Male, 46 Years of age with a history of a stable mass on the right lateral ventricle, and a stable mild midline shift (dashed lines). The patient had a Functional MRI (fMRI) of the brain to check for areas of motor, language, audio, and visual functions affected by this mass. This assists the surgeon in salvaging these areas of function during surgery. Figure A: A Diffusion Tensor Image (DTI) demonstrating displacement of many fiber pathways including the critical right corticospinal pathway (blue area, surrounded by white dots) that carries critical pathways for motor function for the entire left side of the body. These types of images help guide the surgeon during surgery. Figure B: This front view Functional MRI image demonstrates that critical language functions are located within the left hemisphere, clearing the way for complete surgical resection of the lesion without any concern of subsequent language impairment. Post processing is done by the Stanford 3DQ Lab and requires an extensive knowledge of anatomy and software skills to produce images that efficiently assist the radiologists and surgeons in the treatment planning process.

By: Keshni Kumar, RT/BS
3DQ Lab Imaging Specialist, Stanford