The Benefits and Implementation of Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Neural Fiber Tractography in Brain Surgery

Abstract

Background and Aim: The methods to detect brain activation with functional MRI (fMRI), and MRI provide a way to measure the anatomical connections which enable lightning-fast communication among neurons that specialize in different kinds of brain functions. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can measure the direction of bundles of the axonal fibers which are all aligned. Besides mapping white matter fiber tracts, these methods can enable us to detect and characterize white matter disorders in diseases. The objective of this narrative review is to overview current knowledge concerning DTI as one of the prominent popular MRI techniques that provide a planned tool for comprehensive, noninvasive, functional anatomy mapping of the human brain in both research and practical field. This review summarizes the DTI development in recent years concerning the specificity and utility of this technique in brain surgery. Methods and Materials/Patients: The significance of mapping the structure of white matter tracts, constructively the brain’s wiring by visualization and characterization of white matter fasciculi in two and three dimensions enables us to profound how different brain regions are connected and how diseases affect white matter and cause neurological problems. And we noted that while DTI proposes a potent tool to study and visualize white matter, it suffers from inherent artifacts and limitations. Additionally, some materials about the origin of the DTI signal and unique information on white matter and 3D visualization of neuronal tracts have been raised. Results: This article focuses on DTI modality and its computational techniques, and investigates significant considerations in this regard. Moreover, an inspection of the white matter structure and integrity of normal and diseased brains (e.g. multiple sclerosis, stroke, aging, dementia, schizophrenia, etc.) have been raised as a clinical application of tractography. Conclusion: The utilization of advances in diffusion-tensor (DT) imaging techniques considerably enables us to map the white matter tractography (WMT) in the normal brain. These techniques impress the operative decision in a surgical operation, especially concerning cerebral neoplasms. Also, it is possible to judge with the assistance of DTI in each subject.

Keywords

• diffusion tensor imaging
• fractional anisotropy
• white matter tractography
• diffusivity
• tensor model
• tract dispersion