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The functionality of this module is based on methodology developed by Renaud Maroy and licensed from the Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (CEA), Orsay, France. Given an anatomical T1-MR brain series, it allows the user to calculate objective brain structure outlines in a guided step-by-step fashion. These definitions can then be applied to PET images of the same patient for calculating regional statistics or Time-Activity Curves (TAC), which may optionally be corrected for the partial-volume effect.
A particular strength of this module is its ability to precisely segment the deep nuclei (caudate, putamen, ventral striatum, globus pallidus, thalamus). This is a difficult task because of the complex structure shapes as well as the low contrast and high noise of the MR in this image area. The applied sophisticated methodology allows detecting the structure boundaries with high accuracy, so that the result may even be used for morphometric analyses.