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Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)
Detects microscopic brain injuries by mapping white matter tracts. A 3T MRI provides clearer, more detailed scans, making it easier to identify subtle damage like diffuse axonal injury (DAI), which a 1.5T MRI may miss.
Traumatic Brain Injury
Uncovering the Hidden Injuries You Can’t See, But Need to Know
With cutting-edge 3T MRI brain mapping technology featuring DTI, SWI, and ASL sequences, we deliver exceptional precision in detecting and visualizing traumatic brain injuries, ensuring clear insights for accurate diagnosis and optimal treatment.
Brain Mapping
Our 3T MRI uses proprietary sequences including Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI), Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL), and Susceptibility Weighted Imaging (SWI) to reveal detailed insights that standard MRIs cannot.
Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL)
Measures blood flow in the brain, crucial for detecting reduced circulation linked to traumatic brain injuries. A 3T MRI captures higher-resolution images, revealing areas of potential damage more accurately than a 1.5T MRI.
Susceptibility Weighted Imaging (SWI)
Identifies microbleeds, hemorrhages, and iron deposits, which are common after a brain injury. A 3T MRI enhances SWI clarity, helping detect subtle injuries that might not be visible on a 1.5T MRI.
Connectivity Mapping (Fibrotrak)
Uses advanced MRI processing to analyze white matter tracts and brain connectivity. This technology aids in diagnosing and tracking TBI, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and neurodegenerative diseases, providing detailed insights for treatment planning.
With 3T MRI technology, even the smallest brain injuries can be detected faster and with greater accuracy, ensuring better diagnosis and treatment options.
We care for you
At Pacific West Diagnostic Imaging, our scans are read by a team of radiologists each with over 20 years of med-legal experience, and we provide reports and are available to provide expert testimonials. With the power of a 3T MRI our radiologists can detect:
Enhanced Clarity for Better Diagnosis
A 3T MRI provides higher resolution and greater detail, allowing for more accurate detection of subtle injuries like microbleeds, white matter disruptions, and small structural abnormalities caused by TBI.
Detecting What Others Might Miss
Small brain lesions, including tiny microhemorrhages and diffuse axonal injury (DAI), may go unnoticed with a 1.5T MRI. The stronger magnetic field of a 3T MRI ensures no critical detail is overlooked.
Understanding Pre-Existing Conditions
Advanced imaging can reveal previously undiagnosed brain damage or show how a recent injury has worsened an existing condition—essential for accurate medical assessments and treatment planning.
Predicting Long-Term Impact
Since TBIs can have lasting effects, a 3T MRI helps assess long-term consequences, aiding in medical care decisions and supporting claims for compensation, lost wages, and quality of life adjustments.
Never miss an injury
For most Personal Injury cases, the most common type of MRI scanners in use in the United States today are the 1.5 Tesla scanner and the 0.3 to 0.5T open MRI scanners. However, in recent years, 3 Tesla scanners have become available in many major metropolitan hospitals, and top 10% imaging centers nationwide.
The greater the Tesla value, the higher the magnetic field strength of the machine.
2x
Higher resolution than 1.5T MRI
A 3T MRI provides twice the spatial resolution of a 1.5T MRI, allowing for precise herniated disc measurements, clearer whiplash injury detection, and a detailed view of the sciatic nerve.
4x
Higher Resolution than 0.5T MRI (Open MRI)
Compared to a 0.5T MRI, a 3T MRI delivers four times the image clarity, ensuring superior diagnostic accuracy for even the smallest abnormalities.
2x
Faster Than 1.5T MRI, 4x Faster Than 0.5T MRI
A 3T MRI scans twice as fast as a 1.5T MRI and four times faster than a 0.5T MRI, reducing scan time while maintaining exceptional image quality.
TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY (TBI)
AND DIFFUSION TENSOR IMAGING (DTI)
FOR PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEYS
$17 Billion
annual cost to society
3 Million
cases of TBI every year in the USA
Common Causes of TBI
Falls, head impacts, and motor vehicle accidents are the top causes of traumatic brain injuries, often leading to unnoticed or undiagnosed damage.
Hidden & Overlooked TBIs
Mild to moderate TBIs are routinely missed with standard CTs and MRIs, as they often appear "normal" or "negative" despite lingering symptoms.
The Challenge of Diagnosis
TBI diagnoses are often considered subjective, with symptoms that can be delayed, subtle, or overlooked, making early detection crucial.
Objective Detection with DTI
Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) is the only proven method to objectively characterize TBI, standing up to Daubert and Frye legal challenges while revolutionizing brain injury diagnosis.
Quantitative Volumetric Imaging
Using MRI scans and sophisticated software tools for quantitative imaging to analyze the resulting images has become a significant element in the assessment of patients with TBI. Volumetric MRI studies performed after a brain injury can provide physicians with regional and whole brain volumes, which can be followed over time. This is especially meaningful, as global and regional brain atrophy from a single minor brain injury or concussion, can be detected one year after the injury.
Figure 1. A graphical representation of a postulated cognitive reserve and how head injury may increase the risk of cognitive decline. The broken green line (1) represents the “normal” situation. There is loss of cognitive function with aging until a threshold point is crossed (broken red line) resulting clinically in dementia. After an episode of traumatic brain injury there is a significant decline in cognitive function which recovers, the degree of recovery being dependent on the severity of the head injury. Recovery is, however, not complete resulting in a loss of functional reserve. After this point cognitive decline may be as for normal ageing [broken blue line (2)] with the dementia threshold being crossed earlier due to loss of functional reserve, or there may be a continued synergistic effect of mechanisms initiated by the head injury which accelerates cognitive decline [broken purple line (3)]. Reproduced with permission from John Wiley and Sons and Smith (2013).