Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Advanced MRI Neuroimaging Technique: Diffusion-Tensor Imaging

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Fractional Anisotropy

  • 258 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter discusses the fundamental physics of water molecules’ microstructural Brownian motion. The techniques related to diffusion-weighted imaging probe the movement of tissue microstructure which is reflected by its freedom of motion of water molecules. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps are free from the effects of T1 and T2 relaxation. Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) gives us information on the restricted flow areas within the brain but does not give us its accurate length and direction. DTI, on the other hand, allows us to measure the length and direction of diffusion anisotropy in water molecules in real time. Parallel imaging and echo-planar imaging (EPI) techniques employing quick data acquisition with reduced artefacts are employed in DWI and DTI.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Hunsche S, Moseley ME, Stoeter P, Hedehus M. Diffusion-tensor MR imaging at 1.5 and 3.0 T: initial observations. Radiology. 2001;221(2):550–6. http://pubs.rsna.org/doi/abs/10.1148/radiol.2212001823.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Le Bihan D, Douek P, Argyropoulou M, Turner R, Patronas N, Fulham M. Diffusion and perfusion magnetic resonance imaging in brain tumors. Top Magn Reson Imaging. 1993;5(1):25–31. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8416686.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Pierpaoli C, Jezzard P, Basser PJ, Barnett A, Di Chiro G. Diffusion tensor MR imaging of the human brain. Radiology. 1996;201(3):637–48. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8939209.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Basser PJ, Mattiello J, LeBihan D. MR diffusion tensor spectroscopy and imaging. Biophys J. 1994;66(1):259–67. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1275686&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Basser PJ, Jones DK. Diffusion-tensor MRI: theory, experimental design and data analysis—a technical review. NMR Biomed. 2002;15(7–8):456–67. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12489095.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Abdallah CG, Tang CY, Mathew SJ, Martinez J, Hof PR, Perera TD, et al. Diffusion tensor imaging in studying white matter complexity: a gap junction hypothesis. Neurosci Lett. 2010;475(3):161–4. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304394010003915.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Liu Z, Farzinfar M, Katz LM, Zhu H, Goodlett CB, Gerig G, et al. Automated voxel-wise brain DTI analysis of fitness and aging. Open Med Imaging J. 2012;6(1):80–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Jun Q, Irvin Y, Paolo T, Yi M, Carissa S, Kang K. Tracking cerebral white matter changes across the lifespan: insights from diffusion tensor imaging studies. J Neural Transm (Vienna). 2013;120(9):1369–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Le Bihan D, Mangin JF, Poupon C, Clark CA, Pappata S, Molko N, et al. Diffusion tensor imaging: concepts and applications. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2001;13(4):534–46.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Pinheiro GR, Soares GS, Costa AL, Lotufo RA, Rittner L. Divergence map from diffusion tensor imaging: concepts and application to corpus callosum. In: Proceedings of the annual international conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Hagmann P, Jonasson L, Maeder P, Thiran J, Wedeen VJ, Meuli R. CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM: STATE OF THE ART. Understanding diffusion MR imaging techniques: from scalar imaging to diffusion. RadioGraphics. 2006;26:205–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Moseley ME, Cohen Y, Kucharczyk J, Mintorovitch J, Asgari HS, Wendland MF, et al. Diffusion-weighted MR imaging of anisotropic water diffusion in cat central nervous system. Radiology. 1990;176(2):439–45. http://pubs.rsna.org/doi/10.1148/radiology.176.2.2367658.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Papadakis NG, Murrills CD, Hall LD, Huang CL, Adrian CT. Minimal gradient encoding for robust estimation of diffusion anisotropy. Magn Reson Imaging. 2000;18(6):671–9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10930776.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Hasan KM, Gupta RK, Santos RM, Wolinsky JS, Narayana PA. Diffusion tensor fractional anisotropy of the normal-appearing seven segments of the corpus callosum in healthy adults and relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2005;21(6):735–43. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15906348.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Hasan KM, Parker DL, Alexander AL. Comparison of gradient encoding schemes for diffusion-tensor MRI. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2001;13(5):769–80. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11329200.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Jones DK, Horsfield MA, Simmons A. Optimal strategies for measuring diffusion in anisotropic systems by magnetic resonance imaging. Magn Reson Med. 1999;42(3):515–25. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10467296.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Pierpaoli C, Basser PJ. Toward a quantitative assessment of diffusion anisotropy. Magn Reson Med. 1996;36(6):893–906. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8946355.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Stejskal EO, Tanner JE. Spin diffusion measurements: spin echoes in the presence of a time-dependent field gradient. J Chem Phys. 1965;42(1):288–92.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Sinnaeve D. The Stejskal-Tanner equation generalized for any gradient shape—an overview of most pulse sequences measuring free diffusion. Concepts Magn Reson Part A Bridg Educ Res. 2012;40:A(2).

