Transient MR elastography: Modeling traumatic brain injury

Abstract

Current theory holds that the mechanisms by which head trauma causes hemorrhage, cerebral contusions and diffuse axonal injury result from angular acceleration and its resulting shear motion. We have developed a method for phase contrast MR imaging of small amplitude transient shear displacements as they traverse through the brain in vivo. This technique was successfully implemented and preliminary results suggest that it has promise as a tool for studying the underlying biomechanics of brain trauma and for detailed analysis of injury mechanism models. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2004.