Color schemes to represent the orientation of anisotropic tissues from diffusion tensor data: Application to white matter fiber tract mapping in the human brain

TLDR

Optimal color representations should align perceived color differences with orientation differences of anisotropic tissues, accounting for human vision and display hardware. The study examines how color can encode directional information from diffusion tensors. Empirical color‑encoding schemes were developed that avoid common artifacts; the resulting directionally encoded color maps clearly display major white matter tracts, including brainstem motor and sensory pathways, offering a simple and effective visualization of fiber direction. Published in Magn Reson Med 42:526–540 (1999); © 1999 Wiley‑Liss, Inc.

Abstract

This paper investigates the use of color to represent the directional information contained in the diffusion tensor. Ideally, one wants to take into account both the properties of human color vision and of the given display hardware to produce a representation in which differences in the orientation of anisotropic structures are proportional to the perceived differences in color. It is argued here that such a goal cannot be achieved in general and therefore, empirical or heuristic schemes, which avoid some of the common artifacts of previously proposed approaches, are implemented. Directionally encoded color (DEC) maps of the human brain obtained using these schemes clearly show the main association, projection, and commissural white matter pathways. In the brainstem, motor and sensory pathways are easily identified and can be differentiated from the transverse pontine fibers and the cerebellar peduncles. DEC maps obtained from diffusion tensor imaging data provide a simple and effective way to visualize fiber direction, useful for investigating the structural anatomy of different organs. Magn Reson Med 42:526–540, 1999. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.