Geodesic-Loxodromes for Diffusion Tensor Interpolation and Difference Measurement

In algorithms for processing diffusion tensor images, two common ingredients are interpolating tensors, and measuring the distance between them. We propose a new class of interpolation paths for tensors, termed geodesic-loxodromes, which explicitly preserve clinically important tensor attributes, such as mean diffusivity or fractional anisotropy, while using basic differential geometry to interpolate tensor orientation. This contrasts with previous Riemannian and Log-Euclidean methods that preserve the determinant. Path integrals of tangents of geodesic-loxodromes generate novel measures of over-all difference between two tensors, and of difference in shape and in orientation.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2007
• Where: MICCAI
• Authors: Gordon L. Kindlmann, Raúl San José Estépar, Marc Niethammer, Steven Haker, Carl-Fredrik Westin
• Keywords: Diffusion Tensor, Important Tensor, Medical Imaging, MICCAI 2007, Tensor Orientation