='Greys_r', origin='lower', interpolation='nearest')
plt.imshow(mask_template, origin='lower', interpolation='nearest')
plt.axis('off')
plt.tight_layout()
plt.savefig('qt-dMRI_datasets_fa_with_ccmasks.png')
tau_min = gtabs[0].tau.min()
tau_max = gtabs[0].tau.max()
taus = np.linspace(tau_min, tau_max, 5)
qtdmri_fits = []
msds = []
rtops = []
rtaps = []
rtpps = []
for i, (data_, mask_, gtab_) in enumerate(zip(data, cc_masks, gtabs)):
# select the corpus callosum voxel for every dataset
cc_voxels = data_[mask_ == 1]
# initialize the qt-dMRI model.
# recommended basis orders are radial_order=6 and time_order=2.
# The combined Laplacian and l1-regularization using Generalized
# Cross-Validation (GCV) and Cross-Validation (CV) settings is most robust,
# but can be used separately and with weightings preset to any positive
# value to optimize for speed.
qtdmri_mod = qtdmri.QtdmriModel(
gtab_, radial_order=6, time_order=2,
laplacian_regularization=True, laplacian_weighting='GCV',
l1_regularization=True, l1_weighting='CV'
)
# fit the model.
# Here we take every 5th voxel for speed, but of course all voxels can be
# fit for a more robust result later on.
qtdmri_fit = qtdmri_mod.fit(cc_voxels[::5])
qtdmri_fits.append(qtdmri_fit)
# We estimate MSD, RTOP, RTAP and RTPP for the chosen diffusion times.
msds.append(np.array(list(map(qtdmri_fit.msd, taus))))
rtops.append(np.array(list(map(qtdmri_fit.rtop, taus))))
rtaps.append(np.array(list(map(qtdmri_fit.rtap, taus))))
rtpps.append(np.array(list(map(qtdmri_fit.rtpp, taus))))
def plot_mean_with_std(ax, time, ind1, plotcolor, ls='-', std_mult=1,
label=''):
means = np.mean(ind1, axis=1)
stds = np.std(ind1, axis=1)
ax.plot(time, means, c=plotcolor, lw=3, label=label, ls=ls)
ax.fill_between(time,
means + std_mult * stds,
means - std_mult * stds,
alpha=0.15, color=plotcolor)
ax.plot(time, means + std_mult * stds, alpha=0.25, color=plotcolor)
ax.plot(time, means - std_mult * stds, alpha=0.25, color=plotcolor)
# we first generate the data to produce the background index isolines.
Delta_ = np.linspace(0.005, 0.02, 100)
MSD_ = np.linspace(4e-5, 10e-5, 100)
Delta_grid, MSD_grid = np.meshgrid(Delta_, MSD_)
D_grid = MSD_grid / (6 * Delta_grid)
D_levels = np.r_[1, 5, 7, 10, 14, 23, 30] * 1e-4
fig = plt.figure(figsize=(10, 3))
# start with the plot of subject 1.
ax = plt.subplot(1, 2, 1)
# first plot the background
plt.contourf(Delta_ * 1e3, 1e5 * MSD_, D_grid, levels=D_levels, cmap='Greys',
alpha=.5)
# plot the test-retest mean MSD and standard deviation of subject 1.
plot_mean_with_std(ax, taus * 1e3, 1e5 * msds[0], 'r', 'dashdot',
label='MSD Test')
plot_mean_with_std(ax, taus * 1e3, 1e5 * msds[1], 'g', 'dashdot',
label='MSD Retest')
ax.legend(fontsize=13)
# plot some text markers to clarify the background diffusivity lines.
ax.text(.0091 * 1e3, 6.33, 'D=14e-4', fontsize=12, rotation=35)
ax.text(.0091 * 1e3, 4.55, 'D=10e-4', fontsize=12, rotation=25)
ax.set_ylim(4, 9.5)
ax.set_xlim(.009 * 1e3, 0.0185 * 1e3)
ax.set_title(r'Test-Retest MSD(:math:`\tau`) Subject 1', fontsize=15)
ax.set_xlabel('Diffusion Time (ms)', fontsize=17)
ax.set_ylabel('MSD (:math:`10^{-5}mm^2`)', fontsize=17)
