NeuroImage (Nov 2021)
Tractography dissection variability: What happens when 42 groups dissect 14 white matter bundles on the same dataset?
- Kurt G. Schilling,
- François Rheault,
- Laurent Petit,
- Colin B. Hansen,
- Vishwesh Nath,
- Fang-Cheng Yeh,
- Gabriel Girard,
- Muhamed Barakovic,
- Jonathan Rafael-Patino,
- Thomas Yu,
- Elda Fischi-Gomez,
- Marco Pizzolato,
- Mario Ocampo-Pineda,
- Simona Schiavi,
- Erick J. Canales-Rodríguez,
- Alessandro Daducci,
- Cristina Granziera,
- Giorgio Innocenti,
- Jean-Philippe Thiran,
- Laura Mancini,
- Stephen Wastling,
- Sirio Cocozza,
- Maria Petracca,
- Giuseppe Pontillo,
- Matteo Mancini,
- Sjoerd B. Vos,
- Vejay N. Vakharia,
- John S. Duncan,
- Helena Melero,
- Lidia Manzanedo,
- Emilio Sanz-Morales,
- Ángel Peña-Melián,
- Fernando Calamante,
- Arnaud Attyé,
- Ryan P. Cabeen,
- Laura Korobova,
- Arthur W. Toga,
- Anupa Ambili Vijayakumari,
- Drew Parker,
- Ragini Verma,
- Ahmed Radwan,
- Stefan Sunaert,
- Louise Emsell,
- Alberto De Luca,
- Alexander Leemans,
- Claude J. Bajada,
- Hamied Haroon,
- Hojjatollah Azadbakht,
- Maxime Chamberland,
- Sila Genc,
- Chantal M.W. Tax,
- Ping-Hong Yeh,
- Rujirutana Srikanchana,
- Colin D. Mcknight,
- Joseph Yuan-Mou Yang,
- Jian Chen,
- Claire E. Kelly,
- Chun-Hung Yeh,
- Jerome Cochereau,
- Jerome J. Maller,
- Thomas Welton,
- Fabien Almairac,
- Kiran K Seunarine,
- Chris A. Clark,
- Fan Zhang,
- Nikos Makris,
- Alexandra Golby,
- Yogesh Rathi,
- Lauren J. O'Donnell,
- Yihao Xia,
- Dogu Baran Aydogan,
- Yonggang Shi,
- Francisco Guerreiro Fernandes,
- Mathijs Raemaekers,
- Shaun Warrington,
- Stijn Michielse,
- Alonso Ramírez-Manzanares,
- Luis Concha,
- Ramón Aranda,
- Mariano Rivera Meraz,
- Garikoitz Lerma-Usabiaga,
- Lucas Roitman,
- Lucius S. Fekonja,
- Navona Calarco,
- Michael Joseph,
- Hajer Nakua,
- Aristotle N. Voineskos,
- Philippe Karan,
- Gabrielle Grenier,
- Jon Haitz Legarreta,
- Nagesh Adluru,
- Veena A. Nair,
- Vivek Prabhakaran,
- Andrew L. Alexander,
- Koji Kamagata,
- Yuya Saito,
- Wataru Uchida,
- Christina Andica,
- Masahiro Abe,
- Roza G. Bayrak,
- Claudia A.M. Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott,
- Egidio D'Angelo,
- Fulvia Palesi,
- Giovanni Savini,
- Nicolò Rolandi,
- Pamela Guevara,
- Josselin Houenou,
- Narciso López-López,
- Jean-François Mangin,
- Cyril Poupon,
- Claudio Román,
- Andrea Vázquez,
- Chiara Maffei,
- Mavilde Arantes,
- José Paulo Andrade,
- Susana Maria Silva,
- Vince D. Calhoun,
- Eduardo Caverzasi,
- Simone Sacco,
- Michael Lauricella,
- Franco Pestilli,
- Daniel Bullock,
- Yang Zhan,
- Edith Brignoni-Perez,
- Catherine Lebel,
- Jess E Reynolds,
- Igor Nestrasil,
- René Labounek,
- Christophe Lenglet,
- Amy Paulson,
- Stefania Aulicka,
- Sarah R. Heilbronner,
- Katja Heuer,
- Bramsh Qamar Chandio,
- Javier Guaje,
- Wei Tang,
- Eleftherios Garyfallidis,
- Rajikha Raja,
- Adam W. Anderson,
- Bennett A. Landman,
- Maxime Descoteaux
Affiliations
- Kurt G. Schilling
- Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States; Corresponding author.
