Alignment of Tractography Streamlines using Deformation Transfer via Parallel Transport

TL;DR

This paper introduces a geometric framework for aligning white matter fiber tracts across different brains using deformation transfer and parallel transport, enabling meaningful comparisons of anatomical structures.

Contribution

It proposes a novel deformation metric and registration method for tractography that accounts for the heterogeneous geometry of white matter tracts.

Findings

Successful alignment of fiber bundles across 43 subjects

Improved correspondence of anatomical structures

Demonstrated effectiveness of parallel transport in tract registration

Abstract

We present a geometric framework for aligning white matter fiber tracts. By registering fiber tracts between brains, one expects to see overlap of anatomical structures that often provide meaningful comparisons across subjects. However, the geometry of white matter tracts is highly heterogeneous, and finding direct tract-correspondence across multiple individuals remains a challenging problem. We present a novel deformation metric between tracts that allows one to compare tracts while simultaneously obtaining a registration. To accomplish this, fiber tracts are represented by an intrinsic mean along with the deformation fields represented by tangent vectors from the mean. In this setting, one can determine a parallel transport between tracts and then register corresponding tangent vectors. We present the results of bundle alignment on a population of 43 healthy adult subjects.