High-Definition Fiber Tracking

High-definition fiber tracking, or HDFT, is a neuroimaging technique that processes magnetic resonance imaging data with computer algorithms to visualize the brain's neural pathways, revealing the detailed wiring of fiber tracts that each carry millions of neuronal connections, with more anatomically consistent results than earlier diffusion tensor imaging methods. It grew out of a 2009 competition and collaborative work between the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, where a Taiwanese research team won a 10,000 dollar prize for successfully tracking a previously elusive brain structure called Meyer's loop using improved algorithms for observing how water molecules diffuse through brain tissue. The technique has become clinically important at institutions such as UPMC, where neurosurgeons use it for surgical planning and to assess which neural connections remain intact after a traumatic brain injury, giving clinicians a more objective way to gauge injury, predict outcomes and plan rehabilitation.