Fig 1.
Diffusion and non-diffusion weighted images and segmentation.
(A) DT-MRI with b-value = 0 in axial orientation. (B) DT-MRI with b-value = 800 s/mm2 in axial orientation. (C) Sagittal view of DT-MRI with b-value = 0 in which the red circles indicate the region of interest (ROI) placements per root. (D) Coronal MR neurography image with visualization of the roots and trunks. (E) DT-MRI with b-value = 0 reconstructed in coronal orientation. (F) DT-MRI with b-value = 800 s/mm2 reconstructed in coronal orientation.
Fig 2.
Representative example of a DT-MRI tractography dataset (64 years old male), including tractography color coded for fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), radial diffusivity (RD) and signal to noise (SNR). The bottom right image is a maximum intensity projection (MIP) of the brachial plexus neurography image (MR-Neurography) with superimposed fiber tracts of the postganglionic tissue only. The circles along the tracts indicate the sample sections which are color-coded for sample number.
Table 1.
Group characteristics.
Table 2.
DT-MRI values and repeatability indices.
Fig 3.
Bland-Altman analysis of DT-MRI derived diffusion values.
Bland-Altman analysis of DT-MRI derived diffusion values FA, MD, AD, and RD. (Column 1) Within-subject variability. Comparisons between the first and second scan session for the first observer. (Column 2) Intra-rater variability. Comparisons of the first scan session for the first observer who analyzed the data twice. (Column 3) Inter-rater variability. Comparisons of the first scan session between the first and second observer. (Column 4) Data of the first scan session analyzed for right-left differences. The top and bottom orange lines are the 95% confidence interval (CI) of the measurements. The middle orange line indicates the mean difference between the measurements.
Fig 4.
Scatterplots of diffusivity values as a function of bodyweight.
Scatterplots of fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD) as function of bodyweight. Regression lines are linear fits for MD (P = 0.005), AD (P = 0.002), and RD (P = 0.013).