BCCHR Researchers Find a Researcher

Alexander Rauscher

PhD

Investigator, BC Children's Hospital

I use MRI scanners to image the human brain. Since these scanners don't use radiation like CT scanners or X-ray machines, we can scan people – even babies – multiple times. My main research focus is to develop and use new methods to get sharper images and detailed maps of the brain.

I use these techniques for the diagnosis and investigation of concussion, for instance. We have scanned young ice hockey players before and after concussion and we were able to measure the changes in their brains due to concussion.

We also investigate what happens to the MRI signal when the myelin in the brain is damaged. Myelin is the insulator around the nerve fibres. Damage to the myelin due to injury or disease leads to impairment of the brain and has serious consequences for patients. We develop MRI methods for the measurement of myelin damage and repair. These methods allow earlier and better diagnoses of diseases and help medical doctors to initiate the right treatment as early as possible.

Academic Affiliations

Associate Professor, , Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia
Research Theme: Brain, Behaviour & Development
Research Group(s): Visualizing the Brain

Contact Information

Location

4500 Oak St, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6H 3N1

(604) 880-1602

rauscher@phas.ubc.ca

C-DIR: Double inversion recovery with controlled artifact suppression in brain MRI

American Journal of Neuroradiology

Alexander Jaffray and Christina Graf and Armin Rund and Stefan Steinerberger and Anthony Traboulsee and David K.B. Li and Alexander Rauscher

DOI: 10.3174/ajnr.A9167

01 / 2026

C-FLAIR: Fluid-attenuated Inversion Recovery with Controlled Artifact Suppression in Brain MRI

Radiology

Christina Graf and Alexander Jaffray and Armin Rund and Stefan Steinerberger and David K. B. Li and Alexander Rauscher

DOI: 10.1148/radiol.250108

11 / 2025

A computational pipeline towards large-scale and multiscale modeling of traumatic axonal injury

Computers in Biology and Medicine

Chaokai Zhang and Lara Bartels and Adam Clansey and Julian Kloiber and Daniel Bondi and Paul van Donkelaar and Lyndia Wu and Alexander Rauscher and Songbai Ji

DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2024.108109

03 / 2024

Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging reflects different levels of histologically determined myelin densities in multiple sclerosis, including remyelination in inactive multiple sclerosis lesions

Brain Pathology

Vanessa Wiggermann and Verena Endmayr and Enedino Hernndez-Torres and Romana Hftberger and Gregor Kasprian and Simon Hametner and Alexander Rauscher

DOI: 10.1111/bpa.13150

11 / 2023

The Effects of Wearing a 3-Ply or KN95 Face Mask on Cerebral Blood Flow and Oxygenation

Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Aisling Fothergill and Christoph Birkl and Christian Kames and Wayne Su and Alexander Weber and Alexander Rauscher

DOI: 10.1002/jmri.28448

06 / 2023

Multi-echo dipole inversion for magnetic susceptibility mapping

Magnetic Resonance in Medicine

Christian Kames and Jonathan Doucette and Alexander Rauscher

DOI: 10.1002/mrm.29588

06 / 2023

Quantitative MRI and histopathology detect remyelination in inactive multiple sclerosis lesions

Vanessa Wiggermann and Verena Endmayr and Enedino Hernndez-Torres and Romana Hftberger and Gregor Kasprian and Simon Hametner and Alexander Rauscher

DOI: 10.1101/2022.08.01.22271457

08 / 2022

Cerebrovascular Reactivity Following Spinal Cord Injury

Alexander Mark Weber and Tom E. Nightingale and Michael Jarrett and Amanda H. X. Lee and Olivia Campbell and Matthias Walter and Samuel J.E. Lucas and Aaron Phillips and Alexander Rauscher and Andrei Krassioukov

DOI: 10.1101/2022.06.28.22276567

06 / 2022

Recovering SWI-filtered phase data using deep learning

Magnetic Resonance in Medicine

Christian Kames and Jonathan Doucette and Christoph Birkl and Alexander Rauscher

DOI: 10.1002/mrm.29013

02 / 2022

Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping of Venous Vessels in Neonates with Perinatal Asphyxia

