Abstract

We propose an integrated registration and clustering algorithm, called "consistency clustering", that automatically constructs a probabilistic white-matter atlas from a set of multi-subject diffusion weighted MR images. We formulate the atlas creation as a maximum likelihood problem which the proposed method solves using a generalized Expectation Maximization (EM) framework. Additionally, the algorithm employs an outlier rejection and denoising strategy to produce sharp probabilistic maps of certain bundles of interest. We test this algorithm on synthetic and real data, and evaluate its stability against initialization. We demonstrate labeling a novel subject using the resulting spatial atlas and evaluate the accuracy of this labeling. Consistency clustering is a viable tool for completely automatic white-matter atlas construction for sub-populations and the resulting atlas is potentially useful for making diffusion measurements in a common coordinate system to identify pathology related changes or developmental trends.