Abstract: A topological visualization method for DT-MRI dataset is introduced.The 3D diffusion tensor is projected onto a two-dimensional slice plane, and the in-plane diffusion is considered.By topology analysis, the topological structure of the corresponding diffusion tensor field is extracted.Topological features of cerebral tissue such as corpus callosum and thalamencephalon, detected in the horizontal, coronal and sagittal plane, indicate that the topological method provides an accurate and synthetic depiction of the underlying framework.Compared with simple fiber tracking, the topology-based visualization represents complex structure by simple points and lines, resulting in a clearer description.Connectivity of field can also be dramatically enhanced.

Key words: visualization, topology, diffusion tensor MR