Abstract #0950

The Brainstem Navigator Toolkit v1.0: An Atlas of Brainstem Nuclei and Coregistration Tutorial in Younger Adults

Firdaus Fabrice Hannanu¹, Simone Cauzzo², Guadalupe Garcia-Gomar³, Kavita Singh⁴, Nicola Toschi^1,5, and Marta Bianciardi^1,6

¹Brainstem Imaging Laboratory, Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States, ²Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Unit, Center for Rare Neurological Diseases, Department of Neurosciences, University of Padova, Padua, Italy, ³Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores Unidad Juriquilla, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Queretaro, Mexico, ⁴Multiscale Imaging and Integrative Biophysics Unit, LBN, National Institute on Aging, NIH, Baltimore, MD, United States, ⁵Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome, Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy, ⁶Division of Sleep Medicine, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States

Synopsis

Keywords: Software Tools, Brain Connectivity, Brainstem

Motivation: Brainstem and diencephalic nuclei are small (e.g., volume range: 10–300 mm³), making precise coregistration of atlas labels essential to avoid displacement in native space images.

Goal(s): To develop a comprehensive suite of coregistration routines (scripts and tutorial) capable of accurately aligning brainstem nuclei atlas labels to 3Tesla/7Tesla structural, diffusion, and functional MRI data.

Approach: We created an in-depth tutorial to guide users in applying the Brainstem Navigator atlas labels automatically and precisely to MRI data of individual subjects (or vice-versa).

Results: The Brainstem Navigator toolkit, including these coregistration routines, is now publicly available on NITRC as version 1.0.

Impact: The Brainstem Navigator toolkit v1.0 includes a probabilistic atlas of 31 brainstem nuclei and comprehensive coregistration routines for 3Tesla/7Tesla MRI. This toolkit facilitates precise structural, diffusion, and functional MRI coregistration, significantly advancing research into brainstem-related disorders and neuroscientific inquiries.

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