The National Institutes of Health has licensed diffusion tensor MRI (DT-MRI) technology that it developed to GE Medical Systems of Milwaukee. GE has rights to produce and market a product based on the technology.
DT-MRI was invented by researchers at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). The technique measures the 3-D random motion of water molecules (diffusion) within tissues, taking advantage of the different diffusion properties inherent in different types of tissue.
Changes in the tissue properties as measured by DT-MRI can often be correlated with processes that occur in development, degeneration, disease, and aging, according to NIH. DT-MRI has found particular application in brain imaging, such as distinguishing between tumors and healthy tissue in brain surgeries and mapping changes in white matter in diseases like Lou Gehrig’s disease, adrenoleukodystrophy, multiple sclerosis, and epilepsy.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writersAugust 5, 2002
Copyright © 2002 AuntMinnie.com
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