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Diffusion Tensor Imaging for Brain Injuries

Michael Agruss

Written and Reviewed by Michael Agruss

  • Managing Partner and Personal Injury Lawyer at 844SeeMike.
  • Over 20 years of experience in Personal Injury.
  • Graduated from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law: Juris Doctor, 2004.

 

While many of us are familiar with the MRI procedure, in which the patient lies within a narrow tunnel to obtain images in search of injury, there is a new technology on the rise which can help detect injuries that aren’t visible on standard MRIs. It is known as “diffusion tensor imaging,” or DTI. The imaging technique of DTI focuses on molecules, particularly water molecules, and their unique movement along muscle and neural tracts. As such, it can identify tracts of white matter in the brain and their links and structures, which has tremendous implications for brain injury victims. White matter is essential to healthy brain function because it connects separate regions of grey matter to each other, and assessing the damage caused by the injury is where DTI comes in: while MRI scans may identify abnormal brain tissue, DTI can create three-dimensional scans of white matter tracts to accurately pinpoint the damage in ways that standard MRIs cannot. Studies have also found that the error rate of DTI is significantly lower than that of MRIs, which is highly beneficial for DTI’s integration into standard medical care. While DTI is still finding its way into “mainstream” health care, it is not necessarily a new practice. As of early 2010, there had already been nearly 3,500 papers published on the technique in peer-reviewed journals. Moving forward, it also has the advantage of FDA approval: as quoted by the court in Hammar v. Sentinel Ins. Co. (2010), “[DTI is] FDA-approved, peer-reviewed and approved, and a commercially-marketed modality which has been in clinical use for the evaluation of suspected head traumas including mild traumatic brain injury.” And from Ruppel v. Kucanin (2011): “While DTI is a relatively new and developing technology, it is well on its way to gaining general acceptance in the scientific community as a tool for identifying mild TBI.” If you or a loved one has suffered a head or brain injury in an accident, contact 844 See Mike, LLC for a free consultation. We are a Chicago-based injury law firm representing individuals (and their families) who have suffered an injury in an accident. We will handle your case quickly and advise you every step of the way, and we will not hesitate to go to trial for you. Lastly, 844 See Mike is not paid attorneys’ fees unless we win your case. Our no-fee promise is that simple. You have nothing to risk when you hire us – only the opportunity to seek justice.

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