- François Rheault
- SCIL, Université de Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada
- Laurent Petit
- Groupe dImagerie Neurofonctionnelle, Institut Des Maladies Neurodegeneratives, CNRS, CEA University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
- Colin B. Hansen
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
- Vishwesh Nath
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
- Fang-Cheng Yeh
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Gabriel Girard
- CIBM Center for BioMedical Imaging, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Muhamed Barakovic
- Translational Imaging in Neurology (ThINK), Department of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering, University Hospital and University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- Jonathan Rafael-Patino
- Signal Processing Lab (LTS5), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Thomas Yu
- Signal Processing Lab (LTS5), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Elda Fischi-Gomez
- Signal Processing Lab (LTS5), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Marco Pizzolato
- Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
- Mario Ocampo-Pineda
- Department of Computer Science, University of Verona, Italy
- Simona Schiavi
- Department of Computer Science, University of Verona, Italy
- Erick J. Canales-Rodríguez
- Signal Processing Lab (LTS5), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Alessandro Daducci
- Department of Computer Science, University of Verona, Italy
- Cristina Granziera
- Translational Imaging in Neurology (ThINK), Department of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering, University Hospital and University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- Giorgio Innocenti
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Jean-Philippe Thiran
- Signal Processing Lab (LTS5), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Laura Mancini
- Lysholm Department of Neuroradiology, National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery, UCL Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
- Stephen Wastling
- Lysholm Department of Neuroradiology, National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery, UCL Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
- Sirio Cocozza
- Department of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, University “Federico II”, Naples, Italy
- Maria Petracca
- Department of Neurosciences and Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences, University “Federico II”, Naples, Italy
- Giuseppe Pontillo
- Department of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, University “Federico II”, Naples, Italy
- Matteo Mancini
- Department of Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
- Sjoerd B. Vos
- Centre for Medical Image Computing, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- Vejay N. Vakharia
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- John S. Duncan
- Epilepsy Society MRI Unit, Chalfont St Peter, United Kingdom
- Helena Melero
- Departamento de Psicobiología y Metodología en Ciencias del Comportamiento - Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain Laboratorio de Análisis de Imagen Médica y Biometría (LAIMBIO), Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain
- Lidia Manzanedo
- Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain
- Emilio Sanz-Morales
- Laboratorio de Análisis de Imagen Médica y Biometría (LAIMBIO), Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain
- Ángel Peña-Melián
- Departamento de Anatomía, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- Fernando Calamante
- Sydney Imaging and School of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
- Arnaud Attyé
- School of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
- Ryan P. Cabeen
- Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Laura Korobova
- Center for Integrative Connectomics, Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Arthur W. Toga
- Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Anupa Ambili Vijayakumari
- Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
- Drew Parker
- Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
- Ragini Verma
- Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
- Ahmed Radwan
- KU Leuven, Department of Imaging and Pathology, Translational MRI, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium
- Stefan Sunaert
- KU Leuven, Department of Imaging and Pathology, Translational MRI, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium
- Louise Emsell
- KU Leuven, Department of Imaging and Pathology, Translational MRI, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium
- Alberto De Luca
- PROVIDI Lab, UMC Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Alexander Leemans
- PROVIDI Lab, UMC Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Claude J. Bajada
- Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta, Malta
- Hamied Haroon
- Division of Neuroscience & Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, United Kingdom
- Hojjatollah Azadbakht
- AINOSTICS Limited, London, United Kingdom
- Maxime Chamberland
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
- Sila Genc
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
- Chantal M.W. Tax
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
- Ping-Hong Yeh
- National Intrepid Center of Excellence, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Rujirutana Srikanchana
- National Intrepid Center of Excellence, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Colin D. Mcknight
- Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Joseph Yuan-Mou Yang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Neuroscience Advanced Clinical Imaging Suite (NACIS), Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Melbourne, Australia
- Jian Chen
- Developmental Imaging, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia
- Claire E. Kelly
- Victorian Infant Brain Studies, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia
- Chun-Hung Yeh
- Institute for Radiological Research, Chang Gung University & Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan
- Jerome Cochereau
