High-order diffusion tensor connectivity mapping on the GPU

Abstract

We present an efficient approach to computing white matter fiber connectivity on the graphics processing unit (GPU). We utilize a high-order tensor model of fiber orientation computed from high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) and a stochastic model of white matter fibers to compute and display global white matter connectivity in real time. The high-order tensor model overcomes limitations of the 2nd-order tensor model in regions of crossing or fanning fibers. By utilizing modern GPU features exposed in recent versions of the OpenGL API we can perform processing and visualization without costly GPU-CPU data transfers.