Characterization and Correction of Geometric Distortions in 814 Diffusion Weighted Images

• Published in: PloS one 2016-03, Vol.11 (3), p.e0152472-e0152472
• Main Authors: Treiber, Jeffrey Mark, White, Nathan S, Steed, Tyler Christian, Bartsch, Hauke, Holland, Dominic, Farid, Nikdokht, McDonald, Carrie R, Carter, Bob S, Dale, Anders Martin, Chen, Clark C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Algorithms; Biology and Life Sciences; Brain cancer; Brain Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Brain stem; Brain tumors; Cancer; Cortex (temporal); Diagnostic imaging; Diffusion; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Distortion; Echo-Planar Imaging - methods; Female; Humans; Image contrast; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted - methods; Interfaces; Laboratories; Magnetic fields; Male; Medical imaging; Medicine and Health Sciences; Methods; Neuroimaging; Neurosurgery; Oncology; Physical Sciences; Prostate; Radiography; Registration; Research and Analysis Methods; Temporal lobe; Tumors
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0152472

Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI), which is based on Echo Planar Imaging (EPI) protocols, is becoming increasingly important for neurosurgical applications. However, its use in this context is limited in part by significant spatial distortion inherent to EPI. We evaluated an efficient algorithm for EPI distortion correction (EPIC) across 814 DWI scans from 250 brain tumor patients and quantified the magnitude of geometric distortion for whole brain and multiple brain regions. Evaluation of the algorithm's performance revealed significantly higher mutual information between T1-weighted pre-contrast images and corrected b = 0 images than the uncorrected b = 0 images (p < 0.001). The distortion magnitude across all voxels revealed a median EPI distortion effect of 2.1 mm, ranging from 1.2 mm to 5.9 mm, the 5th and 95th percentile, respectively. Regions adjacent to bone-air interfaces, such as the orbitofrontal cortex, temporal poles, and brain stem, were the regions most severely affected by DWI distortion. Using EPIC to estimate the degree of distortion in 814 DWI brain tumor images enabled the creation of a topographic atlas of DWI distortion across the brain. The degree of displacement of tumors boundaries in uncorrected images is severe but can be corrected for using EPIC. Our results support the use of distortion correction to ensure accurate and careful application of DWI to neurosurgical practice.