Clinical Application of Diffusion Tensor Imaging for a Brachial Plexus Injury

Brachial plexus injuries are commonly diagnosed clinically, as conventional imaging has a low sensitivity. In recent years, diffusion tensor imaging has established a clinical role in the study of the central nervous system and, while still presenting some limitations due to the technical complexity...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Giulio Vara, Gianmarco Tuzzato, Giuseppe Bianchi, Marco Miceli, Luca Spinardi, Rita Golfieri, Raffaella Rinaldi, Giancarlo Facchini
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-07-01
Series:Diagnostics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/12/7/1687
Description
Summary:Brachial plexus injuries are commonly diagnosed clinically, as conventional imaging has a low sensitivity. In recent years, diffusion tensor imaging has established a clinical role in the study of the central nervous system and, while still presenting some limitations due to the technical complexity of the acquisition method, is showing promising results when applied to peripheral nerves. Moreover, deterministic fiber tracking with the Euler’s method and multishell acquisition are two novel advances in the field which contribute to enhancing the reliability of the technique reducing the respiratory and inhomogeneity artifacts in this “magnetically complex” region, and better isolating the fibers in a heterogeneous territory. Here, we report a case of brachial plexus traumatic injury, a healthy reference subject, and details on the acquisition protocol of the reconstruction algorithm.
ISSN:2075-4418