On the blurring of the Funk-Radon transform in Q-Ball imaging

Med Image Comput Comput Assist Interv. 2009;12(Pt 2):415-22.

Abstract

One known issue in Q-Ball imaging is the blurring in the radial integral defining the Orientation Distribution Function of fiber bundles, due to the computation of the Funk-Radon Transform (FRT). Three novel techniques to overcome this problem are presented, all of them based upon different assumptions about the behavior of the attenuation signal outside the sphere densely sampled from HARDI data sets. A systematic study with synthetic data has been carried out to show that the FRT blurring is not as important as the error introduced by some unrealistic assumptions, and only one of the three techniques (the one with the less restrictive assumption) improves the accuracy of Q-Balls.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms*
  • Brain / anatomy & histology*
  • Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods*
  • Humans
  • Image Enhancement / methods*
  • Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / methods*
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional / methods*
  • Pattern Recognition, Automated / methods*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity