Reconstruction of the central layer of the human cerebral cortex from MR images

Abstract

Reconstruction of the human cerebral cortex from MR images is a fundamental step in human brain mapping and in applications such as surgical path planning. In a previous paper, we described a method for obtaining a surface representation of the central layer of the human cerebral cortex using fuzzy segmentation and a deformable surface model. This method, however, suffers from several problems. In this paper, we significantly improve upon the previous method by using a fuzzy segmentation algorithm robust to intensity inhomogeneities, and using a deformable surface model specifically designed for capturing convoluted sulci or gyri. We demonstrate the improvement over the previous method both qualitatively and quantitatively, and show the result of its application to six subjects. We also experimentally validate the convergence of the deformable surface initialization algorithm.KeywordsCentral LayerActive Contour ModelIntensity InhomogeneityHuman Cerebral CortexMedial Frontal GyrusThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.