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- Title
Diffusion tensor imaging in anisotropic tissues: application of reduced gradient vector schemes in peripheral nerves.
- Authors
Foesleitner, Olivia; Sulaj, Alba; Sturm, Volker; Kronlage, Moritz; Preisner, Fabian; Kender, Zoltan; Bendszus, Martin; Szendroedi, Julia; Heiland, Sabine; Schwarz, Daniel
- Abstract
Background: In contrast to the brain, fibers within peripheral nerves have distinct monodirectional structure questioning the necessity of complex multidirectional gradient vector schemes for DTI. This proof-of-concept study investigated the diagnostic utility of reduced gradient vector schemes in peripheral nerve DTI. Methods: Three-Tesla magnetic resonance neurography of the tibial nerve using 20-vector DTI (DTI20) was performed in 10 healthy volunteers, 12 patients with type 2 diabetes, and 12 age-matched healthy controls. From the full DTI20 dataset, three reduced datasets including only two or three vectors along the x- and/or y- and z-axes were built to calculate major parameters. The influence of nerve angulation and intraneural connective tissue was assessed. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC-AUC) was used for analysis. Results: Simplified datasets achieved excellent diagnostic accuracy equal to DTI20 (ROC-AUC 0.847–0.868, p ≤ 0.005), but compared to DTI20, the reduced models yielded mostly lower absolute values of DTI scalars: median fractional anisotropy (FA) ≤ 0.12; apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) ≤ 0.25; axial diffusivity ≤ 0.96, radial diffusivity ≤ 0.07). The precision of FA and ADC with the three-vector model was closest to DTI20. Intraneural connective tissue was negatively correlated with FA and ADC (r ≥ -0.49, p < 0.001). Small deviations of nerve angulation had little effect on FA accuracy. Conclusions: In peripheral nerves, bulk tissue DTI metrics can be approximated with only three predefined gradient vectors along the scanner's main axes, yielding similar diagnostic accuracy as a 20-vector DTI, resulting in substantial scan time reduction. Relevance statement: DTI bulk tissue parameters of peripheral nerves can be calculated with only three predefined gradient vectors at similar diagnostic performance as a standard DTI but providing a substantial scan time reduction. Key points: • In peripheral nerves, DTI parameters can be approximated using only three gradient vectors. • The simplified model achieves a similar diagnostic performance as a standard DTI. • The simplified model allows for a significant acceleration of image acquisition. • This can help to introduce multi-b-value DTI techniques into clinical practice.
- Subjects
DIFFUSION tensor imaging; PERIPHERAL nervous system; MAGNETIC resonance neurography; RECEIVER operating characteristic curves; TIBIAL nerve
- Publication
European Radiology Experimental, 2024, Vol 8, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
2509-9280
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1186/s41747-024-00444-2