Radiomic tractometry reveals tract-specific imaging biomarkers in white matter

Bibliographic Details
Title: Radiomic tractometry reveals tract-specific imaging biomarkers in white matter
Authors: Peter Neher, Dusan Hirjak, Klaus Maier-Hein
Source: Nature Communications, Vol 15, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2024)
Publisher Information: Nature Portfolio, 2024.
Publication Year: 2024
Collection: LCC:Science
Subject Terms: Science
More Details: Abstract Tract-specific microstructural analysis of the brain’s white matter (WM) using diffusion MRI has been a driver for neuroscientific discovery with a wide range of applications. Tractometry enables localized tissue analysis along tracts but relies on bare summary statistics and reduces complex image information along a tract to few scalar values, and so may miss valuable information. This hampers the applicability of tractometry for predictive modelling. Radiomics is a promising method based on the analysis of numerous quantitative image features beyond what can be visually perceived, but has not yet been used for tract-specific analysis of white matter. Here we introduce radiomic tractometry (RadTract) and show that introducing rich radiomics-based feature sets into the world of tractometry enables improved predictive modelling while retaining the localization capability of tractometry. We demonstrate its value in a series of clinical populations, showcasing its performance in diagnosing disease subgroups in different datasets, as well as estimation of demographic and clinical parameters. We propose that RadTract could spark the establishment of a new generation of tract-specific imaging biomarkers with benefits for a range of applications from basic neuroscience to medical research.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2041-1723
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/2041-1723
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44591-3
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/555f8ff77b89403ca507b6daa904d089
Accession Number: edsdoj.555f8ff77b89403ca507b6daa904d089
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:20411723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-023-44591-3
Published in:Nature Communications
Language:English