Exploring high-resolution neurochemical imaging for epilepsy

Drug-resistant epilepsy is treated with surgical resection of epileptogenic brain regions as last resort to improve patient quality of life. In a relevant number of this cases no lesions can be described with diagnostic MRI (MR-negative, MRN). We have developed a ground-breaking 7T magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) method that covers the whole brain with high resolution in clinically feasible measurement times. In contrast to previous MRSI studies of epilepsy we hope to cover and identify epileptogenic neurochemical changes in the brain even in MRN cases. To this end, our approach requires methodological improvements that allow reliable patient scans for all regions of interest. We will integrate online motion correction and magnetic field correction into our MRSI sequence. We will acquire datasets of 60 patients (FCD, hippocampal sclerosis, ganglioglioma) and 15 healthy controls and identify neurochemical changes. A comparison to the diagnostic gold standard will determine the benefits of our 7T MRSI methods.