Automatic Computation of Brain and Cerebellum Volumes in Normal Subjects and Chronic Alcoholics

Automatic volumetric measurements of brain structures and substructures is a prerequisite for longitudinal studies as well as studies aimed at measuring and quantifying differences between populations. This study tests the hypothesis that a fully automatic, atlas-based method can be used for the computation of the volume encompassed by the dura, the volume of the brain, and the volume of the cerebellum from which indices of atrophy are estimated. The method has been tested on normal volunteers and alcoholic patients. It has been validated both by comparing contours obtained manually and automatically and by repeating the measurements on serial acquisitions. Results demonstrate that the method is both robust and accurate, even in the presence of large morphological differences due to severe atrophy caused by chronic alcoholism.