Chao Ma, PhD
Associate Professor of Radiology and Biomedical ImagingCards
About
Research
Publications
2026
High-resolution in utero SV2A PET imaging of the nonhuman primate brain using the NeuroEXPLORER.
Mehta S, Sun H, Micali N, Holden D, Fowles K, Rossano S, Zhang J, Ma C, Han P, Lee W, Duque A, Rakic P, Groman S, Carson R, Scheinost D, Toyonaga T. High-resolution in utero SV2A PET imaging of the nonhuman primate brain using the NeuroEXPLORER. Journal Of Cerebral Blood Flow And Metabolism : Official Journal Of The International Society Of Cerebral Blood Flow And Metabolism 2026, 271678x261429044. PMID: 41823342, PMCID: PMC12987752, DOI: 10.1177/0271678x261429044.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchDistribution volume ratioMaternal brainIn vivo markerFetal brainPET imagingSynaptic developmentPregnant rhesus macaquesRegional distribution volume ratiosMarker of synaptic densitySynaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2APET scannerNon-invasive toolNonhuman primate brainPET quantificationBrain-dedicated PET scannersNeuroExplorerRhesus macaquesSynaptic densityBiograph mCTOccipital lobeOccipital regionBrainMotion correctionPETPrimate brainFree‐Running Three‐Dimensional Cardiac Extracellular Volume Mapping in a Single Scan With Mid‐Scan Contrast Injection
Lee W, Han P, Marin T, Mounime I, Chi D, Bijari F, Normandin M, Fakhri G, Ma C. Free‐Running Three‐Dimensional Cardiac Extracellular Volume Mapping in a Single Scan With Mid‐Scan Contrast Injection. Magnetic Resonance In Medicine 2026 PMID: 41656589, DOI: 10.1002/mrm.70293.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchSignal modelContrast injectionECV mapsMR signal modelCine imagesThree-dimensionalK-space dataInversion recoveryExtracellular volume mappingSpace alignmentContrast agent injectionCardiac MR imagesEjection fractionIn vivo studiesCardiac cine imagingEstimated ejection fractionHealthy subjectsHematocrit levelsAgent injectionMR imagingBlood samplesHeart motionGradient echo readout
2025
LR-PET: A Subspace-Based Dynamic PET Imaging via Explicit Non-Negative Low-Rank Factorization
Djebra Y, Najmaoui Y, Chemli Y, Normandin M, Fakhri G, Ma C, Marin T. LR-PET: A Subspace-Based Dynamic PET Imaging via Explicit Non-Negative Low-Rank Factorization. 2025, 00: 1-1. DOI: 10.1109/nss/mic/rtsd57106.2025.11286709.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchIn vivo 3D myocardial membrane potential mapping in humans using PET/MRI
Bijari F, Han P, Marin T, Lee W, Chemli Y, Gertsenshteyn I, Mounime I, Djebra Y, Chi D, Normandin M, Ma C, Fakhri G. In vivo 3D myocardial membrane potential mapping in humans using PET/MRI. EJNMMI Research 2025, 15: 93. PMID: 40715686, PMCID: PMC12297085, DOI: 10.1186/s13550-025-01287-7.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMembrane potentialExtracellular volume fraction measurementsExtracellular volume fraction mappingBolus-plus-infusion protocolT1 mapping sequencesVolume of distributionWritten Informed ConsentCardiac PET/MR imagingRigid image registrationHumans in vivoContrast agent injectionPET motion correctionFree breathingTracer volume of distributionImage registrationBolus injectionCardiac MRMitochondrial membrane potentialCardiac diseaseHealthy subjectsPET/MR imagingImaging studiesTreatment monitoringAgent injectionPET tracersBayesian Posterior Distribution Estimation of Kinetic Parameters in Dynamic Brain PET Using Generative Deep Learning Models
Djebra Y, Liu X, Marin T, Tiss A, Dhaynaut M, Guehl N, Johnson K, Fakhri G, Ma C, Ouyang J. Bayesian Posterior Distribution Estimation of Kinetic Parameters in Dynamic Brain PET Using Generative Deep Learning Models. IEEE Transactions On Medical Imaging 2025, 44: 5089-5102. PMID: 40663684, PMCID: PMC12318411, DOI: 10.1109/tmi.2025.3588859.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchPosterior distributions of kinetic parametersEfficiency of deep learningGenerative deep learning modelsConditional variational autoencoderDeep learning modelsComputational efficiencyMetropolis-Hastings MCMCPosterior distributionHyperphosphorylated tauDynamic brain positron emission tomographyWGAN-GPDual decodersWasserstein GANVariational autoencoderKinetic parametersDeep learningComputational needsBayesian inferenceP-tauLearning modelsAlzheimer's diseaseNeurodegenerative diseasesComputation timeMCMC methodsEstimation of kinetic parametersUltrafast J-resolved magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging for high-resolution metabolic brain imaging
Zhao Y, Li Y, Jin W, Guo R, Ma C, Tang W, Li Y, El Fakhri G, Liang Z. Ultrafast J-resolved magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging for high-resolution metabolic brain imaging. Nature Biomedical Engineering 2025, 9: 1835-1847. PMID: 40542105, DOI: 10.1038/s41551-025-01418-4.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchSpectroscopic imagingLong data acquisition timesData acquisition timeJ-coupling informationMagnetic resonance spectroscopic imagingPhantom experimentsPoor spatial resolutionJ-couplingLabel-free metabolic imagingNon-invasive metabolic imagingSpatial resolutionAcquisition timeMetabolic imagingPhantomData acquisitionHuman brainPhysics-informed machine learningMetabolic brain imagingFast 3D cardiac extracellular volume mapping and cine imaging via continuous free-breathing acquisition with mid-scan contrast agent injection
Lee W, Han P, Marin T, Mounime I, Bijari F, Normandin M, Fakhri G, Ma C. Fast 3D cardiac extracellular volume mapping and cine imaging via continuous free-breathing acquisition with mid-scan contrast agent injection. Proceedings Of The International Society For Magnetic Resonance In Medicine ... Scientific Meeting And Exhibition. 2025 DOI: 10.58530/2025/0789.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchContrast agent injectionExtracellular volume mappingCine imagesContrast agent administrationExtracellular volumeFree-breathing scanFree-breathing acquisitionECV mapsAgent injectionAgent administrationTotal scan timeCardiac imaging methodsImage reconstructionScan timeCardiac motionSpace alignmentCineTime efficiencyA Manifold Learning-based Approach for Denoising in Deuterium Metabolic Imaging
Chi D, Han P, De Feyter H, de Graaf R, Ma C. A Manifold Learning-based Approach for Denoising in Deuterium Metabolic Imaging. Proceedings Of The International Society For Magnetic Resonance In Medicine ... Scientific Meeting And Exhibition. 2025 DOI: 10.58530/2025/3083.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchBayesian posterior estimation for MR spectral quantification using diffusion probabilistic model
Djebra Y, Ouyang J, Ma C. Bayesian posterior estimation for MR spectral quantification using diffusion probabilistic model. Proceedings Of The International Society For Magnetic Resonance In Medicine ... Scientific Meeting And Exhibition. 2025 DOI: 10.58530/2025/5234.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchDiffusion probabilistic modelInformation marginalizationDenoising diffusion probabilistic modelFast inference speedProbabilistic modelComputational limitationsPosterior distributionInference speedInference techniquesBayesian inference techniquesDistribution estimationBayesian posterior distributionParameter estimation methodMarkov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methodsEfficient wayPosterior distribution estimatesEstimation methodUncertainty estimationPosterior estimatesParameter posterior distributionsDenoisingBayesian posterior estimatesParameter valuesMargin of errorModeling inter‐reader variability in clinical target volume delineation for soft tissue sarcomas using diffusion model
Dong Y, Marin T, Zhuo Y, Najem E, Beddok A, Rozenblum L, Moteabbed M, Grogg K, Xing F, Woo J, Chen Y, Lim R, Liu X, Ma C, Fakhri G. Modeling inter‐reader variability in clinical target volume delineation for soft tissue sarcomas using diffusion model. Medical Physics 2025, 52: e17865. PMID: 40317577, PMCID: PMC12424543, DOI: 10.1002/mp.17865.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchClinical target volumeGross tumor volumeClinical target volume delineationSoft tissue sarcomasInter-reader variabilityTissue sarcomasClinical target volume contoursMagnetic resonance imagingCTV delineationTarget volume delineationComputed tomographyTreatment of soft tissue sarcomasFluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomographyCTV contoursTarget volumeVolume delineationT1-weighted magnetic resonance imagingRadiotherapy treatmentEnergy distanceHigh Dice indexPositron emission tomographyTumor volumeMicroscopic spreadFDG-PETTreatment planning