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REVIEW article

Front. Aging Neurosci.
Sec. Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias
Volume 16 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2024.1459652

Automated brain segmentation and volumetry in dementia diagnostics: A narrative review with emphasis on FreeSurfer

Provisionally accepted
Eya Khadhraoui Eya Khadhraoui 1*Thomas Nickl-Jockschat Thomas Nickl-Jockschat 1Hans Henkes Hans Henkes 2Daniel Behme Daniel Behme 1Sebastian J. Müller Sebastian J. Müller 1
  • 1 Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany
  • 2 Klinikum Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Dementia can be caused by numerous different diseases that present variable clinical courses and reveal multiple patterns of brain atrophy, making its accurate early diagnosis by conventional examinative means challenging. Although highly accurate and powerful, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) currently plays only a supportive role in dementia diagnosis, largely due to the enormous volume and diversity of data it generates. AI-based software solutions/algorithms that can perform automated segmentation and volumetry analyses of MRI data are being increasingly used to address this issue. Numerous commercial and non-commercial software solutions for automated brain segmentation and volumetry exist, with FreeSurfer being the most frequently used.Objectives: This Review is an account of the current situation regarding the application of automated brain segmentation and volumetry to dementia diagnosis.We performed a PubMed search for "FreeSurfer AND Dementia" and obtained 493 results. Based on these search results, we conducted an in-depth source analysis to identify additional publications, software tools, and methods. Studies were analyzed for design, patient collective, and for statistical evaluation (mathematical methods, correlations).In the studies identified, the main diseases and cohorts represented were Alzheimer's disease (n = 276), mild cognitive impairment (n = 157), frontotemporal dementia (n = 34), Parkinson's disease (n = 29), dementia with Lewy bodies (n = 20), and healthy controls (n = 356). The findings and methods of a selection of the studies identified were summarized and discussed.Our evaluation showed that, while a large number of studies and software solutions are available, many diseases are underrepresented in terms of their incidence. There is therefore plenty of scope for targeted research.

    Keywords: Dementia, free surfer, segmentation, Volumetry, review

    Received: 04 Jul 2024; Accepted: 19 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Khadhraoui, Nickl-Jockschat, Henkes, Behme and Müller. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Eya Khadhraoui, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.