Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-x24gv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-12T12:17:32.139Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Two and Three-dimensional Analyses of Brain White Matter Architecture Using Diffusion Imaging

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2014

Abstract

The raw diffusion tensor imaging data obtained after tensor calculations contain six tensor elements in each pixel. This unique data structure poses difficulties in visualizing and analyzing diffusion tensor imaging data. One of the most commonly used visualization techniques is the use of color-coded maps. This presents fiber orientation information as a mixture of three principal colors. These maps can reveal white matter substructures that may not be visible in conventional magnetic resonance imaging. By extending the fiber-orientation information into three-dimensional space, three-dimensional trajectories of white matter tracts can then be estimated. Once locations and trajectories of tracts of interest are identified, this technique allows for the utilization of tract-specific magnetic resonance analyses and/or macroscopic characterization of white matter anatomy. As an example, anatomical deformation of the white matter resultant of brain tumor is demonstrated. The potentials and limitations of the three-dimensional tract reconstruction techniques are also highlighted.

Type
Feature Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES:

1.Basser, PJ, Mattiello, J, Le Bihan, D. MR diffusion tensor spectroscopy and imaging Biophy J. 1994;66:259267.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2.Pierpaoli, C, Basser, PJ. Toward a quantitative assessment of diffusion anisotropy Magn Reson Med. 1996;36:893906.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Beaulieu, C, Allen, PS. Determinants of anisotropic water diffusion in nerves. Magn Reson Med. 1994;31:394400.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.Henkelman, R, Stanisz, G, Kim, J, Bronskill, M. Anisotropy of NMR properties of tissues. Magn Reson Med. 1994;32:592601.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Iannucci, G, Rovaris, M, Giacomotti, L, Comi, G, Filippi, M. Correlation of multiple sclerosis measures derived from T2-weighted, T1-weighted, magnetization transfer, and diffusion tensor MR imaging. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2001;22:14621467.Google ScholarPubMed
6.Stieltjes, B, Kaufmann, WE, van Zijl, PCM, Fredericksen, K, Pearlson, GD, Mori, S. Diffusion tensor imaging and axonal tracking in the human brainstem. Neuroimage. 2001;14:723735.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.Wedeen, V, Reese, TG, Tuch, DS, Weigel, MR, Dou, JG, Weiskoff, RM, Chessler, D. Mapping fiber orientation spectra in cerebral white matter with fourier-transform diffusion MR. In: Proceeding of International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Denver, CO. 2000;82.Google Scholar
8.Frank, LR. Anisotropy in high angular resolution diffusion-weighted MRI. Magn Reson Med. 2001;45:935939.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.Wiegell, M, Larsson, H, Wedeen, V. Fiber crossing in human brain depicted with diffusion tensor MR imaging. Radiology. 2000;217:897903.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10.Makris, N, Worth, AJ, Sorensen, AG, et al.Morphometry of in vivo human white matter association pathways with diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Ann Neurol. 1997;42:951962.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11.Douek, P, Pekar, J, Patronas, N, Le Bihan, D. MR color mapping of myelin fiber orientation. J Comput Assist Tomogr. 1991;15:923929.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12.Nakada, T, Matsuzawa, H. Three-dimensional anisotropy contrast magnetic resonance imaging of the rat nervous system: MR axonography. Neurosci Res. 1995;22:389398.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13.Pajevic, S, Pierpaoli, C. Color schemes to represent the orientation of anisotropic tissues from diffusion tensor data: application to white matter fiber tract mapping in the human brain. Magn Reson Med. 1999;42:526540.3.0.CO;2-J>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14.Mori, S, Kaufmann, WE, Davatzikos, C, et al.Imaging cortical association tracts in human brain. Magn Reson Imaging. 2002;47:215223.Google ScholarPubMed