# then do the same thing for subject 2.
ax = plt.subplot(1, 2, 2)
plt.contourf(Delta_ * 1e3, 1e5 * MSD_, D_grid, levels=D_levels, cmap='Greys',
alpha=.5)
cb = plt.colorbar()
cb.set_label('Free Diffusivity (:math:`mm^2/s`)', fontsize=18)
plot_mean_with_std(ax, taus * 1e3, 1e5 * msds[2], 'r', 'dashdot')
plot_mean_with_std(ax, taus * 1e3, 1e5 * msds[3], 'g', 'dashdot')
ax.set_ylim(4, 9.5)
ax.set_xlim(.009 * 1e3, 0.0185 * 1e3)
ax.set_xlabel('Diffusion Time (ms)', fontsize=17)
ax.set_title(r'Test-Retest MSD(:math:`\tau`) Subject 2', fontsize=15)
plt.savefig('qt_indices_msd.png')
# Again, first we define the data for the background illustration.
Delta_ = np.linspace(0.005, 0.02, 100)
RTXP_ = np.linspace(1, 200, 100)
Delta_grid, RTXP_grid = np.meshgrid(Delta_, RTXP_)
D_grid = 1 / (4 * RTXP_grid ** 2 * np.pi * Delta_grid)
D_levels = np.r_[1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 15, 30] * 1e-4
D_colors = np.tile(np.linspace(.8, 0, 7), (3, 1)).T
# We start with estimating the RTOP illustration.
fig = plt.figure(figsize=(10, 3))
ax = plt.subplot(1, 2, 1)
plt.contourf(Delta_ * 1e3, RTXP_, D_grid, colors=D_colors, levels=D_levels,
alpha=.5)
plot_mean_with_std(ax, taus * 1e3, rtops[0] ** (1 / 3.), 'r', '--',
label='RTOP:math:`^{1/3}` Test')
plot_mean_with_std(ax, taus * 1e3, rtops[1] ** (1 / 3.), 'g', '--',
label='RTOP:math:`^{1/3}` Retest')
ax.legend(fontsize=13)
ax.text(.0091 * 1e3, 162, 'D=3e-4', fontsize=12, rotation=-22)
ax.text(.0091 * 1e3, 140, 'D=4e-4', fontsize=12, rotation=-20)
ax.text(.0091 * 1e3, 113, 'D=6e-4', fontsize=12, rotation=-16)
ax.set_ylim(54, 170)
ax.set_xlim(.009 * 1e3, 0.0185 * 1e3)
ax.set_title(r'Test-Retest RTOP(:math:`\tau`) Subject 1', fontsize=15)
ax.set_xlabel('Diffusion Time (ms)', fontsize=17)
ax.set_ylabel('RTOP:math:`^{1/3}` (1/mm)', fontsize=17)
ax = plt.subplot(1, 2, 2)
plt.contourf(Delta_ * 1e3, RTXP_, D_grid, colors=D_colors, levels=D_levels,
alpha=.5)
cb = plt.colorbar()
cb.set_label('Free Diffusivity (:math:`mm^2/s`)', fontsize=18)
plot_mean_with_std(ax, taus * 1e3, rtops[2] ** (1 / 3.), 'r', '--')
plot_mean_with_std(ax, taus * 1e3, rtops[3] ** (1 / 3.), 'g', '--')
ax.set_ylim(54, 170)
ax.set_xlim(.009 * 1e3, 0.0185 * 1e3)
ax.set_xlabel('Diffusion Time (ms)', fontsize=17)
ax.set_title(r'Test-Retest RTOP(:math:`\tau`) Subject 2', fontsize=15)
plt.savefig('qt_indices_rtop.png')
