Comparison of Whole Brain Biophysical Model Predictions and MR Thermometry Measurements in Healthy Humans

To advance our understanding of thermal dynamics in the human brain, a thermal modeling framework was previously developed to facilitate temperature predictions in the absence of clinical thermometry. Here, predicted brain temperatures using our fully conserved model were compared with MR thermometry in 21 healthy human subjects. Bland-Altman plots demonstrated agreement between predictions and MR-measurements for average temperature values, but some differences were observed at the lowest and highest temperatures. Regional variations were similar between predicted and measured temperatures. We anticipate our modeling framework will form the necessary baseline for predicting injury-induced brain temperature changes in patients.