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Abstract #2477

Automatic Segmentation & Parcellation of Subcortical White & Grey Matter using DTI in the Preterm Neonate

Gareth Ball1, Serena J. Counsell1, Ioannis S. Gousias1, Paul Aljabar2, Jo V. Hajnal1, Daniel Rueckert2, A. David Edwards1,3, James P. Boardman1,4

1Imperial College London & MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, London, United Kingdom; 2Department of Computing, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom; 3Division of Neonatology, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, United Kingdom; 4Simpson Centre for Reproductive Health, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom


Tractography-based segmentation is a method for mapping structural connectivity in the brain but it is not yet feasible to perform this technique in neonates without a subjective and time-consuming process of manually labelling the cortex. Preterm birth is a leading cause of cognitive impairment in childhood, and is associated with aberrant thalamo-cortical and cortico-cortical connectivity. Using a combination of atlas-based parcellation, tissue segmentation and multi-modal imaging, we have implemented a fully-automated pipeline for tractography-based segmentation in preterm neonates. This technique provides a tool to further study the impaired connectivity thought to underlie the common neurocognitive impairment in the preterm population.

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