Automatic detection of hypoperfused areas in SPECT brain scans

The authors describe a method for automatic identification of areas with perfusion changes in SPECT brain images. An intersubject registration technique is used to stereotactically register images from a selected control group allowing for reference images to be created by averaging the subjects image data. An individual brain SPECT scan can be brought into registration with the reference image and comparison to the normal reference group can be made by subtracting the two volumes. Furthermore, since the variance in the reference group is known, a z-score image can be computed. The SPECT reference volume is defined in the same coordinate system as a brain atlas, and anatomical labeling of areas of interest is possible. The authors show results from the creation of an average image based on 11 individuals and from comparison with pathological cases