Diffusion Tensor Imaging - Current Possibilities of Brain White Matter Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a relatively new magnetic resonance imaging technique that is capable of unique depiction of the structural detail in brain white matter. Its sophisticated software algorithms provide either three-dimensional reconstructions and visualizations of the particular tracts of the white matter or quantifications of various DTI parameters that appear, according to certain studies, to be highly sensitive to structural abnormalities in white matter. The aim of the present paper is to review the current applications of DTI for the depiction of brain white matter. Some basic technical remarks are made and clinical aspects are discussed, as well as purely research applications aimed at the detection and quantification of the subtle ultra-structural pathology of brain white matter.