Work

Multi-site, in vivo MRI dataset of brain diffusivity measures before and after harmonization, and atrophy measures following controlled cortical impact in male and female adult rats

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) research faces persistent challenges in data comparability and reproducibility, particularly in multi-center preclinical studies. Structured, interoperable datasets are essential to identify robust imaging biomarkers and validate cross-site findings. This dataset comprises 343 diffusion-weighted MRI scans from 186 male and female Sprague Dawley rats subjected to controlled cortical impact (CCI) or sham procedures at four independent research sites. Imaging was performed at 3 and 30 days post-injury using harmonized acquisition protocols and field strengths ranging from 7T to 11.7T. A standardized processing pipeline generated scalar diffusion maps (FA, MD, AD, and RD), anatomical templates, and voxel-wise z -score–based indices of injury. Both unharmonized and harmonized versions of the dataset are provided. Harmonization was performed using NeuroCombat for scalar volumes and multi-site template registration for voxel-level alignment. The dataset supports investigations into sex, post-injury timepoint, and injury effects in experimental TBI and provides a foundation for testing image harmonization methods, developing quantification tools for automated assessment of injury, and training machine learning models. The dataset is published in the FAIR² framework, with machine-actionable metadata, responsible AI indicators, and structured documentation to support ethical, reproducible, and AI-ready reuse.

Source: Frontiers in Neurology

DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1719618