Effects of using different software packages for BOLD analysis in planning a neurosurgical treatment in patients with brain tumours

Abstract

Background: The authors of the present thesis carried out a comparative analysis of three different computer software packages - FSL, SPM and FuncTool - for the processing of fMRI scans.

Purpose: The aim of the thesis was the analysis of the volume of regions functionally active during the stimulation of the centres evaluated as well as the location of those regions in relation to the tumour boundaries, and then the comparison of the results.

Material and methods: Thirty eight patients with a diagnosed tumour of the left hemisphere, qualified for a neurosurgical operation, underwent fMRI. The functions of speech, motion and sensation were evaluated. Imaging data were processed for all the acquired scans with the use of each of the three software packages assessed.

Results: For the FuncTool software package the calculated differences in the distances were several times greater than those calculated using FSL and SPM. The differences in the volume of the functionally active regions derived from the calculations with the use of the FSL and SPM software packages were statistically different for four out of the six functions evaluated.

Conclusions: The conclusions of the analysis in question showed that the FSL and SPM packages could be used interchangeably in the functional mapping of the brain with the purpose of the planning of neurosurgical operations. The FuncTool software package is less precise than FSL and SPM.

Keywords: FSL; Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI); Functool; SPM; Software packages; fMRI analysis.