    Google Scholar 

  20. Haakma W, Dik P, ten Haken B, Froeling M, Nievelstein RAJ, Cuppen I, et al. Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging and fiber tractography of the sacral plexus in children with spina bifida. J Urol. 2014;192(3):927–33. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002253471403417X.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Sullivan EV, Rohlfing T, Pfefferbaum A. Longitudinal study of callosal microstructure in the normal adult aging brain using quantitative DTI fiber tracking. Dev Neuropsychol. 2010;35(3):233–56. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2867078&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Genc S, Malpas CB, Ball G, Silk TJ, Seal ML. Age, sex, and puberty related development of the corpus callosum: a multi-technique diffusion MRI study. Brain Struct Funct. 2018;223(6):2753–65. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29623479.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Melhem ER, Itoh R, Jones L, Barker PB. Diffusion tensor MR imaging of the brain: effect of diffusion weighting on trace and anisotropy measurements. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2000;21(10):1813–20.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Chou M, Mori S. Effects of b-value and echo time on magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging-derived parameters at 1.5 T : a voxel-wise study. J Med Biol Eng. 2012;33(1):45–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Bisdas S, Bohning DEE, Besenski N, Nicholas JSS, Rumboldt Z. Reproducibility, interrater agreement, and age-related changes of fractional anisotropy measures at 3T in healthy subjects: effect of the applied b-value. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2008;29(6):1128–33. http://www.ajnr.org/cgi/doi/10.3174/ajnr.A1044.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Caiazzo G, Trojsi F, Cirillo M, Tedeschi G, Esposito F. Q-ball imaging models: comparison between high and low angular resolution diffusion-weighted MRI protocols for investigation of brain white matter integrity. Neuroradiology. 2015;58:209–15. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26573606.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Landgraf P, Merhof D, Richter M. Anisotropy of HARDI diffusion profiles based on the L2-norm. In: Bildverarbeitung für die Medizin. Berlin: Springer; 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Lanzafame S, Giannelli M, Garaci F, Floris R, Duggento A, Guerrisi M, et al. Differences in Gaussian diffusion tensor imaging and non-Gaussian diffusion kurtosis imaging model-based estimates of diffusion tensor invariants in the human brain. Med Phys. 2016;43(5):2464. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27147357.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Vijithananda SM, Jayatilake ML, Weerakoon BS, Wathsala PGS, Thevapriya S, Thasanky S, et al. Skewness and kurtosis of apparent diffusion coefficient in human brain lesions to distinguish benign and malignant using MRI, Communications in computer and information science. Berlin: Springer; 2019.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  30. Steven AJ. Diffusion kurtosis imaging: environment of the brain. 2014;26–33.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Lerner A, Mogensen MA, Kim PE, Shiroishi MS, Hwang DH, Law M. Clinical applications of diffusion tensor imaging. World Neurosurg. 2014;82:96–109. http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/35153/1042?sequence=1.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Kingsley PB. Introduction to diffusion tensor imaging mathematics: part II. Anisotropy, diffusion-weighting factors, and gradient encoding schemes. Concepts Magn Reson Part A. 2006;28A(2):123–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Paper O. Normal development of human brain white matter from infancy to early adulthood: a diffusion tensor imaging study. Dev Neurosci. 2015;37(2):182–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Assaf Y, Pasternak O. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)-based white matter mapping in brain research: a review. J Mol Neurosci. 2008;34(1):51–61. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18157658.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Assaf Y. Can we use diffusion MRI as a bio-marker of neurodegenerative processes? BioEssays. 2008;30(11–12):1235–45. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18937377.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Ito M, Watanabe H, Kawai Y, Atsuta N, Tanaka F, Naganawa S, et al. Usefulness of combined fractional anisotropy and apparent diffusion coefficient values for detection of involvement in multiple system atrophy. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2007;78(7):722–8. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2117692&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  37. Tae WS, Ham BJ, Pyun SB, Kang SH, Kim BJ. Current clinical applications of diffusion-tensor imaging in neurological disorders. J Clin Neurol (Korea). 2018;14(2):129–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Kim M, Park H. Using tractography to distinguish SWEDD from Parkinson’s disease patients based on connectivity. Parkinsons Dis. 2016;2016:8704910.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  39. Aquino D, Contarino V, Albanese A, Minati L, Farina L, Grisoli M, et al. Substantia nigra in Parkinson’s disease: a multimodal MRI comparison between early and advanced stages of the disease. Neurol Sci. 2014;35(5):753–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Boelmans K, Christian N, Suchorska B, Kaufmann J, Ebersbach G, Heinze H, et al. Parkinsonism and related disorders diffusion tensor imaging of the corpus callosum differentiates corticobasal syndrome from Parkinson’s disease q. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2017;16(8):498–502. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.parkreldis.2010.05.006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Wiltshire K, Concha L, Gee M, Bouchard T, Beaulieu C, Camicioli R. Corpus callosum and cingulum tractography in Parkinson’s disease. Can J Neurol Sci. 2010;37(5):595–600. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21059504.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Péran P, Cherubini A, Assogna F, Piras F, Quattrocchi C, Peppe A, et al. Magnetic resonance imaging markers of Parkinson’s disease nigrostriatal signature. Brain. 2010;133(11):3423–33. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20736190.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Farrell JA, Landman BA, Jones CK, Smith SA, Prince JL, Van ZPC, et al. Effects of diffusion weighting scheme and SNR on DTI-derived fractional anisotropy at 1.5T introduction. Proc Intl Soc Mag Reson Med. 2006;993:2000.