American Journal of Neuroradiology

A.M. Weber and Y. Zhang and C. Kames and A. Rauscher

DOI: 10.3174/ajnr.A7086

07 / 2021

Myelin water imaging depends on white matter fiber orientation in the human brain

Magnetic Resonance in Medicine

Christoph Birkl and Jonathan Doucette and Michael Fan and Enedino Hernndez-Torres and Alexander Rauscher

DOI: 10.1002/mrm.28543

04 / 2021

In vivo investigation of the multi-exponential T2 decay in human white matter at 7 T: Implications for myelin water imaging at UHF

NMR in Biomedicine

Vanessa Wiggermann and Alexander L. MacKay and Alexander Rauscher and Gunther Helms

DOI: 10.1002/nbm.4429

02 / 2021

Non-negative least squares computation for in vivo myelin mapping using simulated multi-echo spin-echo T2 decay data

NMR in Biomedicine

V. Wiggermann and I.M. Vavasour and S.H. Kolind and A.L. MacKay and G. Helms and A. Rauscher

DOI: 10.1002/nbm.4277

12 / 2020

Myelin water imaging and R2* mapping in neonates: Investigating R2* dependence on myelin and fibre orientation in whole brain white matter

NMR in Biomedicine

Alexander Mark Weber and Yuting Zhang and Christian Kames and Alexander Rauscher

DOI: 10.1002/nbm.4222

03 / 2020

Cortical morphology predicts placebo response in multiple sclerosis

Mariya V. Cherkasova and Jessie F. Fu and Michael Jarrett and Poljanka Johnson and Shawna Abel and Roger Tam and Alexander Rauscher and Vesna Sossi and Shannon Kolind and David Li and A. Dessa Sadovnick and Lindsay Machan and J. Marc Girard and Francois Emond and Reza Vosoughi and Anthony Traboulsee and A. Jon Stoessl

DOI: 10.1101/825638

10 / 2019

The role of iron and myelin in orientation dependent R2* of white matter

NMR in Biomedicine

Daniel Kor and Christoph Birkl and Stefan Ropele and Jonathan Doucette and Tianyou Xu and Vanessa Wiggermann and Enedino Hernndez-Torres and Simon Hametner and Alexander Rauscher

DOI: 10.1002/nbm.4092

07 / 2019

Quantitative Analysis of Punctate White Matter Lesions in Neonates Using Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping and R2* Relaxation

American Journal of Neuroradiology

Y. Zhang and A. Rauscher and C. Kames and A.M. Weber

DOI: 10.3174/ajnr.A6114

07 / 2019

The role of diffusion and perivascular spaces in dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI

Jonathan Doucette and Christian Kames and Enedino Hernndez-Torres and Anthony Traboulsee and Alexander Rauscher

DOI: 10.1101/614008

04 / 2019

Rapid myelin water imaging for the assessment of cervical spinal cord myelin damage

NeuroImage: Clinical

Adam V. Dvorak and Emil Ljungberg and Irene M. Vavasour and Hanwen Liu and Poljanka Johnson and Alexander Rauscher and John L.K. Kramer and Roger Tam and David K.B. Li and Cornelia Laule and Laura Barlow and Hannah Briemberg and Alex L. MacKay and Anthony Traboulsee and Piotr Kozlowski and Neil Cashman and Shannon H. Kolind

DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2019.101896

What Have We Learned from Perfusion MRI in Multiple Sclerosis?

American Journal of Neuroradiology

E. Lapointe and D.K.B. Li and A.L. Traboulsee and A. Rauscher

DOI: 10.3174/ajnr.A5504

06 / 2018

Cerebral Microbleeds: A Call for Standardized Advanced Neuroimaging

American Journal of Neuroradiology

A. Rauscher and G.-Y.R. Hsiung and A.A. Sepehry

DOI: 10.3174/ajnr.A5323

11 / 2017

Cover Image, Volume 30, Issue 8

NMR in Biomedicine

Vanessa Wiggermann and Simon Hametner and Enedino Hernndez-Torres and Christian Kames and Verena Endmayr and Gregor Kasprian and Romana Hftberger and David K.B. Li and Anthony Traboulsee and Alexander Rauscher

