BBLimage: a portable open-source software toolkit for volume image analysis

BBLimage is a set of software tools for medical image processing, particularly skull stripping and segmentation of MR brain images; tools to support other applications may be added later. These tools are intended to support researchers who need to prototype new image analysis algorithms or to develop automated image analysis tools for specific image analysis applications. The sequence of processing operations is specified through a scripting language which can be used interactively or in command files; the language used is an extension of Python. Important design criteria include: script files and data files are portable across multiple Unix platforms, including Linux; suitable for rapid prototyping of new algorithms and analysis protocols; suitable for efficient, automated processing of the finished analysis protocols; and easily extensible by programmers outside the original development team. BBLimage is being distributed under an Open Source license which permits free use, modification, and redistribution provided that proper credit is given