An important application of positron emission tomography (PET) is the correlation of patterns of regional brain metabolism with functional and behavioral abnormalities in various deceases. This requires examination of a large number of scans from many subjects, an activity which is facilitated by using a standard coordinate system for image representation. Talairach's proportional grid system is a popular and suitable system for this purpose. It relies on correct localization of the mid-sagittal plane and the line passing through the anterior commissure (AC) and posterior commissure (PC) in the image volume. These structures, however, have not been readily identifiable in PET images. With the increasing resolution of PET scanners, though, it may now be possible to establish the position of the AC-PC line by directly fitting it from anatomical landmarks which are recognizable in PET images and have definite relationships to the AC and PC. This approach is appealing for both practical and technical reasons. In this paper we present an improved method for direct fitting of the AC-PC line and mid-sagittal plane. We evaluate the quality of the approximation in terms of its precision and accuracy, and also assess accuracy by direct comparison with independently registered magnetic resonance (MR) images.

Date Published: 1 June 1992
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 1652, Medical Imaging VI: Image Processing, (1 June 1992); doi: 10.1117/12.59449

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1652:
Medical Imaging VI: Image Processing
Murray H. Loew, Editor(s)