DOI: 10.1002/nbm.3645

08 / 2017

Susceptibility-sensitive MRI of multiple sclerosis lesions and the impact of normal-appearing white matter changes

NMR in Biomedicine

DOI: 10.1002/nbm.3727

08 / 2017

Microbleeds in Alzheimers Disease: A Neuropsychological Overview and Meta-Analysis

Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences / Journal Canadien des Sciences Neurologiques

Amir A. Sepehry and Alexander Rauscher and Ging-Yuek Hsiung and Donna J. Lang

DOI: 10.1017/cjn.2016.296

11 / 2016

RE: Elucidating Pretreatment Cognitive Impairment in Breast Cancer Patients: The Impact of Cancer-Related Post-traumatic Stress.

Sepehry AA and Tyldesley S and Davis MK and Simmons C and Rauscher A and Lang DJ

DOI: 10.1093/jnci/djw048 PubMed: 27075855

08 / 2016

Subcortical grey matter alterations in cocaine dependent individuals with substance-induced psychosis compared to non-psychotic cocaine users.

Willi TS and Lang DJ and Honer WG and Smith GN and Thornton AE and Panenka WJ and Procyshyn RM and Vila-Rodriguez F and Su W and Vertinsky AT and Leonova O and Rauscher A and MacEwan GW and Barr AM

PubMed: 27499362

08 / 2016

Operationalizing Neuroimaging for Disorders of Consciousness: The Canadian Context.

Illes J and Owen AM and Byram AC and MCS Neuroimaging Workgroup

DOI: 10.1017/cjn.2015.395 PubMed: 26842547

07 / 2016

Anisotropic cerebral vascular architecture causes orientation dependency in cerebral blood flow and volume measured with dynamic susceptibility contrast magnetic resonance imaging.

Hernndez-Torres E and Kassner N and Forkert ND and Wei L and Wiggermann V and Daemen M and Machan L and Traboulsee A and Li D and Rauscher A

PubMed: 27259344

06 / 2016

Reduced Myelin Water in the White Matter Tracts of Patients with Niemann-Pick Disease Type C.

Davies-Thompson J and Vavasour I and Scheel M and Rauscher A and Barton JJ

PubMed: 26939636

03 / 2016

Characterization of white matter integrity deficits in cocaine-dependent individuals with substance-induced psychosis compared with non-psychotic cocaine users.

Willi TS and Barr AM and Gicas K and Lang DJ and Vila-Rodriguez F and Su W and Thornton AE and Leonova O and Giesbrecht CJ and Procyshyn RM and Rauscher A and MacEwan WG and Honer WG and Panenka WJ

DOI: 10.1111/adb.12363 PubMed: 26833821

02 / 2016

Prevalence of Brain Microbleeds in Alzheimer Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on the Influence of Neuroimaging Techniques

American Journal of Neuroradiology

A.A. Sepehry and D. Lang and G.-Y. Hsiung and A. Rauscher

DOI: 10.3174/ajnr.A4525

02 / 2016

FLAIR2: A Combination of FLAIR and T2 for Improved MS Lesion Detection

American Journal of Neuroradiology

V. Wiggermann and E. Hernndez-Torres and A. Traboulsee and D.K.B. Li and A. Rauscher

DOI: 10.3174/ajnr.A4514

02 / 2016

Corticospinal tract integrity measured using transcranial magnetic stimulation and magnetic resonance imaging in neuromyelitis optica and multiple sclerosis.

Manogaran P and Vavasour I and Borich M and Kolind SH and Lange AP and Rauscher A and Boyd L and Li DK and Traboulsee A

DOI: 10.1177/1352458515579441 PubMed: 25948623

01 / 2016

A Prospective Pilot Investigation of Brain Volume, White Matter Hyperintensities, and Hemorrhagic Lesions after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

Jarrett M and Tam R and Hernndez-Torres E and Martin N and Perera W and Zhao Y and Shahinfard E and Dadachanji S and Taunton J and Li DK and Rauscher A

DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2016.00011 PubMed: 26903944

Quantifying visual pathway axonal and myelin loss in multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica

NeuroImage: Clinical

Praveena Manogaran and Irene M. Vavasour and Alex P. Lange and Yinshan Zhao and Katrina McMullen and Alexander Rauscher and Robert Carruthers and David K.B. Li and Anthony L. Traboulsee and Shannon H. Kolind

DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2016.05.014

Motor Skill Acquisition Promotes Human Brain Myelin Plasticity.

