Table 1.
Diffusion acquisition and tracking parameters.
| Parameter | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| MRI Acquisition | MRI Machine | Philips |
| Magnetic field | 3 T | |
| Diffusion directions | 32 | |
| b value | 1,000 s/mm2 | |
| Slice thickness | 2 mm | |
| Voxel size | 2 × 2 × 2 mm isotropic | |
| Diffusion slice gap | 0 | |
| Field of view | Tailored to spinal cord – ZOOM DTI | |
| Acquisition plane | Coronal | |
| Phase encoding direction | Right → left and left → right | |
| TE / TR | Lower as possible | |
| Tracking | Distortion correction | Eddy FSL tool |
| Software package | DSI Studio | |
| FA threshold | “default” 0.015–0.045 | |
| Curvature threshold | 90° | |
| Min–max length | 10 - 1000 mm | |
| Step size | 0.1 mm | |
| Reconstruction algorithm | Deterministic | |
| ROA design | One ROA including the whole spinal cord. | |
| Filtering | Manual elimination of spurious fibers and false continuation (<15min) |
FA, fractional anisotropy; ROA, region of avoidance.