BJR
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
British Journal of Radiology (2006) 79, 101-109
© 2006 British Institute of Radiology
doi: 10.1259/bjr/24908512
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Peña, A
Right arrow Articles by Gillard, J H
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Peña, A
Right arrow Articles by Gillard, J H

Full Paper

Enhanced visualization and quantification of magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging using the p:q tensor decomposition

A Peña, PhD1,2,3, H A L Green, MBChB1,3, T A Carpenter, PhD3, S J Price, FRCS1,2,3, J D Pickard, MChir, FRCS, FMedSci1,3 and J H Gillard, BSc, MD, FRCR2,3

Departments of 1 Neurosurgery, 2 Radiology and the 3 Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, Addenbrooke's Hospital and the University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, UK

Correspondence: Dr Jonathan H Gillard, University Department of Radiology, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, UK

Many scalar measures have been proposed to quantify magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (MR DTI) data in the brain. However, only two parameters are commonly used in the literature: mean diffusion (D) and fractional anisotropy (FA). We introduce a visualization technique which permits the simultaneous analysis of an additional five scalar measures. This enhanced diversity is important, as it is not known a priori which of these measures best describes pathological changes for brain tissue. The proposed technique is based on a tensor transformation, which decomposes the diffusion tensor into its isotropic (p) and anisotropic (q) components. To illustrate the use of this technique, diffusion tensor imaging was performed on a healthy volunteer, a sequential study in a patient with recent stroke, a patient with hydrocephalus and a patient with an intracranial tumour. Our results demonstrate a clear distinction between different anatomical regions in the normal volunteer and the evolution of the pathology in the patients. In the normal volunteer, the brain parenchyma values for p and q fell into a narrow band with 0.976<p<1.063 x 10–3 mm2 s–1 and 0.15<q<1.08 x 10–3 mm2 s–1. The noise appeared as a compact cluster with (p,q) components (0.011, 0.141) x 10–3 mm2 s–1, while the cerebrospinal fluid was (3.320, 0.330) x 10–3 mm2 s–1. In the stroke patient, the ischaemic area demonstrated a trajectory composed of acute, sub-acute and chronic phases. The components of the lesion were (0.824, 0.420), (0.884, 0.254), (2.624, 0.325) at 37 h, 1 week and 1 month, respectively. The internal capsule of the hydrocephalus patient demonstrated a larger dispersion in the p:q plane suggesting disruption. Finally, there was clear white matter tissue destruction in the tumour patient. In summary, the p:q decomposition enhances the visualization and quantification of MR DTI data in both normal and pathological conditions.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Br. J. Radiol.Home page
BJR review of the year - 2006
Br. J. Radiol., March 1, 2007; 80(951): 147 - 151.
[Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
BJR DMFR IMAGING  ALL BIR JOURNALS 
Copyright © 2006 by the British Institute of Radiology.