Traumatic Brain Injuries and Diffusion Tensor Imaging - A Review

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) constitute a major public health problem. The armamentarium of current neuroimaging includes many techniques, and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is one of the most prominent ones. Presently, it is used for studying mild, moderate and severe TBI in humans (children, adolescents and adults), as well as in animals. The main focus of DTI is the white matter tracts. Herein, the authors briefly present the philosophy, the applications and the findings of the current global research in this field and shed light on the potential future utilization of this technology. Furthermore, recent patents in manipulating acquired TBI images are reviewed with special emphasis being placed on the innovation of new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus.