Computational diffusion magnetic resonance imaging: acquisition, modeling, processing and visualization to study brain connectivity and tissue microstructure

阿尔茨海默氏症、帕金森氏症、亨廷顿氏症、多发性硬化症和其他神经退行性疾病目前影响着加拿大大部分老龄化人口。目前尚不清楚这些疾病是如何退化和破坏脑白质中的纤维连接的。扩散磁共振成像(MRI)是唯一一种能够获得有关白质神经结构信息的非侵入性技术。在过去的10年里，扩散磁共振成像在广泛的神经科学研究中被证明是极其重要的；不仅用于上述神经退化性疾病，而且还用于大脑发育研究和神经外科计划。因此，弥散磁共振成像为研究解剖连接和更好地了解大脑是如何连接的提供了一个独特的工具。

Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, multiple sclerosis, and other neurodegenerative diseases currently impact on a large proportion of the aging Canadian population. It remains unknown how fiber connections in the brain white matter are degenerated and damaged by these diseases. Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the only non-invasive technique able to obtain information about the neural architecture of the white matter. Diffusion MRI has proven of utmost importance in the past 10 years in a wide range of neuroscience studies; for neurodegerative diseases as aformentioned, but also for brain development studies and neuro-surgical planning. Hence, diffusion MRI provides a unique tool to study anatomical connectivity and better understand how the brain is wired.