    Google Scholar 

  44. Cascio CJ, Gerig G, Piven J. Diffusion tensor imaging: application to the study of the developing brain. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2007;46(2):213–23.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Costabile JD, Alaswad E, D’Souza S, Thompson JA, Ormond DR. Current applications of diffusion tensor imaging and tractography in intracranial tumor resection. Front Oncol. 2019;9:426.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  46. Mukherjee P, Berman JI, Chung SW, Hess CP, Henry RG. Diffusion tensor MR imaging and fiber tractography: theoretic underpinnings. Am J Neuroradiol. 2008;29(4):632–41.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  47. Clark CA, Werring DJ. Diffusion tensor imaging in spinal cord: Methods and applications—a review. NMR Biomed. 2002;15(7-8):578–86.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Kubicki M, Westin CF, Maier SE, Mamata H, Frumin M, Ersner-Hershfield H, et al. Diffusion tensor imaging and its application to neuropsychiatric disorders. Harv Rev Psychiatry. 2002;10(6):324–36.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, Saveetha Dental College, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

    Rahul P. Kotian

  2. Department of Radio-Diagnosis and Imaging, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India

    Prakashini Koteshwar

Authors
  1. Rahul P. Kotian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Prakashini Koteshwar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rahul P. Kotian .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Kotian, R.P., Koteshwar, P. (2022). Advanced MRI Neuroimaging Technique: Diffusion-Tensor Imaging. In: Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Fractional Anisotropy. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5001-8_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5001-8_4

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-19-5000-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-19-5001-8

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation