BIRN’s Morphometry Testbed was one of the three original testbeds whose goal was to provide a use case, focused around the needs of the Brain Morphometry community, for the development of the BIRN infrastructure. This testbed focused on issues related to the pooling and analysis of morphometry data, acquired from multiple neuroimaging sites, with the goal of exploring the relationships between anatomical differences and specific memory dysfunctions, such as depression, mild Alzheimer’s disease, and mild cognitive impairment.
To achieve its goals, the Morphometry BIRN Testbed has also constructed an integrated analysis toolkit consisting of analysis and archiving tools. These tools include data processing using FreeSurfer and Large Deformation Diffeomorphic Metric Mapping (LDDMM), data visualization using 3D Slicer, and archiving using the Extensible Neuroimaging Archive Tool (XNAT). In addition, standard imaging protocols have been developed for anatomical imaging, including diffusion tensor imaging, along with tools to correct image distortions. These tools, along with calibration data sets, are available to the public.
As the infrastructure matures, the focus of BIRN is shifting away from the testbeds and out to potential users from all areas of biomedicine. As part of this process, the Brain Morphometry Testbed has been closed down, though BIRN will continue to support some elements and personnel of this testbed. Many tools and data generated by the Morphometry BIRN Testbed, are still available through BIRN. These are described in the Morphometry BIRN Tools Best Practices.
Publications
You can find a complete list of Brain Morphometry BIRN publications here.
