title: Nosologic imaging of the brain: segmentation and classification using MRI and MRSI.
abstract: A new technique is presented to create nosologic images of the brain based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI). A nosologic image summarizes the presence of different tissues and lesions in a single image by color coding each voxel or pixel according to the histopathological class it is assigned to. The proposed technique applies advanced methods from image processing as well as pattern recognition to segment and classify brain tumors. First, a registered brain atlas and a subject-specific abnormal tissue prior, obtained from MRSI data, are used for the segmentation. Next, the detected abnormal tissue is classified based on supervised pattern recognition methods. Class probabilities are also calculated for the segmented abnormal region. Compared to previous approaches, the new framework is more flexible and able to better exploit spatial information leading to improved nosologic images. The combined scheme offers a new way to produce high-resolution nosologic images, representing tumor heterogeneity and class probabilities, which may help clinicians in decision making.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT), Research Division SCD, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 10, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium. jan.luts@esat.kuleuven.be
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luts
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Laudadio
authors.forename: Albert J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Idema
authors.forename: Arjan W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Simonetti
authors.forename: Arend
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heerschap
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vandermeulen
authors.forename: Johan A K
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Suykens
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Van Huffel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000145:classification*; D005260:Female; D005910:Glioma / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged