拡散テンソル画像および拡散テンソルトラクトグラフィーの定量解析手法における信頼性の検証

Abstract

To clarify the difference in reproducibility between region-of-interest and tract specific analysis (TSA) in the analysis of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and diffusion tensor tractography (DTT). [Participants and Methods] Seventeen healthy male and female subjects (age 32.8 ± 6.8 years) were examined by three physical therapists. Fractional anisotropy values were analyzed in the midbrain cerebral peduncle for the region-of-interest method (freehand, oval, and spherical) and in the fiber bundles of the corticospinal tract for TSA, and the inter-rater reliability was compared. [Results] TSA was significantly more reliable than the freehand and oval methods, but not significantly different from the spherical method. [Conclusion] The reproducibility of TSA was higher than that of the freehand and oval methods of the region-of-interest methods in the analysis of DTI and DTT, suggesting that there is no difference in the reproducibility between the spherical method and TSA.