Lakhani B and Borich MR and Jackson JN and Wadden KP and Peters S and Villamayor A and MacKay AL and Vavasour IM and Rauscher A and Boyd LA

DOI: 10.1155/2016/7526135 PubMed: 27293906

Myelin Water Fraction Is Transiently Reduced after a Single Mild Traumatic Brain Injury--A Prospective Cohort Study in Collegiate Hockey Players.

Wright AD and Jarrett M and Vavasour I and Shahinfard E and Kolind S and van Donkelaar P and Taunton J and Li D and Rauscher A

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0150215 PubMed: 26913900

Changes in cerebral vascular reactivity and structure following prolonged exposure to high altitude in humans.

Foster GE and Davies-Thompson J and Dominelli PB and Heran MK and Donnelly J and duManoir GR and Ainslie PN and Rauscher A and Sheel AW

DOI: 10.14814/phy2.12647 PubMed: 26660556

12 / 2015

Trajectories of subcortical iron accumulation in MS.

Rovira and Wiggermann V and Rauscher A

DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000001691 PubMed: 25979699

06 / 2015

Orientation Dependent MR Signal Decay Differentiates between People with MS, Their Asymptomatic Siblings and Unrelated Healthy Controls.

Hernndez-Torres E and Wiggermann V and Hametner S and Baumeister TR and Sadovnick AD and Zhao Y and Machan L and Li DK and Traboulsee A and Rauscher A

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0140956 PubMed: 26489078

Mortality from treatable illnesses in marginally housed adults: a prospective cohort study.

Jones AA and Vila-Rodriguez F and Leonova O and Langheimer V and Lang DJ and Barr AM and Procyshyn RM and Smith GN and Schultz K and Buchanan T and Krausz M and Montaner JS and MacEwan GW and Rauscher A and Panenka WJ and Thornton AE and Honer WG

DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-008876 PubMed: 26297373

Increased spinal cord movements in cervical spondylotic myelopathy

The Spine Journal

DOI: 10.1016/j.spinee.2014.01.036

10 / 2014

A prospective study of the influence of acute alcohol intoxication versus chronic alcohol consumption on outcome following traumatic brain injury.

Lange RT and Shewchuk JR and Rauscher A and Jarrett M and Heran MK and Brubacher JR and Iverson GL

DOI: 10.1093/arclin/acu027 PubMed: 24964748

08 / 2014

To exclude or not to exclude: further examination of the influence of white matter hyperintensities in diffusion tensor imaging research.

Lange RT and Shewchuk JR and Heran MK and Rauscher A and Jarrett M and Brubacher JR and Iverson GL

DOI: 10.1089/neu.2013.2866 PubMed: 23952763

01 / 2014

Prevalence of extracranial venous narrowing on catheter venography in people with multiple sclerosis, their siblings, and unrelated healthy controls: a blinded, case-control study.

Traboulsee AL and Knox KB and Machan L and Zhao Y and Yee I and Rauscher A and Klass D and Szkup P and Otani R and Kopriva D and Lala S and Li DK and Sadovnick D

DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61747-X PubMed: 24119384

01 / 2014

Magnetic resonance frequency shifts during acute MS lesion formation.

Wiggermann V and Hernndez Torres E and Vavasour IM and Moore GR and Laule C and MacKay AL and Li DK and Traboulsee A and Rauscher A

DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e31829bfd63 PubMed: 23761621

07 / 2013

Evaluation of white matter myelin water fraction in chronic stroke.

Borich MR and Mackay AL and Vavasour IM and Rauscher A and Boyd LA

DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2013.04.006 PubMed: 24179808

A prospective study of physician-observed concussion during a varsity university hockey season: white matter integrity in ice hockey players. Part 3 of 4.

Koerte IK and Kaufmann D and Hartl E and Bouix S and Pasternak O and Kubicki M and Rauscher A and Li DK and Dadachanji SB and Taunton JA and Forwell LA and Johnson AM and Echlin PS and Shenton ME

DOI: 10.3171/2012.10.FOCUS12303 PubMed: 23199426

12 / 2012

Rapid whole cerebrum myelin water imaging using a 3D GRASE sequence.

