Evaluation of the Image Feature Analysis Techniques by Image Strength Fluctuation for Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

This article compares the effectiveness of both image strength fluctuation (ISF) and statistical parametric mapping (SPM), which is used for analyzing cerebral blood flow traced by single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This is a retrospective study that uses the built-in SPECT template of the SPM software to analyze the differences in cerebral blood flow (CBF) between two groups after using the ISF and SPM software to normalize and smooth the data. Using Z score analysis, the ISF method revealed unusual fluctuations in the range of image strength. The hot and cold areas were considered to be the difference between normal and abnormal images and the analysis of the gray intensities of cold and hot areas was used to show that cold and hot were in characteristic locations that correlate with brain functional areas. The results of the SPM analysis revealed significantly reduced blood flow in the bilateral inferior parietal lobule, the middle or superior gyrus of the left temporal lobe, the superior gyrus and the sub-lobar insula of the right temporal lobe. The results from SPM were similar to those obtained with the ISF and indicated the same regions (83.3%).