DTI has been used primarily to evaluate white matter tracks in the brain. More recent studies have applied DTI techniques to peripheral nerves, due to their anisotropic architecture. In this investigation, we evaluated peripheral nerve regeneration in a rabbit sciatic nerve gap model comparing two collagen conduits with nerve autograft using DTI and comparison with functional/physiologic testing and histology. We hypothesized that this study would allow us to reliably compare outcomes of nerve regeneration between collagen-based conduits and autograft nerve reconstructions and provide validation for the use of DTI techniques to non-invasively monitor nerve regeneration in-vivo.
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