Development of a finite element model of molecular diffusion in living brain from in vivo magnetic resonance

Magnetic resonance imaging techniques measure in vivo the diffusion tensor of water in tissues. With some physiologically reasonable assumptions, this data can be incorporated into a finite element model of diffusive transport of macromolecules within living tissue. Here the authors present the results of applying this approach to model the transport of sucrose in living cat brain. They show that white matter fibers strongly bias the transport due to their anisotropic diffusive properties.