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Automated Segmentation of Cortical Grey Matter from T1-Weighted MRI Images
Published on: January 7, 2019
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Whole brain and deep gray matter structure segmentation: Quantitative comparison between MPRAGE and MP2RAGE sequences
Amgad Droby1,2,3, Avner Thaler1,2,3, Nir Giladi1,2,3
1Laboratory for Early Markers of Neurodegeneration (LEMON), Neurological Institute, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Plos One
|August 6, 2021
Summary
Magnetization prepared 2 rapid gradient echo (MP2RAGE) MRI sequences provide superior brain tissue contrast compared to MP-RAGE. MP2RAGE offers more reproducible brain segmentation for monitoring neurological diseases.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Radiology
- Medical Physics
Background:
- T1-weighted MRI is crucial for brain structure volumetry.
- Magnetization prepared 2 rapid gradient echo (MP2RAGE) offers enhanced gray and white matter contrast over MP-RAGE.
- Quantitative assessment of volumetric differences between these sequences is needed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare whole brain tissue and deep gray matter (DGM) volumes derived from MP2RAGE and MP-RAGE sequences.
- To evaluate the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and scan-rescan variability between the two sequences.
Main Methods:
- 29 healthy participants underwent 3T MRI scans with both MP2RAGE and MP-RAGE sequences.
- Whole brain and DGM segmentation performed using CAT12, volBrain, and FSL-FAST.
- Contrast-to-noise ratio (CNRWG), volume agreement, and scan-rescan variability were analyzed.
Main Results:
- MP2RAGE demonstrated significantly higher CNRWG compared to MP-RAGE (p<0.0001).
- MP2RAGE yielded significantly higher gray matter (GM) and lower cerebrospinal fluid volumes across all segmentation tools (p<0.05).
- Voxel-wise analysis showed higher GM probability in specific brain regions with MP2RAGE, and higher white matter (WM) probability in others.
Conclusions:
- MP2RAGE provides superior contrast and more reproducible brain tissue segmentation.
- Its enhanced CNR makes MP2RAGE a recommended sequence for volumetric imaging biomarkers in neurological disease monitoring.
