A tractography algorithm for MR diffusion tensor imaging based on minimum-cost path

Abstract

Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) is a powerful technique for studying tissue connectivity that starts to find routine clinical use in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), primarily in the brain. The extraction of tracts is an issue under active research. In this work we present an algorithm for recovering tracts, that is based on Dijkstra’s minimum-cost path. A novel cost definition algorithm is presented that allows tract reconstruction, considering the tract’s curvature, as well as its alignment with the diffusion vector field. Results are shown for two (2D) and three dimensional (3D) synthetic data, as well as for a clinical MRI-DTI brain study.