Topology-driven Analysis of Brain Anatomy

描述(由申请人提供)：这项建议旨在通过约翰霍普金斯大学神经科学和医学图像处理研究的教学培训，培养候选人在神经成像方面进行多学科研究的能力。该研究项目包括为结构脑MRI创建一个自动化的定量处理框架，该框架基于拓扑学作为一种引入全局、定性解剖信息的手段。它建议开发新的脑图像分割技术，包括多模式研究、病理学和DTI处理，建立人脑的拓扑图谱，开发形状分析和同胚图像比对的工具，并研究MDMA(摇头丸)使用者和多发性硬化症(MS)患者的结构变化。该分割框架将结合拓扑保持分割、组织分类、统计图谱和张量计算方面的最新进展，自动分割大脑、病变和白质纤维束的主要结构。脑拓扑图集将基于神经解剖学培训、医学图集和带注释的数据库对大脑的结构和连接性进行建模。这项分析将结合形状测量和微分同形配准，在两项互补的研究中提供结构的全局和局部量化：一项研究MDMA使用者大脑中细微的形态计量变化，另一项是对具有不同程度损害和萎缩的多发性硬化症患者的纵向研究。一旦得到充分验证，这些工具将免费提供给神经科学研究人员。 公共卫生相关性：这项拟议的研究在神经科学和医学界的影响将是发布软件，以分割和对齐脑MR图像，而无需人工交互进行大量的成像研究，根据拓扑属性对大脑解剖学中的结构和连接关系进行建模，并将其应用于神经科学的两个重要问题，即萎缩的检测和量化以及人脑损伤的分析。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal aims at developing the candidate's ability to perform multidisciplinary research in Neuroimaging through didactic training in Neuroscience and research in Medical Image Processing at the Johns Hopkins University. The research project consists in creating an automated, quantitative processing framework for structural brain MRI based on the use of topology as a means to introduce global, qualitative anatomical information. It proposes to develop novel brain image segmentation techniques encompassing multi-modality studies, pathologies, and the processing of DTI, to build topological atlases of the human brain, to develop tools for shape analysis and homeomorphic image alignment, and to study structural variations in MDMA (ecstasy) users and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients. The segmentation framework will combine recent advances in topology-preserving segmentation, tissue classification, statistical atlases and tensor computing to automatically segment the major structures of the brain, lesions, and white matter fiber bundles. Atlases of brain topology will model structure and connectivity in the brain based on neuroanatomy training, medical atlases and annotated databases. The analysis will combine shape measurements with diffeomorphic registration to provide global and local quantification of structure in two complementary studies: a study of subtle morphometric changes in the brain of users of the drug MDMA, and a longitudinal study of Multiple Sclerosis patients with various levels of lesion and atrophy. The tools will become freely available to neuroscience researchers once fully validated. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The impact of the proposed research in the neuroscience and medical communities will be the release of software to segment and align brain MR images with no manual interaction for a large variety of imaging studies, the modeling of structure and connectivity relationships in brain anatomy from topological properties, and the application to two important questions of neurosciences, the detection and quantification of atrophy and the analysis of lesions in the human brain.