Prasloski T and Rauscher A and MacKay AL and Hodgson M and Vavasour IM and Laule C and Mdler B

DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.06.064 PubMed: 22776448

10 / 2012

Bilateral filtering of magnetic resonance phase images.

McPhee KC and Denk C and Al-Rekabi Z and Rauscher A

DOI: 10.1016/j.mri.2011.03.009 PubMed: 21664782

09 / 2011

The influence of white matter fibre orientation on MR signal phase and decay.

Denk C and Hernandez Torres E and MacKay A and Rauscher A

DOI: 10.1002/nbm.1581 PubMed: 21404336

04 / 2011

Susceptibility weighted imaging with multiple echoes.

Denk C and Rauscher A

DOI: 10.1002/jmri.21995 PubMed: 20027586

01 / 2010

Localization of the subthalamic nucleus: optimization with susceptibility-weighted phase MR imaging.

Vertinsky AT and Coenen VA and Lang DJ and Kolind S and Honey CR and Li D and Rauscher A

DOI: 10.3174/ajnr.A1669 PubMed: 19509077

10 / 2009

ToF-SWI: simultaneous time of flight and fully flow compensated susceptibility weighted imaging.

Deistung A and Dittrich E and Sedlacik J and Rauscher A and Reichenbach JR

DOI: 10.1002/jmri.21673 PubMed: 19472425

06 / 2009

Phase unwrapping of MR images using Phi UN--a fast and robust region growing algorithm.

Witoszynskyj S and Rauscher A and Reichenbach JR and Barth M

DOI: 10.1016/j.media.2008.10.004 PubMed: 19070532

04 / 2009

MR relaxation in multiple sclerosis.

MacKay AL and Vavasour IM and Rauscher A and Kolind SH and Mdler B and Moore GR and Traboulsee AL and Li DK and Laule C

DOI: 10.1016/j.nic.2008.09.007 PubMed: 19064196

02 / 2009

Quantification of modulated blood oxygenation levels in single cerebral veins by investigating their MR signal decay.

Sedlacik J and Rauscher A and Reichenbach JR

DOI: 10.1016/j.zemedi.2008.07.005 PubMed: 19459585

Susceptibility weighted imaging at ultra high magnetic field strengths: theoretical considerations and experimental results.

Deistung A and Rauscher A and Sedlacik J and Stadler J and Witoszynskyj S and Reichenbach JR

DOI: 10.1002/mrm.21754 PubMed: 18956467

11 / 2008

Improved elimination of phase effects from background field inhomogeneities for susceptibility weighted imaging at high magnetic field strengths.

Rauscher A and Barth M and Herrmann KH and Witoszynskyj S and Deistung A and Reichenbach JR

DOI: 10.1016/j.mri.2008.01.029 PubMed: 18524525

10 / 2008

Investigation of the influence of carbon dioxide concentrations on cerebral physiology by susceptibility-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (SWI).

Sedlacik J and Kutschbach C and Rauscher A and Deistung A and Reichenbach JR

DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.07.008 PubMed: 18678260

10 / 2008

Investigations on the effect of caffeine on cerebral venous vessel contrast by using susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) at 1.5, 3 and 7 T.

Sedlacik J and Helm K and Rauscher A and Stadler J and Mentzel HJ and Reichenbach JR

DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.11.046 PubMed: 18226553

03 / 2008

Informatics in Radiology: GUIBOLD: a graphical user interface for image reconstruction and data analysis in susceptibility-weighted MR imaging.

Deistung A and Rauscher A and Sedlacik J and Witoszynskyj S and Reichenbach JR

DOI: 10.1148/rg.283075715 PubMed: 18480476

Obtaining blood oxygenation levels from MR signal behavior in the presence of single venous vessels.

Sedlacik J and Rauscher A and Reichenbach JR

DOI: 10.1002/mrm.21283 PubMed: 17969121

11 / 2007

Detection of multiple intracranial hemorrhages in a child with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) by susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI).

