Fully Automated DTI Postprocessing Embedded in Scanner Control Software: Deghosting, Denoising, Smoothing, and Registration to a Standard Atlas

Kurt Hermann Bockhorst¹, Jaivijay Ramu¹, Venkata Kishore Mogatadakala¹, Cheukkai K. Hui¹, Ponnada A. Narayana¹

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) produces large data sets and requires significant post-processing that includes minimization of image artifacts such as ghosting and geometric distortions. The post-processing generally requires significant user intervention that is tedious and could introduce bias and human errors. We implanted a fully automatic pipeline for processing the DTI data that is initiated from the scanner control program. The sole input by the user is the selection of the files to be processed. The automatic processing pipeline includes deghosting, extrameningial stripping, spatial normalization and calculation of DTI metrics. This pipeline allows processing multiple studies in a batch job.