「最近の脳科学」拡散テンソルの臨床応用

Abstract

Over the past decade, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has offered researchers and clinicians a new noninvasive window into the human brain. DTI infers the trajectory and location of large white matter tracts by measuring anisotropic diffusion of water. DTI data may then be analyzed and presented as fractional anisotropy (FA) mapping, vector map, Ellipsoid image, and 3D fiber tractography. Three-dimensional fiber tractography based on DTI is useful for neurosurgical planning, and stereotactic radiotherapy, which present relationship between tumor and white matter tracts. Furthermore, several studies have suggested disorganization of the specific tract in Alzheimer disease, schizophrenia,and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, etc. In this article, first,we briefly explain the basic physics of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and DTI, and then present some clinical applications.