Diffusion Tensor Imaging of the Spinal Cord

Sho-Jen Cheng; Ping-Huei Tsai; Yun-Ting Lee; Yi-Tien Li; Hsiao-Wen Chung; Cheng-Yu Chen

doi:10.1016/j.mric.2021.02.002

Diffusion Tensor Imaging of the Spinal Cord

Magn Reson Imaging Clin N Am. 2021 May;29(2):195-204. doi: 10.1016/j.mric.2021.02.002. Epub 2021 Mar 23.

Authors

Sho-Jen Cheng¹, Ping-Huei Tsai², Yun-Ting Lee³, Yi-Tien Li³, Hsiao-Wen Chung⁴, Cheng-Yu Chen⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Imaging, Taipei Medical University Hospital, 252 Wu-Hsing Street, Taipei 110, Taiwan.
² Department of Medical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, Chung-Shan Medical University, No.110, Sec.1, Jianguo N. Road, Taichung 40201, Taiwan.
³ Translational Imaging Research Center, Taipei Medical University Hospital, 252 Wu-Hsing Street, Taipei 110, Taiwan.
⁴ Graduate Institute of Biomedical Electronics and Bioinformatics, National Taiwan University, No.1, Sec.4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan; Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University, No.1, Sec.4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan. Electronic address: chunghw@ntu.edu.tw.
⁵ Department of Medical Imaging, Taipei Medical University Hospital, 252 Wu-Hsing Street, Taipei 110, Taiwan; Translational Imaging Research Center, Taipei Medical University Hospital, 252 Wu-Hsing Street, Taipei 110, Taiwan; Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wu-Hsing Street, Taipei 110, Taiwan.

PMID: 33902903
DOI: 10.1016/j.mric.2021.02.002

Abstract

Spinal cord often is regarded as one of the last territories in the central nervous system where diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can be used to probe white matter architecture. This article reviews current progress in spinal cord DTI, starting with anatomic properties and technical challenges that make spinal cord DTI a difficult task. Several possibilities offered by advanced pulse sequences that might overcome the difficulties are addressed, with associated trade-offs and limitations. Potential clinical assistance also is discussed in various spinal cord pathologies, such as myelopathy due to external compression, spinal cord tumors, acute ischemia, traumatic injury, and so forth.

Keywords: Diffusion tensor imaging; Geometric distortions; Spatial resolution; Spinal cord; White matter integrity.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Diffusion Tensor Imaging*
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging*
Spinal Cord / diagnostic imaging