Regularization of Diffusion MRI Q-Ball Fields for Crossing Fiber Tractography

Since the advent of high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) techniques in diffusion MRI great efforts have been taken in order to reconstruct complex whitematter structures, such as crossing, branching and kissing fibers. However, even highly sophisticated fiber tracking schemes, such as probabilistic tracking, suffer from the data’s poor signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio. In this paper we present a novel regularization approach for q-ball fields, exploiting structural information within the data. We also propose a straightforward deterministic tracking algorithm, allowing delineation of even non-dominant pathways through crossing regions. Results from a phantom study with a biological phantom as well as a patient study, in which we reconstruct a part of the pyramidal tract, emphasize the method’s efficiency.