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Three-dimensional mapping of lingual myoarchitecture by diffusion tensor MRI
Sungheon Kim1, Alan S Barnett, Carlo Pierpaoli
1Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104, USA. Sungheon.Kim@uphs.upenn.edu
NMR in Biomedicine
|October 24, 2007
Summary
Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) successfully segmented complex tongue muscles using the tensor coherence method. This imaging technique visualizes lingual myoarchitecture, offering potential for clinical applications.
Area of Science:
- Medical Imaging
- Neuroimaging
- Anatomy
Background:
- Investigating the intricate structure of tongue muscles (lingual myoarchitecture) is challenging.
- Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) offers potential for non-invasive anatomical studies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the feasibility of segmenting lingual muscles using DTI data.
- To evaluate different DTI-based methods for muscle delineation.
- To characterize diffusion tensor properties of individual tongue muscles.
Main Methods:
- Utilized DTI data to analyze lingual myoarchitecture.
- Compared modified directional correlation (DC) and tensor coherence (TC) methods for muscle segmentation.
- Employed eigenvector orientations (primary, secondary, tertiary) to delineate muscle fibers.
Main Results:
- Primary eigenvectors adequately delineated major tongue muscles (longitudinalis, genioglossus, hyoglossus).
- Tertiary eigenvectors revealed systematic muscle orientation changes in the tongue core.
- The tensor coherence (TC) method successfully segmented most lingual muscles, unlike the DC method.
- Observed a continuous anterior-to-posterior change in the skewness of the intrinsic tongue core.
Conclusions:
- DTI combined with the proposed TC segmentation method effectively images and visualizes complex tongue musculature.
- This approach provides a means to study lingual diffusion tensor properties.
- Demonstrated potential for in vivo research and clinical applications in speech and swallowing disorders.
