Abstract: Objective: To explore the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) as a quantitative analytic method in normal cervical spinal cord with 3T MR, and to obtain the standard apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), fractional anisotropy (FA) and fiber tracking in normal cervical spinal cords. Methods: Axial DTI of cervical spinal cords was performed on 21 healthy volunteers who were divided into three groups (younger than 30 years, 31 to 60 years, over 60 years) with GE EXCITE Ⅱ 3.0T MR. The ADC, FA, λ₁, λ₂ and λ₃ were measured at C2, C4 and C6 levels of normal cervical spinal cords. The data were analyzed with a software package SPSS 11.0. Fiber tracking was performed on these volunteers with functool software of the GE Company. Results: High quality ADC maps, FA maps and fiber tracking of cervical spinal cords were produced. There was no statistical significance in ADC (F=0.04, P＞0.957), FA(F=0.56, P＞0.576), λ₁(F=1.02, P＞0.368), λ₂ (F=0.77, P＞0.468) and λ₃ (F=0.15, P＞0.859) at C2, C4 and C6 levels of normal cervical spinal cords. There was also no statistical significance in ADC （F=2.23, P=0.117） and FA （F=0.11, P=0.899）among the three groups. The ADC, FA, λ₁, λ₂, and λ₃ values were (0.784±0.083)×10-3mm2/s), 0.721±0.027, 1.509±0.145, 0.416±0.094, 0.411±0.102 respectively in average. There was statistical significance among λ₁, λ₂ and λ₃ values　（F=1871.41， P=0）. Conclusions: The normal cervical spinal cord shows cylindrical diffusion at different levels and in different ages. ADC and FA values are sensitive indices for evaluating cervical spinal cords. The fiber tracing of cervical spinal cord is clearly demonstrated.

Key words: Magnetic resonance imaging, Cervical vertebrae, Diffusion tensor imaging