Brain Functional Localization: A Survey of Image Registration Techniques

• Published in: IEEE transactions on medical imaging Vol. 26; no. 4; pp. 427 - 451
• Main Authors: Gholipour, A., Kehtarnavaz, N., Briggs, R., Devous, M., Gopinath, K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States IEEE 01.04.2007; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Algorithms; Anatomy; Artificial Intelligence; Biomedical imaging; Brain; Brain - anatomy & histology; Brain - physiology; Brain functional localization; Brain Mapping - methods; Classification; Cluster Analysis; Evoked Potentials - physiology; fMRI image processing; functional imaging; Humans; Image analysis; Image Enhancement - methods; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted - methods; Image processing; Image registration; Imaging, Three-Dimensional - methods; Labeling; Localization; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Pattern Recognition, Automated - methods; Position (location); Positron emission tomography; Radiology; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Subtraction Technique; survey of image registration techniques
• ISSN: 0278-0062; 1558-254X
• DOI: 10.1109/TMI.2007.892508

Functional localization is a concept which involves the application of a sequence of geometrical and statistical image processing operations in order to define the location of brain activity or to produce functional/parametric maps with respect to the brain structure or anatomy. Considering that functional brain images do not normally convey detailed structural information and, thus, do not present an anatomically specific localization of functional activity, various image registration techniques are introduced in the literature for the purpose of mapping functional activity into an anatomical image or a brain atlas. The problems addressed by these techniques differ depending on the application and the type of analysis, i.e., single-subject versus group analysis. Functional to anatomical brain image registration is the core part of functional localization in most applications and is accompanied by intersubject and subject-to-atlas registration for group analysis studies. Cortical surface registration and automatic brain labeling are some of the other tools towards establishing a fully automatic functional localization procedure. While several previous survey papers have reviewed and classified general-purpose medical image registration techniques, this paper provides an overview of brain functional localization along with a survey and classification of the image registration techniques related to this problem