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Abstract #1635

Metrics for Distinguishing Axon Disorder from Demyelination in Regions of Decreased Fractional Anisotropy

Christine Marie Zwart1, David H. Frakes1,2, Josef P. Debbins3

1School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States; 2School of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States; 3Keller Center for Imaging Innovation, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, AZ, United States


Many diseases of the white matter are accompanied by an observable decrease in fractional anisotropy as measured with Diffusion Tensor Imaging. This decrease can be attributable to a general increase in extracellular space or an absence of collinearity with respect to axon orientations. For studying the progression of diseases such as multiple sclerosis (demyelination) and epilepsy (disorder) we have developed a correlation based metric that distinguishes between these processes.

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