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

• Published in: Neurotherapeutics Vol. 16; no. 1; pp. 52 - 58
• Main Authors: Yeh, Fang-Cheng, Panesar, Sandip, Barrios, Jessica, Fernandes, David, Abhinav, Kumar, Meola, Antonio, Fernandez-Miranda, Juan C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Elsevier Inc 01.01.2019; Springer International Publishing; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Accuracy; Algorithms; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Brain Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Deterministic fiber tracking; Diffusion MRI; Diffusion Tensor Imaging - methods; Female; Glioblastoma - diagnostic imaging; Humans; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted - methods; Magnetic resonance imaging; Middle Aged; Neurobiology; Neuroimaging - methods; Neurology; Neurosciences; Neurosurgery; Review; Structural connectome; Topology; Tractography; Deterministic fiber tracking; Diffusion MRI; Topology; Tractography; Structural connectome
• ISSN: 1878-7479; 1933-7213; 1878-7479
• DOI: 10.1007/s13311-018-0663-y

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 < 0.001). The diagnostic agreement between TIP and neuroanatomists was comparable to the agreement between neuroanatomists. The proposed TIP algorithm can be used to automatically clean-up noisy fibers in deterministic tractography, with a potential to confirm the existence of a fiber connection in basic neuroanatomical studies or clinical neurosurgical planning.