DTI is a non-invasive technique for characterising the microstructural organisation of tissue in the brain. IXICO have developed and deployed DTI analysis as part of our IXI™ platform – to provide insight into the diffusion properties of regions of interest in clinical trials. IXICO's suite of DTI analysis includes an analysis of functional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity and radial diffusivity in a number of regions of interest.
IXICO are also working closely with our academic partners to advance DTI acquisition and analysis by using multi-shell and multi-band sequences.
ASL is a non-invasive technique which uses magnetically labelled arterial blood water as an imaging tracer. ASL methods are quantitative, making this a useful method to measure Cerebral Blood Flow (CBF), which allows assessment of regional and global brain blood flow to monitor disease progression. IXICO use an automated ASL analysis, which is integrated into the IXI™ platform, designed for harmonised ASL acquisition in multi-centre and longitudinal clinical trials.
fMRI is a non-invasive technique, measuring changes associated with blood flow and enables measurement of brain activity in both disease-specific functional behaviour and resting state. fMRI provides comprehensive descriptions of functional connectivity between different grey matter regions.
Although fMRI is relatively new to multisite clinical trials, IXICO have in-depth experience in the harmonisation of fMRI sequences across scanner manufacturers in multi-centre international studies and in combination with extensive in-house quality control and analysis expertise.
fMRI endpoints for clinical trials continue to be an area of active research, and IXICO work with partners to select the most suitable fMRI endpoints for a study.