KEYWORDS: Image segmentation, Brain, Skull, Magnetic resonance imaging, 3D mask effects, Education and training, Image classification, Neuroimaging, Image processing, Bone
In early life, the neurocranium undergoes rapid changes to accommodate the expanding brain. Neurocranial maturation can be disrupted by developmental abnormalities and environmental factors such as sleep position. To establish a baseline for the early detection of anomalies, it is important to understand how this structure typically grows in healthy children. Here, we designed a deep neural network pipeline NEC-NET, including segmentation and classification, to analyze the normative development of the neurocranium in T1 MR images from healthy children aged 12 to 60 months old. The pipeline optimizes the segmentation of the neurocranium and shows the preliminary results of age-based regional differences among infants.
As improved treatments have increased survival rates for pediatric brain tumor patients, there is an urgent need to study the long-term sequelae of treatment. Central nervous system (CNS) germ cell tumors constitute a form of neoplasm that is normally treated with chemotherapy and/or cranial radiation therapy (CRT). Starting from an MRI dataset of patients with such tumors at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, we aim to understand the morphological effects of CRT on brain structures. The current study examines the long-term effects of radiation dosage on the brainstem, corpus callosum, and ventricles post- radiation therapy. The results of the analysis showed a significant association among brain structure areas and radiation dosage received. These preliminary findings point to deleterious effects of radiation treatment on brain anatomy.
Advances in the treatment of cancer, including surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, have led to an increase in the survival rate of children with brain tumors. However, the efficacy of these therapies is often overshadowed by the long term neurological consequences of treatment-induced injuries. Diffusion weighted imaging, a magnetic resonance imaging technique, allows us to measure changes in white matter in a population of posterior fossa brain tumor survivors who had two different treatment schemes: surgery + chemotherapy (S+C) and surgery, chemotherapy + cranial irradiation (S+C+R). The results of our analysis reveal significantly lower mean diffusivity (MD) and lower radial diffusivity (RD) values in the posterior thalamic radiation in the S+C+R group, which may indicate more myelin or more axonal damage in the S+C group compared to the S+C+R group. While it is possible that this may be related to a more intensive chemotherapeutic regimen in the S+C group, more work will be forthcoming to produce a clearer picture of treatment-related injury in survivors of posterior fossa tumors in childhood. These preliminary findings will be further analyzed to include demographic factors, neuropsychological data, and radiation dose values.
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