QSIPrep: An integrative platform for preprocessing and reconstructing diffusion MRI

Abstract

Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) has become the primary method for non-invasively studying the organization of white matter in the human brain. While many dMRI acquisition sequences have been developed, they all sample q-space in order to characterize water diffusion. Numerous software platforms have been developed for processing dMRI data, but most work on only a subset of sampling schemes or implement only parts of the processing workflow. Reproducible research and comparisons across dMRI methods are hindered by incompatible software, diverse file formats, and inconsistent naming conventions. Here we introduce QSIPrep, an integrative software platform for the processing of diffusion images that is compatible with nearly all dMRI sampling schemes. Drawing upon a diverse set of software suites to capitalize upon their complementary strengths, QSIPrep automatically applies best practices for dMRI preprocessing, including denoising, distortion correction, head motion correction, coregistration, and spatial normalization. Throughout, QSIPrep provides both visual and quantitative measures of data quality as well as “glass-box” methods reporting. Taken together, these features facilitate easy implementation of best practices for processing of diffusion images while simultaneously ensuring reproducibility.

ICB Affiliated Authors

Authors
Matthew Cieslak, Philip A. Cook, Xiaosong He, Fang-Cheng Yeh, Thijs Dhollander, Azeez Adebimpe, Geoffrey K. Aguirre, Danielle S. Bassett, Richard F. Betzel, Josiane Bourque, Laura M. Cabral, Christos Davatzikos, John Detre, Eric Earl, Mark A. Elliott, Shreyas Fadnavis, Damien A. Fair, Will Foran, Panagiotis Fotiadis, Eleftherios Garyfallidis, Barry Giesbrecht, Ruben C. Gur, Raquel E. Gur, Max Kelz, Anisha Keshavan, Bart S. Larsen, Beatriz Luna, Allyson P. Mackey, Michael Milham, Desmond J. Oathes, Anders Perrone, Adam R. Pines, David R. Roalf, Adam Richie-Halford, Ariel Rokem, Valerie J. Sydnor, Tinashe M. Tapera, Ursula A. Tooley, Jean M. Vettel, Jason D. Yeatman, Scott T. Grafton, Theodore D. Satterthwaite
Date
Type
Peer-Reviewed Article
Journal
Nature Methods
Volume
18
Pages
775–778
Emblems