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Director Field Analysis (DFA): Exploring Local White Matter Geometric Structure in Diffusion MRI.

Jian Cheng1, Peter J Basser1

  • 1SQITS, NIBIB, NICHD, National Institutes of Health, United States.

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|October 21, 2017
PubMed
Summary

We introduce Director Field Analysis (DFA), a novel framework for analyzing white matter structure using Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) and High Angular Resolution Diffusion Imaging (HARDI) data. DFA quantifies orientational order, dispersion, and distortion in brain white matter.

Keywords:
Diffusion MRIDiffusion TensorDirector Field AnalysisDispersionDistortionDyadicLiquid CrystalsLocal Orthogonal FrameOrientation Distribution Function

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroimaging
  • Medical Physics
  • Materials Science

Background:

  • Diffusion MRI techniques like DTI and HARDI reconstruct microstructural information of white matter.
  • Analyzing the local geometry and orientation of white matter tracts is crucial for understanding brain structure and function.
  • Existing methods may not fully capture the complex orientational characteristics and distortions within white matter.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To introduce Director Field Analysis (DFA), a novel mathematical framework for studying white matter's local geometric structure.
  • To develop quantitative indices for describing orientational order, dispersion, and distortion in diffusion MRI data.
  • To enable more precise analysis of white matter microstructural changes.

Main Methods:

  • Developed mathematical tools to process director data (dyadic tensors with orientation).
  • Introduced Orientational Order (OO) and Orientational Dispersion (OD) indices for spherical functions.
  • Established local orthogonal coordinate frames for anisotropic diffusion voxels.
  • Defined indices for splay, bend, twist, and total orientational distortion.

Main Results:

  • Proposed a comprehensive framework (DFA) for analyzing director fields from DTI/HARDI data.
  • Quantified orientational order, dispersion, and three types of distortion (splay, bend, twist) in white matter.
  • Demonstrated the ability to construct local coordinate frames in anisotropic voxels.
  • This work represents the first quantitative description of orientational distortion in spherical function fields from diffusion MRI.

Conclusions:

  • Director Field Analysis (DFA) provides a novel method for quantitative geometric analysis of white matter.
  • The proposed indices (OO, OD, splay, bend, twist) are valuable for detecting local white matter changes.
  • DFA is applicable to both DTI and HARDI data and general director field data.
  • Associated codes and tutorials will be released via DMRITool for broader accessibility.