A Semiautomatic Image Processing Tool to Measure Small Structures in Magnetic Resonance Images of the Brain at 7 Tesla - Application to Hippocampus Subfields of Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment

Alessandra Retico, Graziella Donatelli, Mauro Costagli, Laura Biagi, Maria Evelina Fantacci, Daniela Frosini, Gloria Tognoni, Mirco Cosottini, Michela Tosetti

2016

Abstract

The current availability of Magnetic Resonance (MR) systems that operate at ultra high magnetic field (≥ 7 Tesla) allows the representation of anatomical structures at sub-millimeter resolution. Interestingly, small structures of the brain, such as the subfields of the hippocampus, the inner structures of the basal ganglia and of the brainstem become visible. Suitable software packages that allow analyzing and measuring such small structures are not currently readily available. We developed a semi-automated procedure to measure the thickness of the stratum radiatum and lacunosum-moleculare (SRLM) of the hippocampus. The change in the thickness of this subfield of the hippocampal formation is supposed to have a role in the pathological cognitive decline. Once we developed and validated the semiautomatic procedure on the 7T high-resolution T2*-weighted images of a healthy volunteer, we carried out a preliminary study on a population affected by Mild Cognitive Impairment to investigate the correlations of the SRLM thickness with the clinical scores of the patients, e.g. the Mini-Mental State Examination score and the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Retico A., Donatelli G., Costagli M., Biagi L., Fantacci M., Frosini D., Tognoni G., Cosottini M. and Tosetti M. (2016). A Semiautomatic Image Processing Tool to Measure Small Structures in Magnetic Resonance Images of the Brain at 7 Tesla - Application to Hippocampus Subfields of Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment . In Proceedings of the 9th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies - Volume 2: BIOIMAGING, (BIOSTEC 2016) ISBN 978-989-758-170-0, pages 124-128. DOI: 10.5220/0005818001240128

in Bibtex Style

@conference{bioimaging16,
author={Alessandra Retico and Graziella Donatelli and Mauro Costagli and Laura Biagi and Maria Evelina Fantacci and Daniela Frosini and Gloria Tognoni and Mirco Cosottini and Michela Tosetti},
title={A Semiautomatic Image Processing Tool to Measure Small Structures in Magnetic Resonance Images of the Brain at 7 Tesla - Application to Hippocampus Subfields of Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 9th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies - Volume 2: BIOIMAGING, (BIOSTEC 2016)},
year={2016},
pages={124-128},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0005818001240128},
isbn={978-989-758-170-0},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the 9th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies - Volume 2: BIOIMAGING, (BIOSTEC 2016)
TI - A Semiautomatic Image Processing Tool to Measure Small Structures in Magnetic Resonance Images of the Brain at 7 Tesla - Application to Hippocampus Subfields of Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment
SN - 978-989-758-170-0
AU - Retico A.
AU - Donatelli G.
AU - Costagli M.
AU - Biagi L.
AU - Fantacci M.
AU - Frosini D.
AU - Tognoni G.
AU - Cosottini M.
AU - Tosetti M.
PY - 2016
SP - 124
EP - 128
DO - 10.5220/0005818001240128