Morphometric analysis of cerebral ventricular system from MR images
Aamer Aziz, Qingmao Hu, Wieslaw Lucjan Nowinski · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 2004
Cerebrospinal fluid filled ventricular system is an essential part of brain. The volume, shape and size of this ventricular system remain more or less constant and various pathologies directly or indirectly affect them. Morphometric analysis of cerebral ventricular system is important for evaluating changes due to growth, aging, intrinsic and extrinsic pathologies. Previous quantification efforts using ex vivo techniques suffered considerable error due to deformation of slices during sectioning, and numerous other factors. In vivo studies using air or contrast media also introduce volumetric changes in the ventricles thus giving erroneous quantitative information. Imaging of ventricular anatomy avoids these problems and allows repetitive studies following progression of ventricular system changes due to disease or natural processes. We have developed a methodology for automated extraction of ventricular system from MR neuroimages. Once extracted, landmarks are located on the surface of ventricular system automatically. These landmarks are then used for calculation of the ventricular shape, volume and size. A total of 20 brain ventricular systems were analyzed. The morphometric dimensions of the ventricles are presented in this paper. This study forms an initial basis for more advanced work on ventricular segmentation and morphometry.