University of Pittsburgh researchers have developed High Accuracy Fiber Tracking (HAFT), a novel technology that enhances the accuracy of neuronavigators used in brain tumor surgeries. By implementing a high-sampling diffusion MRI scan modeled by a nonparametric diffusion distribution, HAFT significantly improves the mapping accuracy of critical neuronal pathways, reducing the risk of surgical complications and improving patient outcomes.
Effect of HAFT on Peritumoral TractographyA. Peritumoral tractogram generated from fiber tracking contains possible false connections annotated by red arrows. B. HAFT automatically removes most of these false connections without manual intervention.
Description
High Accuracy Fiber Tracking (HAFT) is a novel technology that utilizes high-sampling diffusion MRI scans to model the diffusion patterns of critical fiber pathways in the brain. This approach addresses the limitations of current surgical navigators and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), which have a high error rate in mapping neuronal pathways. HAFT provides neurosurgeons with precise trajectory information of critical pathways, enhancing the safety and effectiveness of brain tumor surgeries.
Applications
- Brain tumor surgery
- Neurosurgical navigation
- Mapping of critical neuronal pathways
Advantages
HAFT offers several advantages over existing technologies. It significantly reduces the error rate in mapping critical fiber pathways from 40% to 8%, providing a dramatic enhancement in accuracy. This increased reliability minimizes the risk of damaging important pathways during surgery, potentially reducing motor and cognitive impairments and increasing survival rates in both regular and high-risk surgeries.
Invention Readiness
The HAFT technology has been validated through extensive testing. It involves acquiring 258 diffusion sampling directions at 23 different sensitization strengths, compared to the 30-60 directions used in traditional DTI. This high angular resolution diffusion spectrum acquisition enables the estimation of a “model-free” empirical distribution of water diffusion. The nonparametric approach has been validated against a capillary tube phantom, ensuring the highest signal processing accuracy. In an open competition evaluating the accuracy of mapping white matter pathways, HAFT achieved an error rate of 8%, compared to the average 40% error rate of other methods.
IP Status
https://patents.google.com/patent/US11557070B2Related Publication(s)
Yeh, F.-C., Panesar, S., Barrios, J., Fernandes, D., Abhinav, K., Meola, A., & Fernandez-Miranda, J. C. (2019). Automatic Removal of False Connections in Diffusion MRI Tractography Using Topology-Informed Pruning (TIP). Neurotherapeutics, 16(1), 52–58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13311-018-0663-y
