Mapping Brain Anatomical Connectivity Using Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Structural connectivity of the human brain

In 2009, the National Institutes of Health ambitiously launched the Human Connectome Project [1] to promote engineering capabilities for imaging and analyzing brain connections. One of the primarily promoted technologies is diffusion magnetic resonance (dMR) imaging, which noninvasively maps brain connectivity at a macroscopic scale by measuring water molecules? anisotropic diffusion constrained by neural fibers. Following years of steady advancement, the dMR imaging technique has reached unprecedented spatial and angular resolution, and its computational analysis methods, stimulated by growing research needs, have also blossomed. This has been achieved by joint contributions from various areas, such as signal processing, applied mathematics, network analysis, and so on. In this article, we outline the milestones on this exciting path of interdisciplinary technology development with the aim of bringing these advancements to engineers outside the medical imaging community.