Tools for interactive analysis and display of fMRI data

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments are becoming recognized in a number of areas of neuroscience. Presenting useful information to the clinician in a reasonable time and in an understandable way is of paramount importance for the use of fMRI protocols in the clinical setting. We have developed a series of tools for fMRI analysis and presentation encapsulated by a commercially-available graphical-user interface which allows the user to immediately make use of fMRI data for multiple analyses. The application visualization system (AVS) was chosen to provide a graphical environment for the tools. A series of AVS modules were created to allow the user to perform several processing and analysis tasks using the serial fMRI image data as a starting point. Modules were developed to provide t-test analysis and cross-correlation analysis, in which the user is able to select a suitable idealized driving function which can be interactively modified to suit the given fMRI protocol. Both time and frequency analyses are possible on each pixel in the images. In addition, several co- registration methods have been developed to resolve problems arising from patient motion.