Preprocessing Diffusion Images

T1

T2

DWI

DWI vs. DTI

Diffusion weighted imaging

  • Measures water movement within a voxel of tissue
  • Intensity value represents rate of water diffusion

Diffusion tensor imaging

  • Specific type of modeling of diffusion weighted images based on the theory that water molecules diffuse differently within different types of tissue

Convert DICOM to NIFTI

DWI data are acquired across the whole brain by repeating the acquisition while varying the orientation or magnitude of the diffusion gradients. When converting DWI DICOM to NIfTI certain scan parameters must be extracted from the DICOM file: diffusion weighting (b-val) and gradient direction (b-vector).

Diffusion Weighting (bval)

The b-values are the amount of diffusion weighting used for each volume. Increasing the b-value leads to:

  • Increased contrast b/w areas of higher and lower diffusivity in principle
  • Decreased signal-to-noise ratio => Less reliable estimation of diffusion measures in practice
  • Typical diffusion weighting is b ~ 1000 sec/mm2

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000

Gradient Direction (bvec)

Your b-vectors are the gradient directions that you collect, often predetermined by the scanner depending on how many total directions you choose to collect.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -0.157293 -0.866884 -0.288312 -0.321709 0.540555 0.131401 0.224512 0.829429 0.0141989 -0.153198 0.836844 0.0424971 0.690601 0.257194 -0.278801 -0.0543019 0.234627 -0.672272 0.57914 0.701167 -0.528531 -0.568571 -0.998727 -0.122108 0.908787 -0.886351 0.911169 -0.607895 0.419914 -0.915661 -0.867206 0.507935 0.65263 -0.482829 0.184596 0.873698 -0.889691 0.451762 0.678609 0.894383 -0.422352 -0.833252 0.290195 0.379917 -0.435847 0.190695 -0.226299 -0.211885 -0.555467 0.309998 0.621338 -0.041801 -0.705353 0.306804 -0.691036 -0.65772 -0.240721 -0.0356014 0.996059 0.616992 -0.561711

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -0.406337 -0.498106 -0.731736 0.413121 0.408009 0.355336 -0.0955482 0.320832 0.987839 0.0502477 -0.152406 0.502994 -0.0757262 0.795206 0.920048 0.746701 -0.745187 0.133129 0.151618 -0.700337 -0.323875 -0.0650361 -0.0459666 -0.980465 -0.264574 0.307366 -0.390704 -0.744293 0.603837 0.379694 -0.286925 -0.381866 -0.639006 -0.863732 -0.70336 0.486465 -0.162551 0.88721 0.628054 0.199374 0.888361 0.15891 0.113213 -0.912387 0.398604 0.929858 -0.800652 0.783225 -0.491331 -0.322375 0.723233 -0.953358 0.699882 -0.901674 -0.576735 0.600742 -0.0237355 -0.463934 0.0513951 -0.543639 0.625415

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -0.900083 0.0200564 0.617607 0.851959 -0.73575 0.925457 0.969776 0.45729 -0.154832 -0.986917 0.5258 -0.863244 -0.719261 -0.549089 0.275285 0.66294 0.624216 0.728236 0.801005 -0.133764 0.784703 -0.82006 -0.0207777 -0.154201 -0.322656 0.346279 0.13085 -0.276569 0.677535 -0.131901 -0.406973 0.772127 0.407119 0.144372 -0.686447 0.00173833 0.426646 -0.0936476 -0.380839 -0.40041 -0.180096 -0.529565 -0.950247 0.152357 -0.80694 0.314643 -0.554748 -0.58452 -0.670858 -0.894414 0.301451 0.298934 0.112435 -0.304722 0.435714 -0.454437 0.970304 0.885154 0.0722801 -0.569015 0.541606

dcm2niix

When you run the latest version of dcm2niix it will automatically generates these files during DICOM conversion.

Verify Volumes

It is very easy to have missing volumes in the DWI. It is critical that the numbers match between the NIFTI image and the bvec and bval files.

$ c4d dwi.nii.gz -info
Image #1: dim = [104, 104, 69, 63];  bb = {[-103.445 91.427 -36.6199 0], [104.555 299.427 101.38 819]};  vox = [2, 2, 2, 13];  range = [0, 2910];  orient = Oblique, closest to RPI

This NIFTI image has 63 volumes with a FOV of 104 x 104 x 69. Make sure there’s 63 entries in the bval file:

$ cat dwi.bval | wc -w
      63

Finally, make sure you have the same number of volumes in bvec file:

$ head dwi.bvec | wc -w
      63

Pad Image

If your FOV box is right up against skull or even cutting off part of skull but not brain, you will need to pad the image to give background space:

$ c4d \
dwi.nii.gz \
-pad 10% 10% 0 \
-o dwi_padded.nii.gz

Extract B0

You want to create a mask based on just the b0 and not the whole 4D image.

