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. 2025 Nov 6.
doi: 10.1002/acn3.70237. Online ahead of print.

Portable Low-Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging in People With Human Immunodeficiency Virus

Annabel Sorby-Adams  1   2 , Malachi Keo  1 , Jennifer Guo  1   2 , Daire Daly  1 , Richard Ahern  3 , Kimon Zachary  3 , Gregory Robbins  3 , Rajesh T Gandhi  3 , Bragi Sveinsson  4 , Adam de Havenon  5 , Kevin N Sheth  5 , Otto Rapalino  6 , Juan Eugenio Iglesias Gonzales  4   7   8 , W Taylor Kimberly  1   2 , Shibani S Mukerji  1   9
Affiliations
Free article

Portable Low-Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging in People With Human Immunodeficiency Virus

Annabel Sorby-Adams et al. Ann Clin Transl Neurol. .
Free article

Abstract

Objective: The aging population of people with HIV (PWH) raises heightened concerns regarding accelerated aging and dementia. Portable, low-field MRI (LF-MRI) is an innovative technology that could enhance access and facilitate routine monitoring of PWH. We sought to evaluate the feasibility of LF-MRI and apply a machine learning (ML) segmentation algorithm to examine atrophy and white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in PWH compared to people without HIV (PWoH) of similar age.

Methods: Individuals with a confirmed diagnosis of HIV on antiretroviral therapy underwent LF-MRI (64 mT) acquisition in the outpatient neurology clinic. PWoH with > 1 vascular comorbidity (VC cohort, n = 25) or with mild cognitive impairment (MCI cohort, n = 24) due to Alzheimer's disease served as comparators. LF-MRI brain region segmentations were derived using the ML algorithm WMH-SynthSeg in FreeSurfer. Brain regions corrected for intracranial volume were compared between cohorts after adjusting for age and sex.

Results: Thirty virally suppressed PWH were included. LF-MRI derived brain volumes from PWH demonstrated a reduction in volume of the caudate relative to PWoH with VC (p < 0.05). Volume of the putamen and white matter was reduced in PWH compared to VC (p < 0.05). Hippocampal volume was comparable between PWH and PWoH (p ≥ 0.05), while volume of the amygdala was reduced in those with MCI alone (p < 0.05). No differences in WMH were seen between these cohorts (p > 0.05).

Interpretation: LF-MRI is feasible in an outpatient setting, and ML algorithms enable detection of regional atrophy and WMH in PWH. LF-MRI may enable more frequent monitoring and earlier detection of atrophy in at-risk populations.

Keywords: HIV; aging; artificial intelligence; atrophy; low‐field MRI; white matter hyperintensities.

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References

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