Kullnig PE and Rauscher A and Witoszynskyj S and Deistung A and Kentouche K and Reichenbach JR and Mentzel HJ and Kaiser WA

DOI: 10.2484/rcr.v2i4.135 PubMed: 27303498

Contrast-enhanced, high-resolution, susceptibility-weighted magnetic resonance imaging of the brain: dose-dependent optimization at 3 tesla and 1.5 tesla in healthy volunteers.

Noebauer-Huhmann IM and Pinker K and Barth M and Mlynarik V and Ba-Ssalamah A and Saringer WF and Weber M and Benesch T and Witoszynskyj S and Rauscher A and Reichenbach JR and Trattnig S

DOI: 10.1097/01.rli.0000188360.24222.5e PubMed: 16481907

03 / 2006

Demonstration of paramagnetic and diamagnetic cerebral lesions by using susceptibility weighted phase imaging (SWI).

Deistung A and Mentzel HJ and Rauscher A and Witoszynskyj S and Kaiser WA and Reichenbach JR

DOI: 10.1078/0939-3889-00324 PubMed: 17216751

Susceptibility weighted imaging: data acquisition, image reconstruction and clinical applications.

Rauscher A and Sedlacik J and Deistung A and Mentzel HJ and Reichenbach JR

DOI: 10.1078/0939-3889-00322 PubMed: 17216749

High resolution susceptibility weighted MR-imaging of brain tumors during the application of a gaseous agent.

Rauscher A and Sedlacik J and Fitzek C and Walter B and Hochstetter A and Kalff R and Kaiser WA and Reichenbach JR

DOI: 10.1055/s-2005-858428 PubMed: 16021537

08 / 2005

Nonnvasive assessment of vascular architecture and function during modulated blood oxygenation using susceptibility weighted magnetic resonance imaging.

Rauscher A and Sedlacik J and Barth M and Haacke EM and Reichenbach JR

DOI: 10.1002/mrm.20520 PubMed: 15968657

07 / 2005

Subtraction of in-phase and opposed-phase images in dynamic MR mammography.

Reichenbach JR and Hopfe J and Rauscher A and Wurdinger S and Kaiser WA

DOI: 10.1002/jmri.20316 PubMed: 15834904

05 / 2005

Application of an exogenous hyperoxic contrast agent in MR mammography: initial results.

Fischer DR and Reichenbach JR and Rauscher A and Sedlacik J and Kaiser WA

DOI: 10.1007/s00330-004-2484-0 PubMed: 15449007

04 / 2005

Magnetic susceptibility-weighted MR phase imaging of the human brain.

Rauscher A and Sedlacik J and Barth M and Mentzel HJ and Reichenbach JR

PubMed: 15814914

04 / 2005

Robust field map generation using a triple-echo acquisition.

Windischberger C and Robinson S and Rauscher A and Barth M and Moser E

DOI: 10.1002/jmri.20158 PubMed: 15390143

10 / 2004

Optimized 3 T EPI of the amygdalae.

Robinson S and Windischberger C and Rauscher A and Moser E

DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2003.12.048 PubMed: 15110010

05 / 2004

Automated unwrapping of MR phase images applied to BOLD MR-venography at 3 Tesla.

Rauscher A and Barth M and Reichenbach JR and Stollberger R and Moser E

DOI: 10.1002/jmri.10346 PubMed: 12884329

08 / 2003

Multi-echo GRE imaging of knee cartilage.

PubMed: 27564991

Characterization of MRI system imperfections

With funding from the Canada Fund for Innovation, we purchased a magnetic field camera which allows us to map the magnetic fields during an MRI scan. This information is then used in the image reconstruction, leading to greatly improved image quality.

Mapping of brain tissue properties

The MRI signal can be compared to a lighthouse. At any given time, the lighthouse beam has a brightness and a direction. Conventional MRI deals mainly with the brightness of the signal and ignores the direction. We have shown that this direction information, which is related to the frequency of the signal, contains valuable information on structure and composition of biological tissues. We translate this information into maps of magnetic susceptibility, which are sensitive to brain iron and myelin content. My team and I use this approach for the characterization of changes in the brain at high resolution and with high sensitivity.

