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Abstract #2438

Standard and Probabilistic Models of Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Tractography in Patients with Brain Tumors

Zhixi Li1, Robert J. Young2,3, Kyung Peck4, Nicole Brennan2, Andrei I. Holodny2,3

1Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, United States; 2Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, United States; 3Brain Tumor Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, United States; 4Department of Medical Physics, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, United States


The development of diffusion tensor (DT) imaging and tractography affords the ability to account for the white matter fibers and has the potential to be an important tool in neurosurgical navigation. In addition to the usual fiber tracking challenges related to small fibers that may make sharp turns and/or encounter crossing fibers, tractography in patients with brain tumors may be compromised by the tumor and/or the associated edema. In patients with brain tumors near the arcuate fasciculus, we hypothesize that tractography based on a probabilistic model will perform better than a standard deterministic model.

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