Visualization Handbook

16

Diffusion Tensor MRI Visualization

SONG ZHANG and DAVID H. LAIDLAW,     Department of Computer Science, Brown University

GORDON KINDLMANN,     Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute, University of Utah

16.1 Introduction

Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DT-MRI or DTI) is emerging as an important technology for elucidating the internal structure of the brain and for diagnosing conditions affecting the integrity of nervous tissue. DTI measurements of the brain exploit the characteristic microstructure of the brain’s neural tissue, which constrains the diffusion of water molecules. The direction of fastest diffusion is aligned with fiber orientation in a pattern that can be numerically modeled by a diffusion tensor. Since ...