Novel imaging technique captures the effects of COVID-19 on the brain

A University of Waterloo engineer's MRI invention reveals better than many existing imaging technologies how COVID-19 can change the human brain.

The new imaging technique known as correlated diffusion imaging (CDI) was developed by systems design engineering professor Alexander Wong and recently used in a groundbreaking study by scientists at Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute and Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto.

Researchers at Rotman, saw Wong’s imaging discovery and thought it could likely also be used to identify changes to the brain due to COVID-19. Subsequent tests proved that theory right. The CDI imaging of frontal-lobe white matter revealed a less restricted diffusion of water molecules in COVID-19 patients. At the same time, it showed a more restricted diffusion of water molecules in the cerebellum of patients with COVID-19.

Wong highlights that the two regions of the brain react differently to COVID-19 and points to two key findings from the research. First, the human cerebellum might be more vulnerable to COVID-19 infections. Second, the study reinforces the idea that COVID-19 infections can lead to changes in the brain.

Reference: Feasibility of diffusion-tensor and correlated diffusion imaging for studying white-matter microstructural abnormalities: Application in COVID-19, which involves Wong and his student Hayden Gunraj as co-authors, is published in the journal Human Brain Mapping.