Automatic segmentation of thalamic nuclei from diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging

The nuclei of the thalamus have traditionally been delineated by their distinct cyto/myeloarchitectural appearance on histology. Here, we show that diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DTI) can noninvasively resolve the major thalamic nuclei based on the characteristic fiber orientation of t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:NeuroImage (Orlando, Fla.) Fla.), 2003-06, Vol.19 (2), p.391-401
Main Authors: Wiegell, Mette R, Tuch, David S, Larsson, Henrik B.W, Wedeen, Van J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
Brain
Brain Mapping - methods
Cerebral Cortex - anatomy & histology
Diffusion
Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods
Dominance, Cerebral - physiology
Humans
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted - methods
Multiple sclerosis
Neural Pathways - anatomy & histology
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Pain
Sensitivity and Specificity
Synaptic Transmission - physiology
Thalamic Nuclei - anatomy & histology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The nuclei of the thalamus have traditionally been delineated by their distinct cyto/myeloarchitectural appearance on histology. Here, we show that diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DTI) can noninvasively resolve the major thalamic nuclei based on the characteristic fiber orientation of the corticothalamic/thalamocortical striations within each nucleus. Using an automatic clustering algorithm, we extracted the Talairach coordinates for the individual thalamic nuclei. The center-of-mass coordinates for the segmented nuclei were found to agree strongly with those obtained from a histological atlas. The ability to resolve thalamic nuclei with DTI will allow for morphometric analysis of specific nuclei and improved anatomical localization of functional activation in the thalamus.
ISSN:1053-8119
1095-9572
DOI:10.1016/S1053-8119(03)00044-2