Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Quantitative Tractography of Skeletal Muscle for Microstructural Tissue Characterization

Gharibans, Armen A.

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Description

Title

Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Quantitative Tractography of Skeletal Muscle for Microstructural Tissue Characterization

Author(s)

Gharibans, Armen A.

Issue Date

2011-05-25T14:23:20Z

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Georgiadis, John G.

Department of Study

Mechanical Sci & Engineering

Discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• Diffusion Tensor Imaging
• Tractography
• Skeletal Muscle

Abstract

This thesis aims to investigate the use of magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) as a non-invasive tool to study the structure and organization of human skeletal muscle. By analyzing the diffusion of water molecules, DTI can uniquely probe the microstructure of skeletal muscle providing valuable information that other imaging tools cannot. The first aim is exploring the feasibility of using DTI and tractography to accurately represent muscle structure in the presence of imaging noise. Noise produces a random perturbation of the diffusion tensor, which can shift the eigenvectors and produce incorrect results. Various tractography algorithms are compared to determine which is the least susceptible to noise and the minimum signal-to- noise ratio for reliable results is established. The second aim is to use the tractography results to elucidate and quantify a 3D fabric structure to ultimately determine muscle quality objectively. Tracking of the secondary eigenvector, novel to the DTI field, is introduced and investigated.

Graduation Semester

2011-05

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/24477

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2011 Armen Alex Gharibans

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