ITEE Innovation Expo 2008 : Project Details

tracking white matter fibre tracts in the brain using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Since the advent of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) people have been able to non-invasively provide high-resolution images of the brain, providing detailed tissue contrast. Recently, a new imaging concept has been developed to map white matter throughout the brain, specifically Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI). By measuring the anisotropic nature of water diffusion within the brain one is able to extract vital information describing cerebral connectivity. This field has lead to the development in MR-tractography, which is the ability to extract and analyse the integrity of individual white matter pathways. These techniques have been used to investigate stroke recovery, early Alzheimer’s disease and abnormal frontal lobe structure associated with schizophrenia.

This project aimed to develop a fiber tractography algorithm in addition to building a graphical user interface (GUI) to aid in clinical analysis of cerebral connectivity. Furthermore the GUI needed to facilitate the operation of another tractography algorithm, namely the previously developed diffusion simulation algorithm. It was important that these algorithms were configured to accurately depict the fiber tracts as described in the diffusion data as well as ensuring anatomic accuracy. </P>

An additional tractography algorithm was successfully implemented and based on the Streamline technique. The Streamline algorithm tracks the principal direction of diffusion. The Streamline and diffusion simulation algorithms have been thoroughly analysed in terms of computation time and anatomic accuracy. These algorithms were successfully interfaced through a GUI, enabling the user to easily configure the algorithms as well as provide an informative visual representation of the fiber tracts. </P>