Automatic volumetric measurement of lateral ventricles on magnetic resonance images with correction of partial volume effects

Purpose To propose a method for the quantification of lateral ventricle (LV) volumes on a single sequence of 3D magnetic resonance (MR) images. Materials and Methods This algorithm, following a preliminary fuzzy tissue classification step, is based on the development of mathematical morphology processes allowing both the extraction of the LVs and the correction of partial volume effects on their boundaries. The procedure is fast and totally unsupervised. The method is tested on a phantom image, then applied to five patients diagnosed as potentially suffering from Alzheimer's disease, and finally applied on several MR acquisitions to show the genericness of the algorithm. Results and Conclusion This technique yielded both an accurate estimation of ventricular volumes intra‐ and intersubject with respect to published data and a relevant management of partial volume effects. Numerous clinical applications are now expected, from the study of schizophrenia to the longitudinal follow‐up of Alzheimer's patients. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2002;15:16–22. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.