A tract-specific framework for white matter morphometry combining macroscopic and microscopic tract features.
Publication/Presentation Date
10-1-2010
Abstract
Diffusion tensor imaging plays a key role in our understanding of white matter both in normal populations and in populations with brain disorders. Existing techniques focus primarily on using diffusivity-based quantities derived from diffusion tensor as surrogate measures of microstructural tissue properties of white matter. In this paper, we describe a novel tract-specific framework that enables the examination of white matter morphometry at both the macroscopic and microscopic scales. The framework leverages the skeleton-based modeling of sheet-like white matter fasciculi using the continuous medial representation, which gives a natural definition of thickness and supports its comparison across subjects. The thickness measure provides a macroscopic characterization of white matter fasciculi that complements existing analysis of microstructural features. The utility of the framework is demonstrated in quantifying white matter atrophy in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a severe neurodegenerative disease of motor neurons. We show that, compared to using microscopic features alone, combining the macroscopic and microscopic features gives a more complete characterization of the disease.
Volume
14
Issue
5
First Page
666
Last Page
673
ISSN
1361-8423
Published In/Presented At
Zhang, H., Awate, S. P., Das, S. R., Woo, J. H., Melhem, E. R., Gee, J. C., & Yushkevich, P. A. (2010). A tract-specific framework for white matter morphometry combining macroscopic and microscopic tract features. Medical image analysis, 14(5), 666–673. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.media.2010.05.002
Disciplines
Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Health and Medical Administration | Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods
PubMedID
20547469
Department(s)
Administration and Leadership
Document Type
Article