Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging to Objectively Confirm Damage to the Brain in Patients with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
I recently read an interesting article which discussed using diffusion tensor imaging to objectively confirm damage to the brain in patients with mild traumatic brain injury. The article, to be published in the journal, Magnetic Resonance Imaging is entitled Voxel-and Atlas-Based Analysis of Diffusion Tensor Imaging May Reveal Focal Axonal Injuries in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury-Comparison with Diffuse Axonal Injury.
The researchers from Japan calculated diffusion maps from results of Diffusion Tensor Imaging performed in an apparently healthy control group. They then compared these maps with those of patients with mild traumatic brain injury, and a group of patients with diffuse axonal injury. All diffusion maps were normalized to the International Consortium for Brain Mapping Atlas for Atlas-Based Analysis and were segmented and normalized by the Diffeomorphic Anatomical Registration through Exponentiated Lie Tool in SPM8 to reduce miss-registration.
The researchers found that all diffusion measures in the DAI Group were lower than in the control group. The researchers also found, more importantly, that the MTBI Group had higher axial diffusivity than the control group in various portions of the brain. The researchers concluded that Voxel and Atlas-Based Analysis of Diffusion Tensor Imaging might suggest that patients with MTBI have focal axonal injury and that the pathophysiology is significantly different from that of DAI. These findings, the researchers write, will help in the diagnosis of patients with MTBI.