Semiautomated volumetry of the cerebrum, cerebellum-brain stem, and temporal lobe on brain magnetic resonance images.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to develop an automated method of segmenting the cerebrum, cerebellum-brain stem, and temporal lobe simultaneously on magnetic resonance (MR) images.
Methods and Materials: We obtained T1-weighted MR images from 10 normal subjects and 19 patients with brain atrophy. To perform automated volumetry from MR images, we performed the following three steps: (1) segmentation of the brain region; (2) separation between the cerebrum and the cerebellum-brain stem; and (3) segmentation of the temporal lobe. Evaluation was based on the correctly recognized region (CRR) (i.e., the region recognized by both the automated and manual methods).
Results: The mean CRRs of the normal and atrophic brains were 98.2% and 97.9% for the cerebrum, 87.9% and 88.5% for the cerebellum-brain stem, and 76.9% and 85.8% for the temporal lobe, respectively.
Conclusion: We introduce an automated volumetric method for the cerebrum, cerebellum-brain stem, and temporal lobe on brain MR images. Our method can be applied to not only the normal brain but also the atrophic brain.