- Poitiers University Hospital, France
- Jerome J. Maller
- MRI Clinical Science Specialist, General Electric Healthcare, Australia
- Thomas Welton
- National Neuroscience Institute, Singapore
- Fabien Almairac
- Neurosurgery department, Hôpital Pasteur, University Hospital of Nice, Côte d'Azur University, France
- Kiran K Seunarine
- Developmental Imaging and Biophysics Section, UCL GOS Institute of Child Health, London
- Chris A. Clark
- Developmental Imaging and Biophysics Section, UCL GOS Institute of Child Health, London
- Fan Zhang
- Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Nikos Makris
- Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Alexandra Golby
- Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Yogesh Rathi
- Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Lauren J. O'Donnell
- Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Yihao Xia
- University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Los Angeles, California, United States
- Dogu Baran Aydogan
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University School of Science, Espoo, Finland
- Yonggang Shi
- University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Los Angeles, California, United States
- Francisco Guerreiro Fernandes
- UMC Utrecht Brain Center, Department of Neurology&Neurosurgery, Utrecht, the Netherlands
- Mathijs Raemaekers
- UMC Utrecht Brain Center, Department of Neurology&Neurosurgery, Utrecht, the Netherlands
- Shaun Warrington
- Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, UK
- Stijn Michielse
- Department of Neurosurgery, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University
- Alonso Ramírez-Manzanares
- Centro de Investigación en Matemáticas A.C. (CIMAT), Guanajuato, Mexico
- Luis Concha
- Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Institute of Neurobiology, Mexico City, Mexico
- Ramón Aranda
- Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada (CICESE-UT3), Cátedras-CONACyT, Ensenada, Mexico
- Mariano Rivera Meraz
- Centro de Investigación en Matemáticas A.C. (CIMAT), Guanajuato, Mexico
- Garikoitz Lerma-Usabiaga
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
- Lucas Roitman
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
- Lucius S. Fekonja
- Department of Neurosurgery, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
- Navona Calarco
- Kimel Family Translational Imaging-Genetics Laboratory, Research Imaging Centre, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario
- Michael Joseph
- Kimel Family Translational Imaging-Genetics Laboratory, Research Imaging Centre, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario
- Hajer Nakua
- Kimel Family Translational Imaging-Genetics Laboratory, Research Imaging Centre, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario
- Aristotle N. Voineskos
- Kimel Family Translational Imaging-Genetics Laboratory, Research Imaging Centre, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario
- Philippe Karan
- SCIL, Université de Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada
- Gabrielle Grenier
- SCIL, Université de Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada
- Jon Haitz Legarreta
- SCIL, Université de Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada
- Nagesh Adluru
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Veena A. Nair
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Vivek Prabhakaran
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Andrew L. Alexander
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Koji Kamagata
- Department of Radiology, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo Japan
- Yuya Saito
- Department of Radiology, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo Japan
- Wataru Uchida
- Department of Radiology, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo Japan
- Christina Andica
- Department of Radiology, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo Japan
- Masahiro Abe
- Department of Radiology, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo Japan
- Roza G. Bayrak
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
- Claudia A.M. Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott
- NMR Research Unit, Queen Square MS Centre, Department of Neuroinflammation, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- Egidio D'Angelo
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Italy
- Fulvia Palesi
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Italy
- Giovanni Savini
- Brain MRI 3T Research Center, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
- Nicolò Rolandi
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Italy
- Pamela Guevara
- Universidad de Concepción, Faculty of Engineering, Concepción, Chile
- Josselin Houenou
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Neurospin, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Narciso López-López
- Universidad de Concepción, Faculty of Engineering, Concepción, Chile
- Jean-François Mangin
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Neurospin, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Cyril Poupon
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Neurospin, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Claudio Román
- Universidad de Concepción, Faculty of Engineering, Concepción, Chile
- Andrea Vázquez
- Universidad de Concepción, Faculty of Engineering, Concepción, Chile
- Chiara Maffei
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Mavilde Arantes
- Department of Biomedicine, Unit of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, Al. Professor Hernâni Monteiro, Porto, Portugal
- José Paulo Andrade
- Department of Biomedicine, Unit of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, Al. Professor Hernâni Monteiro, Porto, Portugal
- Susana Maria Silva
- Department of Biomedicine, Unit of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, Al. Professor Hernâni Monteiro, Porto, Portugal
- Vince D. Calhoun
- Tri-institutional Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS), Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30303, United States
- Eduardo Caverzasi
- Neurology Department UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco.