Concussion in young ice hockey players

The best way to study brain injury is to obtain data before and after injury for direct comparison. In humans, this can be done by following people who have a high risk of sustaining a brain injury. We worked with ice hockey players and scanned their brains at the beginning and at the end of the hockey season. The concussed athletes were scanned at three days, two weeks and two months after concussion.

Grants

NSERC Discovery Grant, CFI, CIHR project grants

Honours & Awards

Canada Research Chair Tier 2

Toshiba Award

CIHR New Investigator Award

London Drugs Award for Research Excellence in Radiology

Related News

Every day, our researchers work towards breakthroughs to transform the lives of kids in BC and around the world. Learn about our latest innovations and advancements in child health.

bcchr news

Congratulations CIHR Spring 2022 Project Grant recipients
Congratulations to the BC Children's Hospital Research Institute (BCCHR) and Women's Health Research Institute (WHRI) investigators and their teams who were awarded funding through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Spring 2022 Project Grant competition. Our research community received around $15 million in new research grants as principal investigators or co-investigators.
Read more
Congratulations to our 2021 NSERC Grant recipients!
Congratulations to the following BCCHR investigators who were awarded NSERC funding.
Read more
Congratulations to BC Children’s Hospital new and renewed Canada Research Chairs
Dr. Megan Levings and Dr. Jill Zwicker are two of the new Canada Research Chairs announced June 15, 2021 by the Government of Canada.
Read more

Our Research

At BC Children’s, we are making discoveries that save lives and transform health care for children in our province and around the world. Our research portfolio includes basic, clinical, population, and public health research.

EXPLORE OUR RESEARCH

Alexander Rauscher

PhD

Investigator, BC Children's Hospital

Academic Affiliations

Contact Information

Location

Publications

Collapse

Expand

C-DIR: Double inversion recovery with controlled artifact suppression in brain MRI

C-FLAIR: Fluid-attenuated Inversion Recovery with Controlled Artifact Suppression in Brain MRI

A computational pipeline towards large-scale and multiscale modeling of traumatic axonal injury

Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging reflects different levels of histologically determined myelin densities in multiple sclerosis, including remyelination in inactive multiple sclerosis lesions

The Effects of Wearing a 3-Ply or KN95 Face Mask on Cerebral Blood Flow and Oxygenation

Multi-echo dipole inversion for magnetic susceptibility mapping

Quantitative MRI and histopathology detect remyelination in inactive multiple sclerosis lesions

Cerebrovascular Reactivity Following Spinal Cord Injury

Recovering SWI-filtered phase data using deep learning

Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping of Venous Vessels in Neonates with Perinatal Asphyxia

Myelin water imaging depends on white matter fiber orientation in the human brain

In vivo investigation of the multi-exponential T2 decay in human white matter at 7 T: Implications for myelin water imaging at UHF

Non-negative least squares computation for in vivo myelin mapping using simulated multi-echo spin-echo T2 decay data

Myelin water imaging and R2* mapping in neonates: Investigating R2* dependence on myelin and fibre orientation in whole brain white matter

Cortical morphology predicts placebo response in multiple sclerosis

The role of iron and myelin in orientation dependent R2* of white matter

Quantitative Analysis of Punctate White Matter Lesions in Neonates Using Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping and R2* Relaxation

The role of diffusion and perivascular spaces in dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI

Rapid myelin water imaging for the assessment of cervical spinal cord myelin damage

What Have We Learned from Perfusion MRI in Multiple Sclerosis?

Cerebral Microbleeds: A Call for Standardized Advanced Neuroimaging

Cover Image, Volume 30, Issue 8

Susceptibility-sensitive MRI of multiple sclerosis lesions and the impact of normal-appearing white matter changes

Microbleeds in Alzheimers Disease: A Neuropsychological Overview and Meta-Analysis

RE: Elucidating Pretreatment Cognitive Impairment in Breast Cancer Patients: The Impact of Cancer-Related Post-traumatic Stress.

Subcortical grey matter alterations in cocaine dependent individuals with substance-induced psychosis compared to non-psychotic cocaine users.

Operationalizing Neuroimaging for Disorders of Consciousness: The Canadian Context.

Anisotropic cerebral vascular architecture causes orientation dependency in cerebral blood flow and volume measured with dynamic susceptibility contrast magnetic resonance imaging.

