Efficient global fiber tracking on multi-dimensional diffusion direction maps

Jan Klein; Benjamin Köhler; Horst K. Hahn

doi:10.1117/12.909932

14 February 2012 Efficient global fiber tracking on multi-dimensional diffusion direction maps

Jan Klein, Benjamin Köhler, Horst K. Hahn

Proceedings Volume 8314, Medical Imaging 2012: Image Processing; 83140M (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.909932
Event: SPIE Medical Imaging, 2012, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Global fiber tracking algorithms have recently been proposed which were able to compute results of unprecedented quality. They account for avoiding accumulation errors by a global optimization process at the cost of a high computation time of several hours or even days. In this paper, we introduce a novel global fiber tracking algorithm which, for the first time, globally optimizes the underlying diffusion direction map obtained from DTI or HARDI data, instead of single fiber segments. As a consequence, the number of iterations in the optimization process can drastically be reduced by about three orders of magnitude. Furthermore, in contrast to all previous algorithms, the density of the tracked fibers can be adjusted after the optimization within a few seconds. We evaluated our method for diffusion-weighted images obtained from software phantoms, healthy volunteers, and tumor patients. We show that difficult fiber bundles, e.g., the visual pathways or tracts for different motor functions can be determined and separated in an excellent quality. Furthermore, crossing and kissing bundles are correctly resolved. On current standard hardware, a dense fiber tracking result of a whole brain can be determined in less than half an hour which is a strong improvement compared to previous work.

Citation Download Citation

Jan Klein, Benjamin Köhler, and Horst K. Hahn "Efficient global fiber tracking on multi-dimensional diffusion direction maps", Proc. SPIE 8314, Medical Imaging 2012: Image Processing, 83140M (14 February 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.909932

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available