Johansen-Berg Heidi, Behrens Timothy E J
Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK.
Curr Opin Neurol. 2006 Aug;19(4):379-85. doi: 10.1097/01.wco.0000236618.82086.01.
Diffusion tractography uses non-invasive brain imaging data to trace fibre bundles in the human brain in vivo. This raises immediate possibilities for clinical application but responsible use of this approach requires careful consideration of the scope and limitations of the technique.
To illustrate the potential for tractography to provide new information in clinical neuroscience we review recent studies in three broad areas: use of tractography for quantitative comparisons of specific white matter pathways in disease; evidence from tractography for the presence of qualitatively different pathways in congenital disorders or following recovery; use of tractography to gain insights into normal brain anatomy that can aid our understanding of the consequences of localised pathology, or guide interventions.
Diffusion tractography opens exciting new possibilities for exploring features of brain anatomy that previously were not visible to us in vivo.
扩散张量成像利用无创脑成像数据在活体中追踪人类大脑中的纤维束。这为临床应用带来了直接的可能性,但要合理使用该方法,需要仔细考虑该技术的范围和局限性。
为了说明张量成像在临床神经科学中提供新信息的潜力,我们回顾了三个广泛领域的近期研究:利用张量成像对疾病中特定白质通路进行定量比较;张量成像提供的证据表明先天性疾病或恢复后存在性质不同的通路;利用张量成像深入了解正常脑解剖结构,这有助于我们理解局部病变的后果或指导干预措施。
扩散张量成像为探索以前在活体中无法看到的脑解剖特征开辟了令人兴奋的新可能性。