Reduced Myelin Water in the White Matter Tracts of Patients with Niemann-Pick Disease Type C.

Characterization of white matter integrity deficits in cocaine-dependent individuals with substance-induced psychosis compared with non-psychotic cocaine users.

Prevalence of Brain Microbleeds in Alzheimer Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on the Influence of Neuroimaging Techniques

FLAIR2: A Combination of FLAIR and T2 for Improved MS Lesion Detection

Corticospinal tract integrity measured using transcranial magnetic stimulation and magnetic resonance imaging in neuromyelitis optica and multiple sclerosis.

A Prospective Pilot Investigation of Brain Volume, White Matter Hyperintensities, and Hemorrhagic Lesions after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

Quantifying visual pathway axonal and myelin loss in multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica

Motor Skill Acquisition Promotes Human Brain Myelin Plasticity.

Myelin Water Fraction Is Transiently Reduced after a Single Mild Traumatic Brain Injury--A Prospective Cohort Study in Collegiate Hockey Players.

Changes in cerebral vascular reactivity and structure following prolonged exposure to high altitude in humans.

Trajectories of subcortical iron accumulation in MS.

Orientation Dependent MR Signal Decay Differentiates between People with MS, Their Asymptomatic Siblings and Unrelated Healthy Controls.

Mortality from treatable illnesses in marginally housed adults: a prospective cohort study.

Increased spinal cord movements in cervical spondylotic myelopathy

A prospective study of the influence of acute alcohol intoxication versus chronic alcohol consumption on outcome following traumatic brain injury.

To exclude or not to exclude: further examination of the influence of white matter hyperintensities in diffusion tensor imaging research.

Prevalence of extracranial venous narrowing on catheter venography in people with multiple sclerosis, their siblings, and unrelated healthy controls: a blinded, case-control study.

Magnetic resonance frequency shifts during acute MS lesion formation.

Evaluation of white matter myelin water fraction in chronic stroke.

A prospective study of physician-observed concussion during a varsity university hockey season: white matter integrity in ice hockey players. Part 3 of 4.

Rapid whole cerebrum myelin water imaging using a 3D GRASE sequence.

Bilateral filtering of magnetic resonance phase images.

The influence of white matter fibre orientation on MR signal phase and decay.

Susceptibility weighted imaging with multiple echoes.

Localization of the subthalamic nucleus: optimization with susceptibility-weighted phase MR imaging.

ToF-SWI: simultaneous time of flight and fully flow compensated susceptibility weighted imaging.

Phase unwrapping of MR images using Phi UN--a fast and robust region growing algorithm.

MR relaxation in multiple sclerosis.

Quantification of modulated blood oxygenation levels in single cerebral veins by investigating their MR signal decay.

Susceptibility weighted imaging at ultra high magnetic field strengths: theoretical considerations and experimental results.

Improved elimination of phase effects from background field inhomogeneities for susceptibility weighted imaging at high magnetic field strengths.

Investigation of the influence of carbon dioxide concentrations on cerebral physiology by susceptibility-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (SWI).

Investigations on the effect of caffeine on cerebral venous vessel contrast by using susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) at 1.5, 3 and 7 T.

Informatics in Radiology: GUIBOLD: a graphical user interface for image reconstruction and data analysis in susceptibility-weighted MR imaging.

Obtaining blood oxygenation levels from MR signal behavior in the presence of single venous vessels.

Detection of multiple intracranial hemorrhages in a child with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) by susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI).

Contrast-enhanced, high-resolution, susceptibility-weighted magnetic resonance imaging of the brain: dose-dependent optimization at 3 tesla and 1.5 tesla in healthy volunteers.

Demonstration of paramagnetic and diamagnetic cerebral lesions by using susceptibility weighted phase imaging (SWI).

Susceptibility weighted imaging: data acquisition, image reconstruction and clinical applications.

High resolution susceptibility weighted MR-imaging of brain tumors during the application of a gaseous agent.

Nonnvasive assessment of vascular architecture and function during modulated blood oxygenation using susceptibility weighted magnetic resonance imaging.

Subtraction of in-phase and opposed-phase images in dynamic MR mammography.

Application of an exogenous hyperoxic contrast agent in MR mammography: initial results.