Normal brain volume measurements using multispectral MRI segmentation

The performance of a supervised k-nearest neighbor (kNN) classifier and a semisupervised fuzzy c-means (SFCM) clustering segmentation method are evaluated for reproducible measurement of the volumes of normal brain tissues and cerebrospinal fluid. The stability of the two segmentation methods is evaluated for (a) operator selection of training data, (b) reproducibility during repeat imaging sessions to determine any variations in the sensor performance over time, (c) variations in the measured volumes between different subjects, and (d) variability with different imaging parameters. The variations were found to be dependent on the type of measured tissue and the operator performing the segmentations. The variability during repeat imaging sessions for the SFCM method was <3%. The absolute volumes of the brain matter and cerebrospinal fluid between subjects varied quite large, ranging from 9% to 13%. The intraobserver and interobserver reproducibility for SFCM were <4% for the soft tissues and 6% for cerebrospinal fluid. The corresponding results for the kNN segmentation method were higher compared to the SFCM method.