title: A Bayesian approach for stochastic white matter tractography.
abstract: White matter fiber bundles in the human brain can be located by tracing the local water diffusion in diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images. In this paper, a novel Bayesian modeling approach for white matter tractography is presented. The uncertainty associated with estimated white matter fiber paths is investigated, and a method for calculating the probability of a connection between two areas in the brain is introduced. The main merits of the presented methodology are its simple implementation and its ability to handle noise in a theoretically justified way. Theory for estimating global connectivity is also presented, as well as a theorem that facilitates the estimation of the parameters in a constrained tensor model of the local water diffusion profile.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Mathematics in Imaging, Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. friman@bwh.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Ola
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Friman
authors.forename: Gunnar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Farnebäck
authors.forename: Carl-Fredrik
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Westin
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001185:Artificial Intelligence; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods; D008959:Models, Neurological; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000166:cytology*; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013269:Stochastic Processes