15.Virta, A, Barnett, A, Pierpaoli, C. Visualizing and characterizing white matter fiber structure and architecture in the human pyramidal tract using diffusion tensor MRI. Magn Reson Imaging. 1999;17:11211133.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16.Xue, R, van Zijl, PCM, Crain, BJ, Solaiyappan, M, Mori, S. In vivo three-dimensional reconstruction of rat brain axonal projections by diffusion tensor imaging. Magn Reson Imaging. 1999;42:11231127.Google ScholarPubMed
17.Mori, S, Itoh, R, Zhang, J, Kaufmann, WE, et al.Diffusion tensor imaging of the developing mouse brain. Magn Reson Imaging. 2001;46:1823.Google ScholarPubMed
18.Mori, S, Crain, BJ, van Zijl, PCM. 3D brain fiber reconstruction from diffusion MRI. In: Proceedings of International Conference on Functional Mapping of the Human Brain. Montreal, Canada. 1998.Google Scholar
19.Basser, JB. Fiber-tractography via diffusion tensor MRI. In: Proceedings, Proceeding of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Sydney, Australia. 1998; p. 1226.Google Scholar
20.Mori, S, Crain, BJ, Chacko, VP, van Zijl, PCM. Three dimensional tracking of axonal projections in the brain by magnetic resonance imaging. Annal Neurol. 1999;45:265269.3.0.CO;2-3>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21.Conturo, TE, Lori, NF, Cull, TS, et al.Tracking neuronal fiber pathways in the living human brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1999;96:1042210427.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22.Mori, S, Kaufmann, WK, Pearlson, GD, et al.In vivo visualization of human neural pathways by MRI. Ann Neurol. 2000;47:412414.3.0.CO;2-H>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23.Poupon, C, Clark, CA, Frouin, V, et al.Regularization of diffusion-based direction maps for the tracking of brain white matter fascicules. Neuroimage. 2000;12:184195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24.Basser, PJ, Pajevic, S, Pierpaoli, C, Duda, J, Aldroubi, A. In vitro fiber tractography using DT-MRI data. Magn Reson Imaging. 2000;44:625632.Google Scholar
25.Jones, DK, Simmons, A, Williams, SC, Horsfield, MA. Non-invasive assessment of axonal fiber connectivity in the human brain via diffusion tensor MRI. Magn Reson Imaging. 1999;42:3741.Google Scholar
26.G. J., Parker, Tracing fiber tracts using fast marching. In: Proceedings of International Society of Magnetic Resocance. Denver, CO. 2000; p. 85.Google Scholar
27.Lazar, M, Weinstein, D, Hasan, K, Alexander, AL. Axon tractography with tensorlines. In: Proceedings of International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Denver, CO. 2000; p. 482.Google Scholar
28.Werring, DJ, Toosy, AT, Clark, CA, et alDiffusion tensor imaging can detect and quantify corticospinal tract degeneration after stroke. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2000;69:269–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
29.Tuch, DS, Belliveau, JW, Wedeen, V. A path integral approach to white matter tractography. In: Proceedings of International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Denver, CO. 2000; p. 791.Google Scholar
30.Lori, NF, Akbuda, E, Snyder, AZ, Shimony, JS, Conturo, TE. Diffusion tensor tracking of human neuronal fiber bundles: Simulation of effects of noise, voxel size and data interpolation. In: Proceeding of International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Denver, CO. 1999; p. 775.Google Scholar
31.Lazar, M, Alexander, AL. Error analysis of white matter tracking algorithms (streamlines and tensorlines) for DT-MRI. In: Proceedings, Proceeding of International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Glasgow, United Kingdom. 2001; p. 506.Google Scholar
32.Tuch, DS, Wiegell, MR, Reese, TG, Belliveau, JW, Wedeen, V. Measuring cortico-cortical connectivity matrices with diffusion spectrum imaging. In: Proceedings, Proceeding of International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Glasgow, United Kingdom. 2001; p. 502.Google Scholar
33.Lori, NF, Akbudak, JS, Shimony, TS, Snyder, RK, Conturo, TE. Diffusion tensor fiber tracking of brani connectivity: Reliability analysis and biological results. NMR Biomed. 2002;in press.Google Scholar
34.Mori, S, van Zijl, PC. Fiber tracking: principles and strategies. NMR Biomed. 2002;in press.Google Scholar
35.Wedeen, V. Imaging crossing fibers. NMR Biomed. 2001;in press.Google Scholar
36.Williams, TH, Gluhbegovic, N, Jew, JY. The Human Brain: Dissections of the Real Brain Vitrual Hospital, University of Iowa 1997; http://www.vh.org/Providers/Textbooks/BrainAnatomy and http://www.brain-university.com and http://www.brain-university.comGoogle Scholar
37.Meyer, JW, Makris, N, Bates, JF, Caviness, VS, Kennedy, DN. MRI-based topographic parcellation of human cerebral white matter. Neuroimage. 1999;9:117.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed