Method and apparatus for acquiring nerve fiber structure information of object by using MRI system

An apparatus for acquiring fiber structure information of a nerve fiber in an object, the apparatus comprising:

• one or more processors configured to:
• obtain image information of voxels of the object;
• set a tracking start area including one or more of first voxels;
• set a tracking processing area to include one or more of second voxels, which are adjacent to the tracking start area, based on a criteria;
• determine similarity between image information of the second voxels and the first voxels;
• and
• obtain the fiber structure information according to the determined similarity,
• wherein the similarity comprises diffusion direction similarity between diffusion directions of the first voxels and the second voxels, and the fiber structure information is obtained according to a first diffusion time obtained based on the diffusion direction similarity, the first diffusion time including a time of a substance diffusing from the first voxels to the second voxels.

A method of obtaining fiber structure information of a nerve fiber in an object, the method comprising:

• obtaining image information of voxels of the object;
• determining similarity between a reference voxel and one or more of adjacent voxels adjacent to the reference voxel;
• and
• obtaining fiber structure information according to the determined similarity,
• wherein the similarity is weighted by using at least one of white matter probability information and a fractional anisotropy (FA) value of the object, and is expressed as a scalar value, and the similarity comprises diffusion direction similarity between diffusion directions of the reference voxel and the adjacent voxels, and the fiber structure information is obtained according to a diffusion time obtained based on the diffusion direction similarity, the diffusion time including a time of a substance diffusing from the reference voxel to the one of the adjacent voxels.

An apparatus for acquiring fiber structure information of a nerve fiber in an object, the apparatus comprising:

• one or more processors configured to:
• obtain image information of voxels of the object;
• determine similarity between a reference voxel and one or more adjacent voxels adjacent to the reference voxel;
• and
• obtain the fiber structure information according to the determined similarity,
• wherein the similarity is weighted by using at least one of white matter probability information and a fractional anisotropy (FA) value of the object and is obtained as a scalar value, and the similarity comprises diffusion direction similarity between diffusion directions of the reference voxel and the adjacent voxels, and the fiber structure information is obtained according to a diffusion time obtained based on the diffusion direction similarity, the diffusion time including a time of a substance diffusing from the reference voxel to the one of the adjacent voxels.