Characterization of U-shape streamline fibers: Methods and applications.
Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI), and diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI) have been widely used in the neuroimaging field to examine the macro-scale fiber connection patterns in the cerebral cortex. However, the topographic and geometric relationships between diffusion imaging derived streamline fiber connection patterns and cortical folding patterns remain largely unknown. This paper specifically identifies and characterizes the U-shapes of diffusion imaging derived streamline fibers via a novel fiber clustering framework and examines their co-localization patterns with cortical sulci based on DTI, HARDI, and DSI datasets of human, chimpanzee and macaque brains. We verified the presence of these U-shaped streamline fibers that connect neighboring gyri by coursing around cortical sulci such as the central sulcus, pre-central sulcus, post-central sulcus, superior temporal sulcus, inferior frontal sulcus, and intra-parietal sulcus. This study also verified the existence of U-shape fibers across data modalities (DTI/HARDI/DSI) and primate species (macaque, chimpanzee and human), and suggests that the common pattern of U-shape fibers coursing around sulci is evolutionarily-preserved in cortical architectures.
School of Automation, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China; Department of Computer Science and Bioimaging Research Center, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States.
Tuo
T
Zhang
Department of Computer Science and Bioimaging Research Center, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States.
Hanbo
H
Chen
School of Automation, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
Lei
L
Guo
Biomedical Imaging Technology Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States.
Kaiming
K
Li
Biomedical Imaging Technology Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States.
Longchuan
L
Li
Department of Computer Science and Bioimaging Research Center, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States.
Shu
S
Zhang
Department of Radiology and Biomedical Research Imaging Center, UNC, Chapel Hill, NC, United States.
Dinggang
D
Shen
Biomedical Imaging Technology Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States.
Xiaoping
X
Hu
Department of Computer Science and Bioimaging Research Center, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States. Electronic address: tliu@cs.uga.edu.
Tianming
T
Liu
D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008251:Macaca; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D002679:Pan troglodytes; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
DSI; DTI; Fiber shapes; HARDI; Shape analysis