ArticleNature protocols2021
Generic acquisition protocol for quantitative MRI of the spinal cord.
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Article in Nature protocols, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 97 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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97citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
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Who cites it
97 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A systematic review of computational models for the design of spinal cord stimulation therapies: from neural circuits to patient-specific simulations.The Journal of physiology · 2023Pooled it
- Trial
- 1D Pre-Acquisition Navigator Correcting Respiratory-Induced Field Fluctuations in Multi-Echo Gradient-Echo Imaging of the Thoracic Spinal Cord.Magnetic resonance in medicine · 2026Article
- Machine learning-based MRI radiomics identifies patients with degenerative cervical myelopathy and predicts baseline function.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026Article
- Systematic Review of the Reliability and Reproducibility of Magnetisation Transfer Imaging in Human Cervical Spinal Cord.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Test-Retest Reliability of Sensorimotor Activity Measured With Spinal Cord fMRI.Human brain mapping · 2026Article
- Spinal Cord Radiomics-Driven Machine Learning Predicts Meaningful Clinical Improvement After Surgery for Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy: A Pilot Study.Journal of imaging informatics in medicine · 2026Article
- Segmentation of spinal rootlets across MRI contrasts with RootletSeg.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Generalizable spinal cord multiple sclerosis lesion segmentation across MRI contrasts, protocols, and centers.Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England) · 2026Article
- Article
- Spinal cord structural and functional architecture and its shared organization with the brain across the adult lifespan.Nature communications · 2026Article
- MRI evaluation of the lumbar spine: a survey-based assessment of protocols and practice patterns used by musculoskeletal radiologists in the United States.Skeletal radiology · 2026Article
- Diffusion tractography outside the brain: the road less travelled.Brain structure & function · 2026Review
- Spinal cord diffusion tensor imaging predicts balance in degenerative cervical myelopathy.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Article
- Spatial distribution of spinal cord fMRI activity with electrocutaneous stimulation.Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2026Article
- Article
- Quantitative assessment of asymptomatic spinal cord compression using MRI: a multi-center study.GeroScience · 2025Article
- Dermatomal Contact Heat Evoked Potentials for the Detection of Subclinical Cervical Spinal Cord Injury in Asymptomatic Degenerative Cervical Cord Compression.European journal of neurology · 2025Article
- Advancing Precision Medicine in Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Clinically feasible liver tumour cell size measurement through histology-informed in vivo diffusion MRI.Communications medicine · 2025Article
37 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
91 authors.
Julien Cohen-AdadNeuroPoly Lab, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. jcohen@polymtl.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3662-9532
Eva Alonso-OrtizNeuroPoly Lab, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Mihael AbramovicDepartment of Radiology, Swiss Paraplegic Centre, Nottwil, Switzerland.
Carina ArneitzDepartment of Radiology, Swiss Paraplegic Centre, Nottwil, Switzerland.
Nicole AtchesonCentre for Advanced Imaging, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7075-1422
Laura BarlowDepartment of Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Robert L BarryAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA.
Markus BarthSchool of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0520-1843
Marco BattistonNMR Research Unit, Queen Square MS Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
Christian BüchelDepartment of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Matthew BuddeDepartment of Neurosurgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
Virginie CallotAix-Marseille Univ, CNRS, CRMBM, Marseille, France.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0850-1742
Anna J E CombesVanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8214-5964
Benjamin De LeenerDepartment of Computer and Software Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Maxime DescoteauxCentre de Recherche CHUS, CIMS, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada.
Paulo Loureiro de SousaUniversité de Strasbourg, CNRS, ICube, Strasbourg, France.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6610-5997
Marek DostálUHB - University Hospital Brno and Masaryk University, Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Brno, Czech Republic.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1740-9227
Julien DoyonMcConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Adam DvorakDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6107-5610
Falk EippertMax Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
Karla R EppersonRichard M. Lucas Center, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
Kevin S EppersonRichard M. Lucas Center, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
Patrick FreundSpinal Cord Injury Center Balgrist, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Jürgen FinsterbuschDepartment of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Alexandru FoiasNeuroPoly Lab, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Michela FratiniInstitute of Nanotechnology, CNR, Rome, Italy.
Issei FukunagaDepartment of Radiology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Claudia A M Gandini Wheeler-KingshottNMR Research Unit, Queen Square MS Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
Giancarlo GermaniBrain MRI 3T Research Centre, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy.
Guillaume GilbertMR Clinical Science, Philips Healthcare, Markham, Ontario, Canada.
Federico GioveIRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6934-3146
Charley GrosNeuroPoly Lab, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4318-0024
Francesco GrussuNMR Research Unit, Queen Square MS Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
Akifumi HagiwaraDepartment of Radiology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5277-3249
Pierre-Gilles HenryCenter for Magnetic Resonance Research, Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Tomáš HorákMultimodal and functional imaging laboratory, Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC), Brno, Czech Republic.
Masaaki HoriDepartment of Radiology, Toho University Omori Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1791-8032
James JoersCenter for Magnetic Resonance Research, Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8444-2185
Kouhei KamiyaDepartment of Radiology, the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Haleh KarbasforoushanInterdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2032-9703
Miloš KeřkovskýUHB - University Hospital Brno and Masaryk University, Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Brno, Czech Republic.
Ali KhatibiMcConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0679-0499
Joo-Won KimBioMedical Engineering and Imaging Institute (BMEII), Department of Radiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Nawal KinanyInstitute of Bioengineering/Center for Neuroprosthetics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Geneva, Switzerland.
Hagen KitzlerInstitute of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Shannon KolindDepartment of Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Yazhuo KongCAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8249-4723
Petr KudličkaMultimodal and functional imaging laboratory, Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC), Brno, Czech Republic.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3961-7986
Paul KuntkeInstitute of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Nyoman D KurniawanCentre for Advanced Imaging, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6340-182X
Slawomir KusmiaCUBRIC, Cardiff University, Wales, UK.
René LabounekDivision of Clinical Behavioral Neuroscience, Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0439-1304
Maria Marcella LaganàIRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS, Milan, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7848-1711
Cornelia LauleDepartments of Radiology, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Physics & Astronomy; International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Christine S LawDivision of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0524-6029
Christophe LengletCenter for Magnetic Resonance Research, Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Tobias LeutritzDepartment of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9871-4073
Yaou LiuDepartment of Radiology, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Sara LlufriuCenter of Neuroimmunology, Laboratory of Advanced Imaging in Neuroimmunological Diseases, Hospital Clinic Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) and Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Sean MackeyDivision of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
Eloy Martinez-HerasCenter of Neuroimmunology, Laboratory of Advanced Imaging in Neuroimmunological Diseases, Hospital Clinic Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) and Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9937-3162
Loan MatteraFondation Campus Biotech Genève, Geneva, Switzerland.
Igor NestrasilCenter for Magnetic Resonance Research, Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3833-1484
Kristin P O'GradyVanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4550-2026
Nico PapinuttoUCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Daniel PappNeuroPoly Lab, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Deborah ParetoNeuroradiology Section, Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain.
Todd B ParrishInterdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
Anna PichiecchioDepartment of Brain and Behavioural Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
Ferran PradosNMR Research Unit, Queen Square MS Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7872-0142
Àlex RoviraNeuroradiology Section, Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain.
Marc J RuitenbergSchool of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Rebecca S SamsonNMR Research Unit, Queen Square MS Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
Giovanni SaviniBrain MRI 3T Research Centre, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7133-429X
Maryam SeifSpinal Cord Injury Center Balgrist, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Alan C SeifertBioMedical Engineering and Imaging Institute (BMEII), Department of Radiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Alex K SmithWellcome Centre For Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Seth A SmithVanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
Zachary A SmithUniversity of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
Elisabeth SolanaCenter of Neuroimmunology, Laboratory of Advanced Imaging in Neuroimmunological Diseases, Hospital Clinic Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) and Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Yuichi SuzukiDepartment of Radiology, the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
George TackleyCUBRIC, Cardiff University, Wales, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7464-7662
Alexandra TinnermannDepartment of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Jan ValošekDepartment of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University and University Hospital Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7398-4990
Dimitri Van De VilleInstitute of Bioengineering/Center for Neuroprosthetics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Geneva, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2879-3861
Marios C YiannakasNMR Research Unit, Queen Square MS Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
Kenneth A WeberDivision of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
Nikolaus WeiskopfDepartment of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5239-1881
Richard G WiseCUBRIC, Cardiff University, Wales, UK.
