Voxel processing techniques for the antemortem study of neuroanatomy and neuropathology using magnetic resonance imaging.
BRAINBLAST, a program that uses voxel processing, was developed in order to produce high-fidelity three-dimensional reconstructions of the brain. Four steps were used to produce images: washing away cerebrospinal fluid (via histogramming), dissecting away the blood vessels (via a connectivity heuristic), highlighting the sulci and gyri (via a lighting model), and resampling the interior contents of the brain. After reconstruction, the images can be resampled, rotated, written on, measured, or redissected. The technique has a variety of applications: study of individual variation in sulcal and gyral patterns, evaluation of structure/function relationships, measurement of volumes or subregions using anatomically defined landmarks, and teaching of neuroanatomy.
Andreasen
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Mental Health Clinical Research Center, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City 52242.
Cizadlo
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Harris
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Swayze
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O'Leary
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Cohen
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Ehrhardt
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Yuh
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D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D012984:Software