Tensor-based morphometry of fibrous structures with application to human brain white matter

Med Image Comput Comput Assist Interv. 2009;12(Pt 2):466-73. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-04271-3_57.

Abstract

Tensor-based morphometry (TBM) is a powerful approach for examining shape changes in anatomy both across populations and in time. Our work extends the standard TBM for quantifying local volumetric changes to establish both rich and intuitive descriptors of shape changes in fibrous structures. It leverages the data from diffusion tensor imaging to determine local spatial configuration of fibrous structures and combines this information with spatial transformations derived from image registration to quantify fibrous structure-specific changes, such as local changes in fiber length and in thickness of fiber bundles. In this paper, we describe the theoretical framework of our approach in detail and illustrate its application to study brain white matter. Our results show that additional insights can be gained with the proposed analysis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms*
  • Brain / cytology*
  • Diffusion Tensor Imaging / methods*
  • Humans
  • Image Enhancement / methods
  • Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / methods*
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional / methods*
  • Information Storage and Retrieval / methods*
  • Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / ultrastructure*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity