Pseudo‐MRI Engine for MRI‐Free Electromagnetic Source Imaging

• Published in: Human brain mapping Vol. 46; no. 2; pp. e70148 - n/a
• Main Authors: Jaiswal, Amit, Nenonen, Jukka, Parkkonen, Lauri
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.02.2025
• Subjects: Accuracy; Adult; Algorithms; Brain; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain - physiology; Conductors; Digitization; EEG; Electroencephalography; Electroencephalography - methods; Estimates; Female; forward modeling; Head; Head - anatomy & histology; Head - diagnostic imaging; Humans; Image processing; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted - methods; Image reconstruction; Image segmentation; Localization; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Magnetoencephalography - methods; Male; Medical imaging; MEG; Methods; Neuroimaging; Outliers (statistics); Registration; Software packages; source estimation; Template matching; template MRI; thin plate spline; warping; Young Adult; digitization; template MRI; EEG; forward modeling; thin plate spline; source estimation; warping; MEG
• ISSN: 1065-9471; 1097-0193; 1097-0193
• DOI: 10.1002/hbm.70148

ABSTRACT Structural head MRIs are a crucial ingredient in MEG/EEG source imaging; they are used to define a realistically shaped volume conductor model, constrain the source space, and visualize the source estimates. However, individual MRIs are not always available, or they may be of insufficient quality for segmentation, leading to the use of a generic template MRI, matched MRI, or the application of a spherical conductor model. Such approaches deviate the model geometry from the true head structure and limit the accuracy of the forward solution. Here, we implemented an easy‐to‐use tool, pseudo‐MRI engine, which utilizes the head‐shape digitization acquired during a MEG/EEG measurement for warping an MRI template to fit the subject's head. To this end, the algorithm first removes outlier digitization points, densifies the point cloud by interpolation if needed, and finally warps the template MRI and its segmented surfaces to the individual head shape using the thin‐plate‐spline method. To validate the approach, we compared the geometry of segmented head surfaces, cortical surfaces, and canonical brain regions in the real and pseudo‐MRIs of 25 subjects. We also tested the MEG source reconstruction accuracy with pseudo‐MRIs against that obtained with the real MRIs from individual subjects with simulated and real MEG data. We found that the pseudo‐MRI enables comparable source localization accuracy to the one obtained with the subject's real MRI. The study indicates that pseudo‐MRI can replace the need for individual MRI scans in MEG/EEG source imaging for applications that do not require subcentimeter spatial accuracy. A tool, pseudo‐MRI engine, was implemented to generate subject‐specific template MRIs based on scalp digitization that can readily be used for MEG/EEG source imaging. The geometrical and source‐imaging similarity with real MRI proves that the method can be an alternative to individual MRIs in various MEG/EEG applications.