Contributions

    Diffusion MRI is a noninvasive imaging technique that can be used to probe, in vivo, the intrinsic diffusion properties of deep tissues. Information about the diffusion characteristics of the tissue can be used to assess the structural integrity of the tissue, as well as to estimate brain connectivity (tractography).

  • We published one of the first studies demonstrating how the number of diffusion gradient directions affects DTI results, and establishing the optimal number of diffusion directions (2002).
  • We were the first to demonstrate the importance of artifact-free diffusion imaging on the accuracy and reproducibility of white matter fiber tractography (2008).
  • We have introduced diffusion encoding schemes optimized for white matter fibers with a selected orientation (2007).
  • We have demonstrated that skeletonized atlas-based segmentation is superior to conventional atlas-based segmentation for DTI investigations in regions near the ventricles.
  • We published the first diffusion MRI studies on mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) (2002), intermittent explosive disorder (2016), and social anxiety disorder (2009).

Selected Related Publications

  • Arfanakis K, Cordes D, Haughton VM, Carew JD, Meyerand ME. Independent component analysis applied to diffusion tensor MRI. Magn Reson Med 2002;47:354-363.
  • Arfanakis K, Haughton VM, Carew JD, Rogers BP, Dempsey RJ, Meyerand ME. Diffusion tensor MR imaging in diffuse axonal injury. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2002;23:794-802.
  • Gui M, Peng H, Carew JD, Lesniak MS, Arfanakis K. A tractography comparison between turboprop and spin-echo echo-planar diffusion tensor imaging. Neuroimage 2008;42:1451-1462.
  • Gui M, Tamhane AA, Arfanakis K. Contribution of cardiac-induced brain pulsation to the noise of the diffusion tensor in Turboprop diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). J Magn Reson Imaging 2008;27:1164-1168.
  • Phan KL, Orlichenko A, Boyd E, Angstadt M, Coccaro EF, Liberzon I, Arfanakis K. Preliminary evidence of white matter abnormality in the uncinate fasciculus in generalized social anxiety disorder. Biol Psychiatry 2009;66:691-694.
  • Zhang S, Arfanakis K. White matter segmentation based on a skeletonized atlas: effects on diffusion tensor imaging studies of regions of interest. J Magn Reson Imaging 2014;40:1189-1198.
DTI acquisition schemes
Reproducibility of tractography
Turboprop tractography
Traumatic Brain Injury