FSL

Using FSL:

fslroi dwi.nii.gz dwi_bse.nii.gz 0 1 # if padded use that image instead

pnlNipype

There’s also an option for creating a b0 image average if multiple were collected during the scan.

~/build/pnlNipype/exec/nifti_bse \
-i dwi.nii.gz \ # if padded use that image instead
--bvals dwi.bval \
-o dwi_bse

Mask B0

Must be as accurate as possible.

FSL

Every study will be a little different and the f value will have to be changed.

bet dwi_bse.nii.gz dwi_bse -f 0.1 -g 0 -m -n

f = 0.1 f = 0.1 f = 0.2 f = 0.2 f = 0.3 f = 0.3 f = 0.4 f = 0.4 f = 0.5 f = 0.5 f = 0.6 f = 0.6

pnlNipype

Using nifti_bet_mask that packages FSL:

~/build/pnlNipype/exec/nifti_bet_mask \
-i dwi_bse.nii.gz \
--bvals dwi.bval \
-o dwi

Using nifti_atlas that packages ANTs:

~/build/pnlNipype/exec/nifti_atlas \
-t dwi_bse.nii.gz \
--train ~/apps/pnlbwh/pnlNipype/trainingDataT2Masks-12a14d9/trainingDataT2Masks-hdr.csv \
-o dwi

MRtrix3

Currently this program seems the most robust for brain masking: https://mrtrix.readthedocs.io/en/latest/reference/commands/dwi2mask.html#dwi2mask

Clean mask

Sometimes all that’s needed is to erode / shrink the mask a little to make it better

c3d \
dwi_mask.nii.gz \
-erode 1 1x1x1vox \
-o dwi_mask_cleaned.nii.gz

Eddy Current Correction

This correction will help fix eddy current-induced distortions and subject movements during the scan.

Set acqparams.txt

All information can be derived / found in the DWI JSON file. For your acqparams.txt file, each row consists of a vector (three values) that specify what the phase-encode (PE) axis is. The fourth element in each row is the time (in seconds) between reading the center of the first echo and reading the center of the last echo. The fourth element is also the reciprocal of the PE bandwidth/pixel. Remember that to calculate the reciprocoal you take: (1 BandwidthPerPixelPhaseEncode)

printf "0 1 0 0.095" > acqparams.txt

Forward

  • Posterior to Anterior
  • Phase Encoding is j
  • acqparams.txt is 0 1 0

Reverse

  • Anterior to Posterior
  • Phase Encoding is j-
  • acqparams.txt is 0 -1 0

Looking at the JSON file:

  • “PhaseEncodingDirection”: “j-,”
  • “BandwidthPerPixelPhaseEncode”: 13.935,
    • (1 = 0.07176175099)
printf "0 -1 0 0.072" > acqparams.txt

Set index.txt

Create an index file that tells eddy which line of the “acqparams.txt” file to use for each volume of data. In our example above, the index file has a single line with 63 1’s separated by spaces:

myVar=($(wc -w dwi.bval))
indx=""
for ((i=1; i<=$myVar; i+=1)); do indx="$indx 1"; done
echo $indx > index.txt

Eddy

time eddy_cuda8.0 \
--imain=dwi_xc.nii.gz \
--acqp=acqparams.txt \
--index=index.txt \
--mask=dwi_bse_mask.nii.gz \
--bvecs=dwi_xc.bvec \
--bvals=dwi_xc.bval \
--out=dwi_eddy \
--cnr_maps \
--repol \
--mporder=16 \
--estimate_move_by_susceptibility \
--verbose

One way to check eddy correction is to create a gif image that scans through each volume along the same slice. I’ve create an R script that can save a gif for each participant in your study:

library(oro.nifti)
library(neurobase)
setwd('/fslhome/intj5/compute/data/BRAINSCOPE/pnlNipype/')
dirs=list.files(path=".")
for (x in 1:length(dirs)){
  setwd(paste('/fslhome/intj5/compute/data/BRAINSCOPE/pnlNipype/', dirs[x], sep = ""))
  getwd()
  img <- readNIfTI("dwi_eddy.nii.gz")
  png(file="eddy%02d.png", width=200, height=200)
  for (i in 1:img@dim_[5]){
    oro.nifti::image(robust_window(img),z = 35,w = i,plot.type = "single")
  }
  dev.off()
  system("convert -delay 8 *.png eddy.gif")
  file.remove(list.files(pattern=".png"))
}

Eddy Quality Control

For full information: https://fsl.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/fsl/fslwiki/eddyqc/UsersGuide

