{"doi":"10.1002/mrm.28978","title":"Ultrahigh‐b diffusion‐weighted imaging for quantitative evaluation of myelination in shiverer mouse spinal cord","abstract":"Purpose To perform a quantitative evaluation of myelination on WT and myelin‐deficient (shiverer) mouse spinal cords using ultrahigh‐b diffusion‐weighted imaging (UHb‐DWI). Methods UHb‐DWI of ex vivo on spinal cord specimens of two shiverer (C3HeB/FeJ‐shiverer, homozygous genotype for MbP shi ) and six WT (Black Six, C3HeB/FeJ) mice were acquired using 3D multishot diffusion‐weighted stimulated‐echo EPI, a homemade RF coil, and a small‐bore 7T MRI system. Imaging was performed in transaxial plane with 75 × 75 μm 2 in‐plane resolution, 1‐mm‐slice thickness, and radial DWI using b max = 42,890 s/mm 2 . Histological evaluation was performed on upper thoracic sections using optical and transmission electron microscopy. Numerical Monte Carlo simulations (MCSs) of water diffusion were performed to facilitate interpretation of UHb‐DWI signal‐b curves. Results The white matter ultrahigh‐b radial DWI (UHb‐rDWI) signal‐b curves of WT mouse cords behaved biexponentially with high‐b diffusion coefficient D H < 0.020 × 10 −3 mm 2 /s. However, as expected with less myelination, the signal‐b of shiverer mouse cords behaved monoexponentially with significantly greater D H = 0.162 × 10 −3 , 0.142 × 10 −3 , and 0.164 × 10 −3 mm 2 /s at anterodorsal, posterodorsal, and lateral columns, respectively. The axial DWI signals of all mouse cords behaved monoexponentially with D = (0.718‐1.124) × 10 −3 mm 2 /s. MCS suggests that these elevated D H are mainly induced by increased water exchange at the myelin sheath. Microscopic results were consistent with the UHb‐rDWI findings. Conclusion UHb‐DWI provides quantitative differences in myelination of spinal cords from myelin‐deficit shiverer and WT mice. UHb‐DWI may become a powerful tool to evaluate myelination in demyelinating disease models that may translate to human diseases, including multiple sclerosis.","journal":"Magnetic Resonance in Medicine","year":2021,"id":209524,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":3,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.8497,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2021-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":797665,"name":"Sophie YouJung Lee","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":797171,"name":"Suk Keu Yeom","orcid":"0000-0002-3390-9793","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":711801,"name":"Noel G. Carlson","orcid":"0000-0002-9283-4007","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":781735,"name":"Lubdha M. Shah","orcid":"0000-0003-1303-3533","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":289240,"name":"John Rose","orcid":"0000-0002-0894-5506","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":369095,"name":"Eun‐Kee Jeong","orcid":"0000-0002-7582-4392","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":781734,"name":"Kyle Jeong","orcid":"0000-0001-9342-6630","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":47,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-18T23:52:05.171356Z","pmid":"34418157","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}