Tract-Based Morphometry

Multisubject statistical analyses of diffusion tensor images in regions of specific white matter tracts have commonly measured only the mean value of a scalar invariant such as the fractional anisotropy (FA), ignoring the spatial variation of FA along the length of fiber tracts. We propose to instead perform tract-based morphometry (TBM), or the statistical analysis of diffusion MRI data in an anatomical tract-based coordinate system. We present a method for automatic generation of white matter tract arc length parameterizations, based on learning a fiber bundle model from tractography from multiple subjects. Our tractbased coordinate system enables TBM for the detection of white matter differences in groups of subjects. We present example TBM results from a study of interhemispheric differences in FA.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2007
• Where: MICCAI
• Authors: Lauren O'Donnell, Carl-Fredrik Westin, Alexandra Golby
• Keywords: Diffusion Tensor Images, Medical Imaging, MICCAI 2007, White Matter Differences, White Matter Tracts