Zhang, KunyanYong, V. WeeKamalpour-Ansari, Mohammad hadi2014-10-102014-11-172014-10-102014http://hdl.handle.net/11023/1928Changes in myelin integrity are key characteristics of many diseases including multiple sclerosis. The goal of this project was to evaluate the feasibility of structure tensor analysis, a potentially new measure of tissue directionality, to measure myelin health. Using histology and MR images obtained from a lysolecithin model of demyelination and remyelination, I quantified the coherency (anisotropy), energy (organization), and entropy (heterogeneity) of white matter in mouse spinal cords with different myelin integrity and found that demyelinated tissue had lower coherency and energy but higher entropy than tissues with intact myelin. I also tested the robustness of this technique to the change in image size in MRI and showed its practical feasibility. My findings suggest that tissues with better myelin integrity have greater alignment and anisotropy. Structure tensor analysis may have the potential to evaluate de- and re-myelination in patients with multiple sclerosis and similar disorders. Further validation is warranted.engUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.NeuroscienceImagingmaster thesis10.11575/PRISM/25691