Cited by 102Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and ApplicationsAdvanced MRI Techniques and ApplicationsFunctional Brain Connectivity Studies

Can increased spatial resolution solve the crossing fiber problem for diffusion MRI?

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Schilling, Kurt, Gao, Yurui, Janve, Vaibhav, Stepniewska, Iwona, Landman, Bennett A., Anderson, Adam W.·2017·NMR in Biomedicine

Abstract

It is now widely recognized that voxels with crossing fibers or complex geometrical configurations present a challenge for diffusion MRI (dMRI) reconstruction and fiber tracking, as well as microstructural modeling of brain tissues. This “crossing fiber” problem has been estimated to affect anywhere from 30% to as many as 90% of white matter voxels, and it is often assumed that increasing spatial resolution will decrease the prevalence of voxels containing multiple fiber populations. The aim of this study is to estimate the extent of the crossing fiber problem as we progressively increase the spatial resolution, with the goal of determining whether it is possible to mitigate this problem with higher resolution spatial sampling. This is accomplished using ex vivo MRI data of the macaque brain, followed by histological analysis of the same specimen to validate these measurements, as well as to extend this analysis to resolutions not yet achievable in practice with MRI. In both dMRI and histology, we find unexpected results: the prevalence of crossing fibers increases as we increase spatial resolution. The problem of crossing fibers appears to be a fundamental limitation of dMRI associated with the complexity of brain tissue, rather than a technical problem that can be overcome with advances such as higher fields and stronger gradients.

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  1. [25]Waxman SG Kocsis JD Stys PK The axon: structure, function, and pathophysiology New York Oxford University Press 1995 xv 692 2 p. of plates p
  2. [38]Evans M Hastings NAJ Peacock JB Statistical distributions New York Wiley 2000 xvi 221

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Authors
Schilling, K., Gao, Y., Janve, V., Stepniewska, I., Landman, B. A., & Anderson, A. W.
Affiliations
Vanderbilt University (US)
Corresponding author
Schilling, Kurt
Venue
NMR in Biomedicine
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2017-09-15
Volume
30
Issue
12
ISSN
  • 0952-3480 (ISSN-L)
  • 1099-1492
OpenAlex
W2756010063
Cited by
102
References
50
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 1
FWCI
4.62
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • NMR in Biomedicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01 NS058639, S10 RR17799)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced MRI Techniques and Applications
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
Keywords
crossing fibers, diffusion MRI, spatial resolution, tractography, white matter microstructure, macaque brain, histopathological confirmation, diffusion MRI reconstruction
MeSH terms
Diffusion, Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Signal-To-Noise Ratio

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