Traktografie

Traktografie, also known as tractography or diffusion tensor tractography (DTT), is a neuroimaging technique used to visualize and map the white matter tracts in the brain. It is derived from diffusion MRI (dMRI), a type of magnetic resonance imaging that measures the diffusion of water molecules within tissue. In the brain, water molecules tend to diffuse along the direction of white matter fibers, which are bundles of myelinated axons.

Traktografie exploits this directional diffusion to infer the orientation and connectivity of these fiber pathways. By acquiring multiple diffusion-weighted images in different directions, the technique can estimate the dominant direction of water diffusion at each voxel (a 3D pixel). These directional estimates are then used to reconstruct the trajectories of white matter tracts, creating a 3D map of the brain's neural network.

The resulting tractograms represent probabilistic or deterministic reconstructions of these pathways. Probabilistic methods account for the uncertainty in fiber direction, while deterministic methods follow the most likely path. Traktografie has become an invaluable tool in neuroscience research, allowing for detailed study of brain anatomy, connectivity, and how these are affected by development, aging, and neurological disorders. It is also used clinically for surgical planning, particularly in procedures involving critical white matter pathways, to help surgeons avoid damaging important connections.