ACCURATE LOCALIZATION OF CORTICAL CONVOLUTIONS IN MR BRAIN IMAGES

Analysis of brain images often requires accurate localization of corti cal convolutions. Although magnetic resonance (MR) brain images offer sufficient resolution for identifying convolutions in theory, the natu re of tomographic imaging prevents clear definition of convolutions in individual slices, Existing methods for solving this problem rely on heuristic adaptation of brain atlases created from a small number of i ndividuals, These methods do not usually provide high accuracy because of large biological variations among individuals. We propose to local ize convolutions by linking realistic visualizations of the cortical s urface with the original image volume. We have developed a system so t hat a user can quickly localize key convolutions in several visualizat ions of an entire brain surface, Because of the links between the visu alizations and the original volume, these convolutions are simultaneou sly localized in the original image slices, In the process of our deve lopment, we have implemented a fast and easy method for visualizing co rtical surfaces in MR images, thereby making our scheme usable in prac tical applications.