Using UK Biobank data to establish population-specific atlases from whole body MRI

Bibliographic Details
Title: Using UK Biobank data to establish population-specific atlases from whole body MRI
Authors: Sophie Starck, Vasiliki Sideri-Lampretsa, Jessica J. M. Ritter, Veronika A. Zimmer, Rickmer Braren, Tamara T. Mueller, Daniel Rueckert
Source: Communications Medicine, Vol 4, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2024)
Publisher Information: Nature Portfolio, 2024.
Publication Year: 2024
Collection: LCC:Medicine
Subject Terms: Medicine
More Details: Abstract Background Reliable reference data in medical imaging is largely unavailable. Developing tools that allow for the comparison of individual patient data to reference data has a high potential to improve diagnostic imaging. Population atlases are a commonly used tool in medical imaging to facilitate this. Constructing such atlases becomes particularly challenging when working with highly heterogeneous datasets, such as whole-body images, which contain significant anatomical variations. Method In this work, we propose a pipeline for generating a standardised whole-body atlas for a highly heterogeneous population by partitioning the population into anatomically meaningful subgroups. Using magnetic resonance images from the UK Biobank dataset, we create six whole-body atlases representing a healthy population average. We furthermore unbias them, and this way obtain a realistic representation of the population. In addition to the anatomical atlases, we generate probabilistic atlases that capture the distributions of abdominal fat (visceral and subcutaneous) and five abdominal organs across the population (liver, spleen, pancreas, left and right kidneys). Results Our pipeline effectively generates high-quality, realistic whole-body atlases with clinical applicability. The probabilistic atlases show differences in fat distribution between subjects with medical conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases and healthy subjects in the atlas space. Conclusions With this work, we make the constructed anatomical and label atlases publically available, with the expectation that they will support medical research involving whole-body MR images.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2730-664X
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/2730-664X
DOI: 10.1038/s43856-024-00670-0
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/680bf52f740e463bb2b9f6614a5fe195
Accession Number: edsdoj.680bf52f740e463bb2b9f6614a5fe195
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:2730664X
DOI:10.1038/s43856-024-00670-0
Published in:Communications Medicine
Language:English