A Web platform for the interactive visualization and analysis of the 3D fractal dimension of MRI data

•We present 3dfd.ujaen.es, a Web platform for computing and analyzing the 3D fractal dimension (3DFD).•The first Web platform that allows the users to calculate, visualize, analyze and compare the 3DFD from 3D images (i.e. MRI).•Novel technologies are used: CUDA for high-performance computing, and i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of biomedical informatics 2014-10, Vol.51, p.176-190
Main Authors: Jiménez, J., López, A.M., Cruz, J., Esteban, F.J., Navas, J., Villoslada, P., Ruiz de Miras, J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
3D fractal dimension
Algorithms
Box-counting
Brain - pathology
Brain Diseases - pathology
CUDA
Fractals
Humans
Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted - methods
Imaging, Three-Dimensional - methods
Internet
Magnetic-resonance imaging
Pattern Recognition, Automated - methods
Reproducibility of Results
Sensitivity and Specificity
Skeleton
Software
User-Computer Interface
WebGL
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Summary:•We present 3dfd.ujaen.es, a Web platform for computing and analyzing the 3D fractal dimension (3DFD).•The first Web platform that allows the users to calculate, visualize, analyze and compare the 3DFD from 3D images (i.e. MRI).•Novel technologies are used: CUDA for high-performance computing, and interactive 3D visualization of the images with WebGL. This study presents a Web platform (http://3dfd.ujaen.es) for computing and analyzing the 3D fractal dimension (3DFD) from volumetric data in an efficient, visual and interactive way. The Web platform is specially designed for working with magnetic resonance images (MRIs) of the brain. The program estimates the 3DFD by calculating the 3D box-counting of the entire volume of the brain, and also of its 3D skeleton. All of this is done in a graphical, fast and optimized way by using novel technologies like CUDA and WebGL. The usefulness of the Web platform presented is demonstrated by its application in a case study where an analysis and characterization of groups of 3D MR images is performed for three neurodegenerative diseases: Multiple Sclerosis, Intrauterine Growth Restriction and Alzheimer’s disease. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first Web platform that allows the users to calculate, visualize, analyze and compare the 3DFD from MRI images in the cloud.
ISSN:1532-0464
1532-0480
DOI:10.1016/j.jbi.2014.05.011