title: Automated detection of the intercommissural line for stereotactic localization of functional brain images.
abstract: A technique has been developed for automated detection of the intercommissural (AC-PC) line for positron emission tomography (PET). The AC-PC line is estimated from the location of four internal landmarks; the frontal and occipital poles, the inferior aspect of the anterior corpus callosum, and the subthalamic point. The landmarks are detected automatically in PET mid-sagittal slices by combining edge detection, interpolation and profile curve analysis techniques. The anatomical relationships between the true and estimated AC-PC lines from the landmarks was confirmed by analysis of magnetic resonance (MR) images. Accuracy of the automated estimation technique was assessed in co-registered PET and MR images, which showed minimal angular differences and displacements of the estimated from the true AC-PC lines. The automated detection of the AC-PC line in a PET study enables accurate stereotactic localization of functional signals without the need for additional anatomical imaging and provides a basis for objective and reproducible intersubject comparison.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Minoshima
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Koeppe
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mintun
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Frey
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Kuhl
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D013238:Stereotaxic Techniques; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed