Diffusion tensor imaging: brain pathway reconstruction

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a recently developed modality of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which allows producing in-vivo images of biological fibrous tissues such as the neural axons of white matter in the brain. The techniques for reconstructing connections between different brain areas using DTI are collectively known as fiber tracking or tractography. The brain connectivity map, derived from the tractography visualization and analysis, is an important tool to diagnose and analyze various brain diseases, and is of essential value in providing exquisite details on tissue microstructure and neural networks. Assuming that fiber pathways follow the most efficient diffusion propagation trajectories, we specifically develop a geodesic-based tractography technique for the reconstruction of fiber pathways. Results we obtain using our technique, based on finding multiple geodesics connecting two given points or regions are encouraging and give confidence that this method can be used for practical purposes in the near future.

@Article { STV15,
  author       = "Sepasian, N. and Thije Boonkkamp, J.H.M. ten and Vilanova, Anna",
  title        = "Diffusion tensor imaging: brain pathway reconstruction",
  journal      = "Nieuw Archief voor Wiskunde",
  number       = "4",
  volume       = "16",
  pages        = "259--264",
  month        = "dec",
  year         = "2015",
  url          = "http://graphics.tudelft.nl/Publications-new/2015/STV15"
}