Tractography in the Fetal Brain with Correction of Fetal and Maternal Motion Using Model-Based Slice to Volume Registration

Alvaro Bertelsen¹, Serena Counsell¹, Joanna Allsop¹, Amy McGuinness¹, Shuzhou Jiang¹, Rita Nunes¹, Paul Aljabar², Daniel Rueckert², Mary R. Rutherford¹, Joseph V. Hajnal¹

Diffusion tensor imaging and white matter tractography of the human brain in utero remain a substantial challenge. We have developed a model based registration algorithm that operates on single shot diffusion weighted images to achieve slice to volume registration and place all data into a single self consistent anatomical coordinate frame, so that apparent diffusion coefficient and fractional anisotropy maps can be produced even when there is substantial fetal head motion. The method has been tested on four fetal datasets and multiple tracts were successfully extracted in all. The method holds promise for systematic fetal tractography studies in the future.