Patrik O WyssDepartment of Radiology, Swiss Paraplegic Centre, Nottwil, Switzerland.
Junqian XuBioMedical Engineering and Imaging Institute (BMEII), Department of Radiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8438-2066
Funding
TRD4 - Ultrahigh Field Engineering and SafetyP41EB027061 · NIBIB · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · PI Gregory John Metzger · 2019 to 2026
$11.7MTraining and Dissemination CoreP41EB030006 · NIBIB · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI Susie Yi Huang · 2020 to 2026
$10.9MProject 4P41EB015896 · NIBIB · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI ROSEN, BRUCE R · 2012 to 2018
$9.8MInstitutional Career Development CoreKL2TR002245 · NCATS · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI Julie A. Bastarache · 2017 to 2026
$9.3MPostdoctoral Training in Biomedical MRI and MRST32EB001628 · NIBIB · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI John C Gore · 2003 to 2026
$7.0MInstitutional Center Cores for Advanced NeuroimagingP30NS076408 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · PI UGURBIL, KAMIL · 2012 to 2020
$4.2MSpinal cord functional connectivity as a biomarker of spinal cord dysfunctionR01EB027779 · NIBIB · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI BARRY, ROBERT L · 2019 to 2022
$2.7MStructural and Functional MRI of the Cervical Spinal Cord in Multiple SclerosisR01NS109114 · NINDS · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI SMITH, SETH A · 2018 to 2022
$1.7MNeuroimaging-Based Brain and Spinal Cord Biomarkers for Cervical RadiculopathyK23NS104211 · NINDS · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI WEBER, KENNETH ARNOLD · 2018 to 2022
$875kFunctional Imaging and resting state connectivity in human spinal cord at 7 TeslaR00EB016689 · NIBIB · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI BARRY, ROBERT L · 2016 to 2018
$747kDelineating Modulatory Control of Pain Using 7T Functional and Diffusion MRIK01NS105160 · NINDS · ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI · PI SEIFERT, ALAN C · 2018 to 2020
$402kCIHR FDN-143263NCATS NIH HHS KL2 TR002245NIBIB NIH HHS P41 EB015896NIBIB NIH HHS P41 EB027061NIBIB NIH HHS P41 EB030006NIBIB NIH HHS R00 EB016689NIBIB NIH HHS R01 EB027779NIBIB NIH HHS T32 EB001628NINDS NIH HHS K01 NS105160NINDS NIH HHS K23 NS104211NINDS NIH HHS L30 NS108301NINDS NIH HHS P30 NS076408NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS109114Wellcome TrustWellcome Trust 203139/Z/16/Z
Abstract
Quantitative spinal cord (SC) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) presents many challenges, including a lack of standardized imaging protocols. Here we present a prospectively harmonized quantitative MRI protocol, which we refer to as the spine generic protocol, for users of 3T MRI systems from the three main manufacturers: GE, Philips and Siemens. The protocol provides guidance for assessing SC macrostructural and microstructural integrity: T1-weighted and T2-weighted imaging for SC cross-sectional area computation, multi-echo gradient echo for gray matter cross-sectional area, and magnetization transfer and diffusion weighted imaging for assessing white matter microstructure. In a companion paper from the same authors, the spine generic protocol was used to acquire data across 42 centers in 260 healthy subjects. The key details of the spine generic protocol are also available in an open-access document that can be found at https://github.com/spine-generic/protocols . The protocol will serve as a starting point for researchers and clinicians implementing new SC imaging initiatives so that, in the future, inclusion of the SC in neuroimaging protocols will be more common. The protocol could be implemented by any trained MR technician or by a researcher/clinician familiar with MRI acquisition.
Indexed as
Magnetic Resonance ImagingSpinal CordAdultFemaleHumansImage Processing, Computer-AssistedMale
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