Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging including fiber rendering using hyperstreamlines

An apparatus for tracking fibrous structures in a subject, the apparatus comprising:

• a magnetic resonance imaging scanner configured to acquire diffusion-weighted imaging data;
• a reconstruction processor which reconstructs the acquired diffusion-weighted imaging data into diffusion-weighted image representations;
• a diffusion tensor mapping processor that constructs a diffusion tensor map by selectively combining selected diffusion-weighted image representations;
• an eigenvalues/eigenvectors processor that obtains eigenvalues and eigenvectors of voxels of the diffusion tensor map;
• a fibrous structure tracking processor that computes a fibrous structure representation based on the eigenvalues and eigenvectors and at least one starting voxel selection;
• a rendering processor that computes a hyperstreamline representation of the fibrous structure representation, the hyperstreamline representation having a direction aligned with a largest eigenvector and a cross-sectional dimension based on the eigenvalues;
• and
• a display device that displays the hyperstreamline representation in a human-viewable medium.

An imaging method for imaging a subject including fibrous structures, the method comprising:

• acquiring diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging data of the fibrous structures;
• processing the diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging data to extract a three-dimensional fiber representation of the fibrous structures;
• and
• rendering the three-dimensional fiber representation as one of:
• a tube with a circular cross-section having a diameter dimension,
• a tube with an elliptical cross-section having major and minor axis dimensions and an orientation dimension,
• a ribbon having width and orientation dimensions, and
• a double ribbon including a first ribbon having first width and orientation dimensions and a second ribbon having second width and orientation dimensions,
• the tube or ribbon following a three-dimensional path of the fiber representation, and said dimensions being indicative of diffusion parameters.