Objectives

At the end of this course, the student
• understands contrast formation in diffusion weighted imaging
- has acquired knowledge of isotropic and anisotropic diffusion in the brain
- crossing fibers
• understands the principles of diffusion tensor imaging
- is familiar with diffusion-derived maps: mean diffusivity (MD), fractional anisotropy (FA), axial and radial diffusivity and directionally encoded colour (DEC) maps
• understands the basic steps of DTI post-processing
- understands the importance of DWI/DTI data quality control
- is familiar with common artefacts
- can visualize diffusion-derived maps
• understands the principles of tractography algorithms.
- deterministic tractography
- probabilistic tractography
• can perform groupwise comparisons for the DTI scalars diffusion metrics
• can generate 3D reconstructions of white matter tracts in a normal subject