Anisotropic fractional diffusion tensor imaging

Abstract

Traditional diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) maps brain structure by fitting a diffusion model to the magnitude of the electrical signal acquired in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Fractional DTI employs anomalous diffusion models to obtain a better fit to real MRI data, which can exhibit anomalous diffusion in both time and space. In this paper, we describe the challenge of developing and employing anisotropic fractional diffusion models for DTI. Since anisotropy is clearly present in the three-dimensional MRI signal response, such models hold great promise for improving brain imaging. We then propose some candidate models, based on stochastic theory.