# First, we estimate the RTAP trends.
fig = plt.figure(figsize=(10, 3))
ax = plt.subplot(1, 2, 1)
plt.contourf(Delta_ * 1e3, RTXP_, D_grid, colors=D_colors, levels=D_levels,
alpha=.5)
plot_mean_with_std(ax, taus * 1e3, np.sqrt(rtaps[0]), 'r', '-',
label='RTAP:math:`^{1/2}` Test')
plot_mean_with_std(ax, taus * 1e3, np.sqrt(rtaps[1]), 'g', '-',
label='RTAP:math:`^{1/2}` Retest')
ax.legend(fontsize=13)
ax.text(.0091 * 1e3, 162, 'D=3e-4', fontsize=12, rotation=-22)
ax.text(.0091 * 1e3, 140, 'D=4e-4', fontsize=12, rotation=-20)
ax.text(.0091 * 1e3, 113, 'D=6e-4', fontsize=12, rotation=-16)
ax.set_ylim(54, 170)
ax.set_xlim(.009 * 1e3, 0.0185 * 1e3)
ax.set_title(r'Test-Retest RTAP(:math:`\tau`) Subject 1', fontsize=15)
ax.set_xlabel('Diffusion Time (ms)', fontsize=17)
ax.set_ylabel('RTAP:math:`^{1/2}` (1/mm)', fontsize=17)
ax = plt.subplot(1, 2, 2)
plt.contourf(Delta_ * 1e3, RTXP_, D_grid, colors=D_colors, levels=D_levels,
alpha=.5)
cb = plt.colorbar()
cb.set_label('Free Diffusivity (:math:`mm^2/s`)', fontsize=18)
plot_mean_with_std(ax, taus * 1e3, np.sqrt(rtaps[2]), 'r', '-')
plot_mean_with_std(ax, taus * 1e3, np.sqrt(rtaps[3]), 'g', '-')
ax.set_ylim(54, 170)
ax.set_xlim(.009 * 1e3, 0.0185 * 1e3)
ax.set_xlabel('Diffusion Time (ms)', fontsize=17)
ax.set_title(r'Test-Retest RTAP(:math:`\tau`) Subject 2', fontsize=15)
plt.savefig('qt_indices_rtap.png')
# Finally the last one for RTPP.
fig = plt.figure(figsize=(10, 3))
ax = plt.subplot(1, 2, 1)
plt.contourf(Delta_ * 1e3, RTXP_, D_grid, colors=D_colors, levels=D_levels,
alpha=.5)
plot_mean_with_std(ax, taus * 1e3, rtpps[0], 'r', ':', label='RTPP Test')
plot_mean_with_std(ax, taus * 1e3, rtpps[1], 'g', ':', label='RTPP Retest')
ax.legend(fontsize=13)
ax.text(.0091 * 1e3, 113, 'D=6e-4', fontsize=12, rotation=-16)
ax.text(.0091 * 1e3, 91, 'D=9e-4', fontsize=12, rotation=-13)
ax.text(.0091 * 1e3, 69, 'D=15e-4', fontsize=12, rotation=-10)
ax.set_ylim(54, 170)
ax.set_xlim(.009 * 1e3, 0.0185 * 1e3)
ax.set_title(r'Test-Retest RTPP(:math:`\tau`) Subject 1', fontsize=15)
ax.set_xlabel('Diffusion Time (ms)', fontsize=17)
ax.set_ylabel('RTPP (1/mm)', fontsize=17)
ax = plt.subplot(1, 2, 2)
plt.contourf(Delta_ * 1e3, RTXP_, D_grid, colors=D_colors, levels=D_levels,
alpha=.5)
cb = plt.colorbar()
cb.set_label('Free Diffusivity (:math:`mm^2/s`)', fontsize=18)
plot_mean_with_std(ax, taus * 1e3, rtpps[2], 'r', ':')
plot_mean_with_std(ax, taus * 1e3, rtpps[3], 'g', ':')
ax.set_ylim(54, 170)
ax.set_xlim(.009 * 1e3, 0.0185 * 1e3)
ax.set_xlabel('Diffusion Time (ms)', fontsize=17)
ax.set_title(r'Test-Retest RTPP(:math:`\tau`) Subject 2', fontsize=15)
plt.savefig('qt_indices_rtpp.png')
the full source code of this example
. This same script is also included in the dipy source distribution under the doc/examples/
directory.