Gaëtan Rensonnet

My research aims at developing post-processing methods for the analysis of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) acquisitions in the white matter of the human brain and spinal cord in order to improve our understanding of neurological diseases and injuries. 

Based on non-invasive in vivo DW-MRI acquisitions that have a resolution of a few millimeters, we obtain an anatomical characterization of nervous tissues at the micrometer level known as the tissue microstructure. 

Specifically, I use Monte Carlo simulations of the random walk of water molecules in biologically-realistic environments as a model of the diffusion signal. This in turn is used to reconstruct the measured diffusion MRI signal and estimate microstructural properties of the tissues.