Principles of brain tractography

Principios de Tractografía Cerebral

Objective:  to present the basic mathematical, physical and radiological principles behind tractography,  as well as, providing       a review of the main tracts in the brain and their applications in neuroscience from the Fundación Universitaria de Ciencias de      la Salud (FUCS) in Bogota D.C., Colombia experience. Materials and Methods: bibliographic review and use of a 1.5 T or 3T MR imaging system to describe tractography images in central nervous system disorders. Results: the main features of tractography are shown based on cases at our institution. Discussion: there are no identified studies on the usefulness of tractography in the vast majority of brain related pathologies. Although this procedure is currently available, clinical information is scarce, as the image- processing techniques are lengthy and in most institutions, protocols have not been determined to reconstruct each of the tracts in the brain. Conclusions: it is possible to reconstruct brain tracts using 1.5T and 3T scanners, identifying the major brain tracts and their relationship with brain tumors, cranioencephalic trauma, substance abuse and other conditions.

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