KEYWORDS: Image segmentation, Optic nerve, Magnetic resonance imaging, Eye, In vivo imaging, Error analysis, Image fusion, Biomedical optics, Magnetorheological finishing, Control systems
Multiatlas methods have been successful for brain segmentation, but their application to smaller anatomies remains relatively unexplored. We evaluate seven statistical and voting-based label fusion algorithms (and six additional variants) to segment the optic nerves, eye globes, and chiasm. For nonlocal simultaneous truth and performance level estimation (STAPLE), we evaluate different intensity similarity measures (including mean square difference, locally normalized cross-correlation, and a hybrid approach). Each algorithm is evaluated in terms of the Dice overlap and symmetric surface distance metrics. Finally, we evaluate refinement of label fusion results using a learning-based correction method for consistent bias correction and Markov random field regularization. The multiatlas labeling pipelines were evaluated on a cohort of 35 subjects including both healthy controls and patients. Across all three structures, nonlocal spatial STAPLE (NLSS) with a mixed weighting type provided the most consistent results; for the optic nerve NLSS resulted in a median Dice similarity coefficient of 0.81, mean surface distance of 0.41 mm, and Hausdorff distance 2.18 mm for the optic nerves. Joint label fusion resulted in slightly superior median performance for the optic nerves (0.82, 0.39 mm, and 2.15 mm), but slightly worse on the globes. The fully automated multiatlas labeling approach provides robust segmentations of orbital structures on magnetic resonance imaging even in patients for whom significant atrophy (optic nerve head drusen) or inflammation (multiple sclerosis) is present.
The optic nerve is a sensitive central nervous system structure, which plays a critical role in many devastating pathological conditions. Several methods have been proposed in recent years to segment the optic nerve automatically, but progress toward full automation has been limited. Multi-atlas methods have been successful for brain segmentation, but their application to smaller anatomies remains relatively unexplored. Herein we evaluate a framework for robust and fully automated segmentation of the optic nerves, eye globes and muscles. We employ a robust registration procedure for accurate registrations, variable voxel resolution and image fieldof- view. We demonstrate the efficacy of an optimal combination of SyN registration and a recently proposed label fusion algorithm (Non-local Spatial STAPLE) that accounts for small-scale errors in registration correspondence. On a dataset containing 30 highly varying computed tomography (CT) images of the human brain, the optimal registration and label fusion pipeline resulted in a median Dice similarity coefficient of 0.77, symmetric mean surface distance error of 0.55 mm, symmetric Hausdorff distance error of 3.33 mm for the optic nerves. Simultaneously, we demonstrate the robustness of the optimal algorithm by segmenting the optic nerve structure in 316 CT scans obtained from 182 subjects from a thyroid eye disease (TED) patient population.
Spleen segmentation on clinically acquired CT data is a challenging problem given the complicity and variability of abdominal anatomy. Multi-atlas segmentation is a potential method for robust estimation of spleen segmentations, but can be negatively impacted by registration errors. Although labeled atlases explicitly capture information related to feasible organ shapes, multi-atlas methods have largely used this information implicitly through registration. We propose to integrate a level set shape model into the traditional label fusion framework to create a shape-constrained multi-atlas segmentation framework. Briefly, we (1) adapt two alternative atlas-to-target registrations to obtain the loose bounds on the inner and outer boundaries of the spleen shape, (2) project the fusion estimate to registered shape models, and (3) convert the projected shape into shape priors. With the constraint of the shape prior, our proposed method offers a statistically significant improvement in spleen labeling accuracy with an increase in DSC by 0.06, a decrease in symmetric mean surface distance by 4.01 mm, and a decrease in symmetric Hausdorff surface distance by 23.21 mm when compared to a locally weighted vote (LWV) method.
KEYWORDS: Brain, Magnetic resonance imaging, In vivo imaging, Neuroimaging, Diffusion tensor imaging, Diffusion, Image resolution, Data acquisition, Tissues, Structural imaging
The common squirrel monkey, Saimiri sciureus, is a New World monkey with functional and microstructural organization of central nervous system similar to that of humans. It is one of the most commonly used South American primates in biomedical research. Unlike its Old World macaque cousins, no digital atlases have described the organization of the squirrel monkey brain. Here, we present a multi-modal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) atlas constructed from the brain of an adult female squirrel monkey. In vivo MRI acquisitions include high resolution T2 structural imaging and low resolution diffusion tensor imaging. Ex vivo MRI acquisitions include high resolution T2 structural imaging and high resolution diffusion tensor imaging. Cortical regions were manually annotated on the co-registered volumes based on published histological sections.
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