Structural Connectivity in White Matter Using the Projected Diffusion-Tensor Distance

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has become a powerful tool for analyzing the structure of white matter. We have proposed a method for detecting nerve fiber bundles in white matter using diffusion tensor images and have applied the method to in vivo brain measurements. Although there are many methods to investigate the connectivity of white matter that are based on principal eigenvector or full tensor propagation. In the proposed method, we use directional diffusion measurements to infer regional white matter connectivity. To assess the connectivity, we compose the map based on the projected tensor distance, then we put a label on the constructed map and segment regionally connected white matter using labels. The purpose of this study is to obtain a quantitative map of white matter connectivity in vivo using diffusion tensor properties.