Participant

for i in $(ls <path-to-dir>/pDWI/ | grep "sub-"); do
   SUBJ_DIR=<path-to-dir>/pDWI/${i}
   eddy_quad \
   ${SUBJ_DIR}/dwi_eddy \
   -idx ${SUBJ_DIR}/index.txt \
   -par ${SUBJ_DIR}/acqparams.txt \
   -m ${SUBJ_DIR}/dwi_b0_mask.nii.gz \
   -b ${SUBJ_DIR}/dwi.bval \
   -v
done

Study

eddy_squad \
participants.txt \ # List with full-path name to dwi_eddy.qc directories
-g group.txt \
-u \
-o squad_site

The right way to format the group.txt file:

VarName
 0 [1 for continuous]
 v_1
 v_2
 .
 .
 .
 v_n

Note that the variable must always be numeric regardless if the variable is categorical or continuous.

EPI Distortion Correction

Extract B0 for EPI Distortion Correction

fslroi dwi_eddy.nii.gz dwi_eddy_b0.nii.gz 1 0

Create a skull stripped B0 image

It is easier to register the B0 and T1 if they are appropriately skull stripped. The skull will cause registration errors.

Fix Displacement between B0 and T1

Do a rigid alignment between preprocessed T1 and eddy corrected B0 image to eliminate any displacement / motion differences between the two images.

antsRegistrationSyNQuick.sh \
-d 3 \
-f b0.nii.gz \
-m t1.nii.gz \ # skull stripped image from FreeSurfer
-o t1tob0- \
-t a

Fix Distortions

Non-linearly register B0 to T1 to fix distortions (stretching and squishing). You are not moving the b0 image, only adjusting voxels out of place. You do not need to adjust bvec file afterwards.

antsRegistrationSyNQuick.sh \
-d 3 \
-f t1tob0-Warped.nii.gz \
-m b0.nii.gz \
-o epi- \
-t so

Apply Transformation

Apply the registration to the entire eddy current corrected image.

antsApplyTransforms \
--dimensionality 3 \
--input-image-type 3 \
--input eddy.nii.gz \
--output epi.nii.gz \
--reference-image t1tob0-Warped.nii.gz \
--interpolation Bspline \
--transform epi-1Warp.nii.gz

Topup

Create a Symlink for all your files:

ln -fs ${BIDS_DIR}/dwi/${1}_${2}_acq-AP_dwi.nii.gz AP_scan.nii.gz
ln -fs ${BIDS_DIR}/dwi/${1}_${2}_acq-PA_dwi.nii.gz PA_scan.nii.gz
ln -fs ${BIDS_DIR}/dwi/${1}_${2}_acq-AP_dwi.bval AP_scan.bval
ln -fs ${BIDS_DIR}/dwi/${1}_${2}_acq-AP_dwi.bvec AP_scan.bvec
ln -fs ${BIDS_DIR}/dwi/${1}_${2}_acq-PA_dwi.bval PA_scan.bval
ln -fs ${BIDS_DIR}/dwi/${1}_${2}_acq-PA_dwi.bvec PA_scan.bvec

Extract B0 for each scan and combine together:

fslroi AP_scan b0_AP_scan 0 1
fslroi PA_scan b0_PA_scan 0 1
fslmerge -t b0_AP_PA_scan b0_AP_scan b0_PA_scan

Create an acqparams.txt file:

printf "0 -1 0 0.0805839" > acqparams.txt
printf "\n0 1 0 0.0805839" >> acqparams.txt

Run topup:

topup \
--imain=b0_AP_PA_scan \
--datain=acqparams.txt \
--out=topup \
--config=b02b0.cnf \
--iout=b0_unwarped

Create a brain mask:

fslmaths b0_unwarped -Tmean b0_unwarped_mean
bet b0_unwarped_mean b0_unwarped_brain -m -f 0.1

Create a single 4D image:

fslmerge -a AP_PA_scan AP_scan PA_scan

Combine the bvec and bval files:

paste -d" " AP_scan.bvec PA_scan.bvec >> bvecs
paste -d" " AP_scan.bval PA_scan.bval >> bvals

Create index.txt:

myVar=($(wc -w AP_scan.bval))
indx=""
for ((i=1; i<=$myVar; i+=1)); do indx="$indx 1"; done
for ((i=1; i<=$myVar; i+=1)); do indx="$indx 2"; done
echo $indx > index.txt

Run eddy:

eddy_openmp \
-v \
--imain=AP_PA_scan \
--mask=b0_unwarped_brain_mask \
--index=index.txt \
--acqp=acqparams.txt \
--bvecs=bvecs \
--bvals=bvals \
--topup=topup \
--out=eddy \
--cnr_maps \
--repol \
--mporder=16 \
--estimate_move_by_susceptibility \

At this point you do not need to run any epi distortion corrections since topup was included with eddy to fix the distortions.

Generate New Mask

A final mask needs to be generated before tensor fitting.