Method of fiber reconstruction employing data acquired by magnetic resonance imaging

A method of creating an image of individual brain fibers, comprising the steps of:

• acquiring image data of the brain using a magnetic resonance imaging process;
• processing the acquired image data;
• and
• wherein said processing includes:
• initiating a process for tracking each brain fiber to be imaged at a pixel of interest, and
• performing one of continuing or terminating the tracking process based upon a determination whether a particular fiber being tracked is continuous or terminated based upon a predetermined criterion relating to one of randomness of fiber orientation from the pixel of interest and anisotropy of the pixel of interest.

A method of creating an image of individual brain fibers, comprising the steps of:

• acquiring image data of a brain using a diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging process;
• processing the acquired image data;
• and
• wherein said processing includes:
• initiating a process for tracking a structure of each brain fiber from a voxel of interest to an adjacent voxel,
• judging each time the tracking process leaves the voxel of interest to an adjacent voxel, whether to continue or terminate the tracking process based upon the acquired image data, and
• propagating a fiber element between adjacent voxels when it is judged to continue the tracking process.

A method of creating an image of individual brain fibers, comprising the steps of:

• acquiring diffusion-weighted image data of a brain using a magnetic resonance imaging process;
• processing the acquired image data with a computer;
• and
• wherein said processing includes:
• initiating a process for tracking a structure of each brain fiber to be imaged,
• judging each time the tracking process leaves a pixel of interest to an adjacent pixel in three-dimensional space, whether to continue or terminate the tracking process, said judging being based on a predetermined criterion relating to one of randomness of fiber orientation from the pixel of interest and anisotropy of the pixel of interest,
• propagating a fiber element so as to connect the adjacent pixels when said judging determines to continue the tracking process, and
• not propagating a fiber between the adjacent pixels when said judging determines to terminate the tracking process.