Generation of spinal cord tracts from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the pediatric spinal cord can be extremely beneficial to visualize the connectivity of nerve fibers, to reveal patterns of overall diffusivity and anisotrophy of the fibers, overall architectural features, and integrity of the spinal cord. Twenty pediatric subjects were scanned: ten controls without evidence of spinal cord pathology and ten patients with cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) were scanned using a newly developed reduced field of view (FoV) DTI method on a 3T scanner. After motion correction, tractography images were generated based on Fiber Assignment by Continuous Tracking (FACT) algorithm. Various DTI indices as well as tract specific information were calculated using regions of interest manually drawn at every axial slice location along the cervical spinal cord. Results showed average values of FA=0.60±0.13, MD=0.74±0.18×10−3 mm2/s in normal subjects and FA=0.45±0.14, MD=0.77±0.24×10−3 mm2/s in SCI patients. In conclusion, this study showed that tractography images can be successfully generated from pediatric spinal cord DTI data and various DTI parameters can be reliably estimated.
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机译：小儿脊髓的弥散张量成像（DTI）产生的脊髓束对可视化神经纤维的连通性，揭示纤维的整体扩散性和各向异性，整体结构特征和脊柱完整性非常有利。线。扫描了20名儿科受试者：用3T扫描仪上新开发的缩小视野（FoV）DTI方法扫描了10名无脊髓病理学证据的对照和10名颈椎脊髓损伤（SCI）患者。在进行运动校正后，根据连续跟踪（FACT）算法进行的纤维分配生成了束线术图像。使用沿颈脊髓的每个轴向切片位置手动绘制的感兴趣区域，可以计算出各种DTI指数以及区域特定信息。结果显示正常受试者的平均值为FA = 0.60±0.13，MD = 0.74±0.18×10 -3 mm 2 / s，FA = 0.45±0.14，MD = SCI患者0.77±0.24×10 −3 mm 2 / s总而言之，这项研究表明，可以从小儿脊髓DTI数据成功生成束线图像，并且可以可靠地估计各种DTI参数。
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