Events: DTI Tractography Challenge MICCAI 2011
Contents
DTI Tractography for Neurosurgical Planning: A Grand Challenge
Welcome to the 'DTI Tractography for Neurosurgical Planning: A Grand Challenge' website. The goal of the workshop is to compare Diffusion Tensor Imaging Tractography algorithms for reconstructing white matter bundles for pre-surgical planning. The workshop is part of MICCAI 2011, the 14th International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention to be held from 18th to 22th September 2011 in Toronto, Canada.
Overview
Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) tractography has a unique potential for neurosurgical planning since it provides a window on the complex organization of white matter pathways in-vivo. During the past decade, the MICCAI community has been a major contributor to the development and refinement of a wide variety of advanced tractography techniques. This DTI Tractography for Neurosurgical Planning Challenge workshop will give participants the opportunity to evaluate the performances of their tractography algorithms in a neurosurgical context. Participants will gain insights on the currently available gold-standard for evaluating tractography results in the Operating Room, in the absence of ground truth.
Faculty
- Sonia Pujol, Ph.D., Surgical Planning Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
- Ron Kikinis, M.D., Surgical Planning Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
- Alexandra Golby, M.D., Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
- Guido Gerig, Ph.D.,The Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute, University of Utah
- Martin Styner, Ph.D., Neuro Image Research and Analysis Laboratory, University of North Carolina
- William Wells, Ph.D., Surgical Planning Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
- Carl-Fredrik Westin, Ph.D., Laboratory of Mathematics in Imaging, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
- Sylvain Gouttard, M.Sc.,The Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute, University of Utah
DTI Tractography Challenge
The Challenge will focus on the reconstruction of the corticospinal tract in neurosurgical cases and in control subjects. The corticospinal tract is a collection of axons that arise from the cerebral cortex and course through the internal capsule, the cerebral peduncle of the midbrain, the ventral pons, the ventral surface of the medulla, the pyramidal decusssation, and terminate in the spinal cord. The primary challenge in neurosurgical planning is the identification of the structures at risk, which include white matter pathways connecting different parts of the brain, and their relation to the lesion.
Workshop Format
The workshop will be composed of two parts: the first part will consist of a series of presentations of the tractography algorithms and results by the workshop participants, in parallel with the grand challenge contest; the second part will focus on the results of the contest, and discussions on tractography challenges and clinical use of DTI for neurosurgical planning.
Datasets
The workshop datasets will consist of four neurosurgical cases provided by the Department of Neurosurgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, and four healthy subjects provided by the The Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Each dataset will include Anatomical Images (T1,T2 and FLAIR), a Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI) volume, and a Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) volume. Each clinical dataset will include a segmentation of the tumor. Data will be in the ITK-readable Nrrd file format, which consists of an ASCII header file and a separate uncompressed raw image datafile. The datasets will be provided in the first half of April.
Submission Guidelines
- Participants will be required to submit a zip archive file containing their tractography results and a short paper.
- The tractography results should include 1) the 3D coordinate of the tracts in the VTK-ASCII file format (vtkPolyData), 2) the enveloppe of the tracts in the ITK-readable Nrrd file format, and 3) three anatomical views (axial, coronal, sagittal) of the tract in png file format.
- The paper should include the following elements 1) a presentation of the DTI analysis pipeline, 2) a description of the tractography techniques and parameters used, 3) a set of images providing an intuitive way to present the reconstructed tracts to neurosurgeons. Participants will be invited to propose an evaluation criteria for their tractography method in the Appendix of the paper.
- Supplementary materials such as short videos, are encouraged, but not mandatory.
- Papers should be formatted in Lecture Notes in Computer Science style. The file format for submissions is Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). Other formats will not be accepted.
Important Dates:
Dead-line for submission: June 1st, 2011
Notification of Acceptance: July 1st, 2011
Camera-ready papers: August 10, 2011
Evaluation
The correct depiction of the tract displacement, lesion infiltration, as well as false-positive tracts and false-negative findings will be assessed by three experts neurosurgeons. The reliability of the tractography algorithms will be evaluated using bundle overlap and fiber profiles of diffusion properties on the test/retest data.
How to participate in the Challenge
- To participate to the DTI Tractography Challenge, download and fill the Letter of Intent for Submission, and send it by email to Sonia Pujol (spujol at bwh.harvard.edu). After successful registration of your team, we will send you the link to the workshop data.
- Once you have completed the analysis, upload your workshop paper and results at the location of your choice, and send the url to access them to Sonia Pujol (spujol at bwh.harvard.edu). Withing 48 hours, you'll receive a confirmation of your submission.
Logistics
The DTI Tractography Challenge workshop will be held on Sunday September 18, 2011 at the Westin Harbour Castle, 1 Harbour Square, Toronto, Canada. For questions related to this event, please send an e-mail to Sonia Pujol (spujol at bwh.harvard.edu). To register for the workshop, please visit the MICCAI 2011 conference website.
