Longitudinal change detection: Inference on the diffusion tensor along white matter pathways

[Display omitted] ► Diffusion MRI longitudinal change detection framework on white matter pathways. ► Local and global multivariate statistical testing on tensors. ► A pointwise test that compares tensors extracted in bundles cross sections. ► A fiberwise test that compares paired tensors along all the fiber bundles. ► Application to Neuromyelitis Optica. Diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) makes it possible to probe brain connections in vivo. This paper presents a change detection framework that relies on white matter pathways with application to neuromyelitis optica (NMO). The objective is to detect local or global fiber diffusion property modifications between two longitudinal DW-MRI acquisitions of a patient. To this end, we develop two frameworks based on statistical tests on tensor eigenvalues to detect local or global changes along the white matter pathways: a pointwise test that compares tensor populations extracted in bundles cross sections and a fiberwise test that compares paired tensors along all the fiber bundles. Experiments on both synthetic and real data highlight the benefit of considering fiber based statistical tests compared to standard voxelwise strategies.