Disrupted structural connectivity using diffusion tensor tractography in epilepsy

Human thoughts and emotions are communicated between different brain regions through pathways comprising of white matter tracts. Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) is a newly developed Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technique to locate the white matter lesions which cannot be found on other types of clinical MRI. Fiber tracking using streamline tractography approaches has a limitation that it could not detect crossing or branching fibers. This limitation is overcome in Fast Marching technique of tractography where branching fibers are detected correctly but it takes more time than streamline tracking technique. For tracking fiber pathways in a noninvasive way, we propose an approach which utilizes the advantages of both tracking techniques: Fiber Assignment by Continuous Tracking and Fast Marching, to give a better and accurate tracking of fiber pathways as given by Fast Marching tracking technique and in less time as given by Fiber Assignment by Continuous tracking.