SFB603 - TP C9: Reconstruction and Visualization of Neural Pathways

(01.01.2004 - 31.03.2008)

Neural pathways are structures within the human brain that are important for sensory, motor and other integrative functions. To avoid neurological deficits after brain surgery in brain tumor cases these fiber tracts must remain intact. Contrary to nerves of the peripheral nervous system which are coated with collateral tissue the neural pathways within the brain are hardly distinguishable from the gray matter. The differentiation of neural pathways is therefore only possible by using the capabilities of diffusion tensor MRI which measures the diffusion behavior of water molecules withing tissue. The aim of the project is to develop new approaches for the exact reconstruction of fiber tracts from diffusion tensor data which requires an exact analysis of the tensor data as well as filtering and registration techniques. In the future, the planning of surgery will be improved and the inherent risk will be reduced.