In vivo diffusion tensor imaging of the human optic chiasm at sub-millimeter resolution

In this work we report findings from an in vivo diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) study of the human optic chiasm at sub-millimeter voxel resolution. Data were collected at 3 T using a diffusion-weighted radial-FSE sequence, which provides images free from typical magnetic susceptibility artifacts. The general DTI features observed in the optic chiasm region were consistent across subjects. They included a central area with high anisotropy and highest diffusivity in a predominately right/left direction corresponding to the decussation of nasal hemiretinae fibers, surrounded by a band of low anisotropy reflecting heterogeneous orientation of fibers within the voxel, and a lateral area with high anisotropy and highest diffusivity in a predominately anterior/posterior direction corresponding to temporal hemiretinae fibers that do not cross. Animal studies indicate that there is a significant dorsal-ventral reorganization of the retinotopic distribution of fibers along the optic pathways. We found that diffusion ellipsoids in the central portion of the optic chiasm show considerable planar anisotropy in the coronal plane indicating fiber crossings in the superior/inferior direction, rather than strictly right/left. This architectural feature of the chiasm suggests that dorso-ventral reorganization of fibers in the optic pathways also occurs in humans. We have shown that by collecting sub-millimeter resolution data, DTI can be used to investigate fine details of small and complex white matter structures, in vivo, with a clinical scanner. High spatial resolution, however, is necessary in the slice direction as well as in-plane to reduce the CSF contribution to the signal and to increase fiber coherence within voxels.