- Simone Sacco
- Neurology Department UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco.
- Michael Lauricella
- Memory and Aging Center. UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, USA
- Franco Pestilli
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, TX 78731, USA
- Daniel Bullock
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, TX 78731, USA
- Yang Zhan
- Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China
- Edith Brignoni-Perez
- Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics Division, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States
- Catherine Lebel
- Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, Canada, T2N 1N4
- Jess E Reynolds
- Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, Canada, T2N 1N4
- Igor Nestrasil
- Division of Clinical Behavioral Neuroscience, Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- René Labounek
- Division of Clinical Behavioral Neuroscience, Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Christophe Lenglet
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Amy Paulson
- Division of Clinical Behavioral Neuroscience, Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Stefania Aulicka
- Department of Paediatric Neurology, University Hospital and Medicine Faculty, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
- Sarah R. Heilbronner
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Katja Heuer
- Center for Research and Interdisciplinarity (CRI), INSERM U1284, Université de Paris, Paris, France
- Bramsh Qamar Chandio
- Department of Intelligent Systems Engineering, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
- Javier Guaje
- Department of Intelligent Systems Engineering, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
- Wei Tang
- Department of Computer Science, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
- Eleftherios Garyfallidis
- Department of Intelligent Systems Engineering, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
- Rajikha Raja
- University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA
- Adam W. Anderson
- Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
- Bennett A. Landman
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
- Maxime Descoteaux
- SCIL, Université de Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada
- Journal volume & issue
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Vol. 243
p. 118502
Abstract
White matter bundle segmentation using diffusion MRI fiber tractography has become the method of choice to identify white matter fiber pathways in vivo in human brains. However, like other analyses of complex data, there is considerable variability in segmentation protocols and techniques. This can result in different reconstructions of the same intended white matter pathways, which directly affects tractography results, quantification, and interpretation. In this study, we aim to evaluate and quantify the variability that arises from different protocols for bundle segmentation. Through an open call to users of fiber tractography, including anatomists, clinicians, and algorithm developers, 42 independent teams were given processed sets of human whole-brain streamlines and asked to segment 14 white matter fascicles on six subjects. In total, we received 57 different bundle segmentation protocols, which enabled detailed volume-based and streamline-based analyses of agreement and disagreement among protocols for each fiber pathway. Results show that even when given the exact same sets of underlying streamlines, the variability across protocols for bundle segmentation is greater than all other sources of variability in the virtual dissection process, including variability within protocols and variability across subjects. In order to foster the use of tractography bundle dissection in routine clinical settings, and as a fundamental analytical tool, future endeavors must aim to resolve and reduce this heterogeneity. Although external validation is needed to verify the anatomical accuracy of bundle dissections, reducing heterogeneity is a step towards reproducible research and may be achieved through the use of standard nomenclature and definitions of white matter bundles and well-chosen constraints and decisions in the dissection process.
