title: Diffusion tensor image registration with combined tract and tensor features.
abstract: Registration of diffusion tensor (DT) images is indispensible, especially in white-matter studies involving a significant amount of data. This task is however faced with challenging issues such as the generally low SNR of diffusion-weighted images and the relatively high complexity of tensor representation. To improve the accuracy of DT image registration, we design an attribute vector that encapsulates both tract and tensor information to serve as a voxel morphological signature for effective correspondence matching. The attribute vector captures complementary information from both the global connectivity structure given by the fiber tracts and the local anatomical architecture given by the tensor regional descriptors. We incorporate this attribute vector into a multi-scale registration framework where the moving image is warped to the space of the fixed image under the guidance of tract information at a more global level (coarse scales), followed by alignment refinement using regional tensor distribution features at a more local level (fine scales). Experimental results indicate that this framework yields marked improvement over DT image registration using volumetric information alone.
authors: Department of Computer Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. qianwang@cs.unc.edu
authors: Qian
authors: Q
authors: Wang
authors: Pew-Thian
authors: PT
authors: Yap
authors: Guorong
authors: G
authors: Wu
authors: Dinggang
authors: D
authors: Shen
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000473:pathology; D016208:Databases, Factual; D004058:Diffusion; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000473:pathology*; D036421:Nerve Fibers, Unmyelinated / Q000473:pathology*; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012984:Software