Stieltjes B, Kaufmann W E, van Zijl P C, Fredericksen K, Pearlson G D, Solaiyappan M, Mori S
Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 720 Rutland Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Neuroimage. 2001 Sep;14(3):723-35. doi: 10.1006/nimg.2001.0861.
Diffusion tensor MRI was used to demonstrate in vivo anatomical mapping of brainstem axonal connections. It was possible to identify the corticospinal tract (CST), medial lemniscus, and the superior, medial, and inferior cerebellar peduncles. In addition, the cerebral peduncle could be subparcellated into component tracts, namely, the frontopontine tract, the CST, and the temporo-/parieto-/occipitopontine tract. Anatomical landmarks and tracking thresholds were established for each fiber and, using these standards, reproducibility of automated tracking as assessed by intra- and interrater reliability was found to be high (kappa > 0.82). Reconstructed fibers corresponded well to existing anatomical knowledge, validating the tracking. Information on the location of individual tracts was coregistered with quantitative MRI maps to automatically measure MRI parameters on a tract-by-tract basis. The results reveal that each tract has a unique spatial signature in terms of water relaxation and diffusion anisotropy.
扩散张量磁共振成像用于在体内展示脑干轴突连接的解剖图谱。能够识别皮质脊髓束（CST）、内侧丘系以及上、中、下小脑脚。此外，大脑脚可被细分为不同的纤维束，即额桥束、皮质脊髓束以及颞/顶/枕桥束。为每条纤维确定了解剖标志和追踪阈值，使用这些标准，通过评估评分者内和评分者间的可靠性发现自动追踪的可重复性很高（kappa>0.82）。重建的纤维与现有的解剖学知识高度吻合，验证了追踪结果。关于各纤维束位置的信息与定量磁共振成像图谱进行了配准，以便逐束自动测量磁共振成像参数。结果表明，每条纤维束在水弛豫和扩散各向异性方面都有独特的空间特征。
