Labeling of ambiguous subvoxel fibre bundle configurations in high angular resolution diffusion MRI.
Whereas high angular resolution reconstruction methods for diffusion MRI can estimate multiple dominant fibre orientations within a single imaging voxel, they are fundamentally limited in certain cases of complex subvoxel fibre structures, resulting in ambiguous local orientation distribution functions. In this article we address the important problem of disambiguating such complex subvoxel fibre tract configurations, with the purpose of improving the performance of fibre tractography. We do so by extending a curve inference method to distinguish between the cases of curving and fanning fibre bundles using differential geometric estimates in a local neighbourhood. The key benefit of this method is the inference of curves, instead of only fibre orientations, to model the underlying fibre bundles. This in turn allows distinct fibre geometries that contain nearly identical sets of fibre orientations at a voxel, to be distinguished from one another. Experimental results demonstrate the ability of the method to successfully label voxels into one of the above categories and improve the performance of a fibre-tracking algorithm.
Savadjiev
Peter
P
Centre for Intelligent Machines and School of Computer Science, McGill University, Montréal, Canada. petersv@cim.mcgill.ca
Campbell
Jennifer S W
JS
Descoteaux
Maxime
M
Deriche
Rachid
R
Pike
G Bruce
GB
Siddiqi
Kaleem
K
D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000166:cytology; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000502:physiology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology