Purpose: Voxel based morphometry (VBM) is increasingly being used to detect diffusion tensor
(DT) image abnormalities in patients for different pathologies. An important requisite for these VBM studies
is the use of a high-dimensional, non-rigid coregistration technique, which is able to align both the spatial and
the orientational information. Recent studies furthermore indicate that high-dimensional DT information should
be included during coregistration for an optimal alignment. In this context, a population based DTI atlas
is created that preserves the orientational DT information robustly and contains a minimal bias towards any
specific individual data set. Methods: A ground truth evaluation method is developed using a single subject
DT image that is deformed with 20 deformation fields. Thereafter, an atlas is constructed based on these 20
resulting images. Thereby, the non-rigid coregistration algorithm is based on a viscous fluid model and on mutual
information. The fractional anisotropy (FA) maps as well as the DT elements are used as DT image information
during the coregistration algorithm, in order to minimize the orientational alignment inaccuracies. Results:
The population based DT atlas is compared with the ground truth image using accuracy and precision measures
of spatial and orientational dependent metrics. Results indicate that the population based atlas preserves the
orientational information in a robust way. Conclusion: A subject independent population based DT atlas is
constructed and evaluated with a ground truth method. This atlas contains all available orientational information
and can be used in future VBM studies as a reference system.
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