An enhanced voxel-based morphometry method to investigate structural changes: application to Alzheimer's disease

作者：Li Xingfeng; Messe Arnaud; Marrelec Guillaume; Pelegrini Issac Melanie; Benali Habib^*

来源：Neuroradiology, 2010, 52(3): 203-213.

DOI：10.1007/s00234-009-0600-1

• Voxel-based morphometry
• Structural magnetic resonance image
• Alzheimer's disease
• Gray matter
• Histogram matching

When characterizing regional cerebral gray matter differences in structural magnetic resonance images (sMRI) by voxel-based morphometry (VBM), one faces a known drawback of VBM, namely that histogram unequalization in the intensity images introduces false-positive results.
To overcome this limitation, we propose to improve VBM by a new approach (called eVBM for enhanced VBM) that takes the histogram distribution of the sMRI into account by adding a histogram equalization step within the VBM procedure. Combining this technique with two most widely used VBM software packages (FSL and SPM), we studied GM variability in a group of 62 patients with Alzheimer's disease compared to 73 age-matched elderly controls.
The results show that eVBM can reduce the number of false-positive differences in gray matter concentration.
Because it takes advantage of the properties of VBM while improving sMRI histogram distribution at the same time, the proposed method is a powerful approach for analyzing gray matter differences in sMRI and may be of value in the investigation of sMRI gray and white matter abnormalities in a variety of brain diseases.

• 出版日期2010-3