Unified Framework for Oculomotor Nerve Reconstruction: Tractography-Based Anatomical Assessment

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Neuroanatomy
• Medical Physics

Background:

• The oculomotor nerve (OCN) controls eye muscles but is challenging to reconstruct using diffusion MRI (dMRI) tractography due to its complex skull base location.
• Inflammatory, compressive, and pathological conditions can affect the OCN.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a unified framework for OCN tractography integrating anatomical knowledge.
• To identify the optimal dMRI tractography algorithm for OCN reconstruction in the challenging cavernous sinus environment.

Main Methods:

• Utilized 45 dMRI datasets from the Human Connectome Project and data from four neurosurgical patients.
• Employed automatically labeled anatomical landmarks for individualized tractography.
• Compared five cranial nerve reconstruction algorithms, focusing on the unscented Kalman filter (UKF)-2T and probabilistic tractography.

Main Results:

• The unscented Kalman filter (UKF)-2T and probabilistic tractography demonstrated superior performance in OCN fiber tractography.
• UKF-2T effectively reconstructed OCN fibers around lesions in neurosurgical patients.

Conclusions:

• The proposed framework and optimized tractography method, particularly UKF-2T, enhance OCN reconstruction capabilities.
• This research offers valuable insights for diagnosing and treating OCN-related diseases and for neurosurgical interventions.