Atlas-based vs. individual-based deterministic tractography of corpus callosum in multiple sclerosis

Diffusion tensor (DT) magnetic resonance imaging is able to quantify tissue microstructure properties and to detect pathological changes even in the normal appearing tissues. DT sequence parameters which provide optimal SNR and minimum acquisition time, and an individual-based tractography post-processing allowed corpus callosum tractography even in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients also with no need of a-priori atlas. In this preliminary study, we were able to obtain reliable individual-based tractography in 28/30 MS patients. DT-derived indices computed in tracks obtained with individual-based tractography were able to differentiate healthy volunteers from MS patients better than the same indices computed with the atlas method. This indicates that such an optimized sequence may be a reliable tool to be used in future MS studies.