Selecting an appropriate anisotropy index for displaying diffusion tensor imaging data with improved contrast and sensitivity

P A Armitage; M E Bastin

doi:10.1002/1522-2594(200007)44:1<117::aid-mrm17>3.0.co;2-d

Selecting an appropriate anisotropy index for displaying diffusion tensor imaging data with improved contrast and sensitivity

Magn Reson Med. 2000 Jul;44(1):117-21. doi: 10.1002/1522-2594(200007)44:1<117::aid-mrm17>3.0.co;2-d.

Authors

P A Armitage¹, M E Bastin

Affiliation

¹ Department of Medical Physics and Medical Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, Scotland. [email protected]

PMID: 10893529
DOI: 10.1002/1522-2594(200007)44:1<117::aid-mrm17>3.0.co;2-d

Abstract

A review of the behavior of different diffusion anisotropy indices (DAIs) to changes in diffusion anisotropy was undertaken and the limitations of several previously proposed DAIs are discussed. A mathematical representation of anisotropy sensitivity was used to enable image contrast and sensitivity to noise to be predicted. This technique was utilized to devise a new DAI, the gamma-variate anisotropy, which has a low sensitivity to noise and an improved contrast range for human brain imaging. This index can be easily modified for other applications, in that the range of anisotropy values to which it is highly sensitive can be altered. Magn Reson Med 44:117-121, 2000.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Anisotropy
Brain / anatomy & histology*
Diffusion
Humans
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted*
Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods*
Mathematics
Sensitivity and Specificity