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Automatic Removal of False Connections in Diffusion MRI Tractography Using Topology-Informed Pruning (TIP).

ABSTRACT: Diffusion MRI fiber tracking provides a non-invasive method for mapping the trajectories of human brain connections, but its false connection problem has been a major challenge. This study introduces topology-informed pruning (TIP), a method that automatically identifies singular tracts and eliminates them to improve the tracking accuracy. The accuracy of the tractography with and without TIP was evaluated by a team of 6 neuroanatomists in a blinded setting to examine whether TIP could improve the accuracy. The results showed that TIP improved the tracking accuracy by 11.93% in the single-shell scheme and by 3.47% in the grid scheme. The improvement is significantly different from a random pruning (p value

SUBMITTER: Yeh FC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6361061 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Automatic Removal of False Connections in Diffusion MRI Tractography Using Topology-Informed Pruning (TIP).

Yeh Fang-Cheng FC Panesar Sandip S Barrios Jessica J Fernandes David D Abhinav Kumar K Meola Antonio A Fernandez-Miranda Juan C JC

Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics 20190101 1

Diffusion MRI fiber tracking provides a non-invasive method for mapping the trajectories of human brain connections, but its false connection problem has been a major challenge. This study introduces topology-informed pruning (TIP), a method that automatically identifies singular tracts and eliminates them to improve the tracking accuracy. The accuracy of the tractography with and without TIP was evaluated by a team of 6 neuroanatomists in a blinded setting to examine whether TIP could improve t ...[more]

PMID: 30218214

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