Method and system for analyzing images to quantify brain atrophy

A method of performing a clinical trial involving a plurality of subjects, each subject being assigned to a group of a plurality of groups, the method comprising:

• for each of the plurality of subjects, processing a first 3-dimensional representation of a brain of the subject collected with an imaging device during a first imaging session and second 3-dimensional representation of the brain collected with the imaging device during a second image session, wherein processing the first 3-dimensional representation comprises:
• with at least one processor:
• obtaining an indication of a position of a first anatomical landmark in the first 3-dimensional representation of a brain and an indication of a position of a second anatomical landmark in the first 3-dimensional representation of the brain;
• generating a first slice through the first anatomical landmark and the second anatomical landmark from the first 3-dimensional representation, wherein the first slice has an orientation in the 3-dimensions, and wherein the orientation of the first slice is selected based on the obtained position of the first anatomical landmark and the obtained position of the second anatomical landmark such that the orientation of the first slice is not constrained by an orientation of the imaging device and the first slice encompasses:
• a position selected based on at least the position of the first anatomical landmark and
• a position selected based on at least the position of the second anatomical landmark;
• measuring a characteristic of an anatomical feature in the first slice;
• and
• storing the measured characteristic as a first measured characteristic in at least one computer-storage medium;
• wherein processing the second 3-dimensional representation comprises:
• with the at least one processor:
• obtaining an indication of a position of the first anatomical landmark in the second 3-dimensional representation of a brain and an indication of a position of a second anatomical landmark in the second 3-dimensional representation of the brain;
• generating a second slice through the first anatomical landmark and the second anatomical landmark from the second 3-dimensional representation, wherein the second slice has an orientation in the 3-dimensions, and wherein the orientation of the second slice is selected based on the obtained position of the first anatomical landmark and the obtained position of the second anatomical landmark such that the orientation of the second slice is not constrained by an orientation of the imaging device, wherein the orientation of the second slice with respect to the orientation of the imaging device is different than the orientation of the first slice with respect to the orientation of the imaging device, and wherein the second slice encompasses:
• a position selected based on at least the position of the first anatomical landmark and
• a position selected based on at least the position of the second anatomical landmark;
• measuring the characteristic of the anatomical feature in the second slice;
• and
• storing the measured characteristic as a second measured characteristic in the at least one computer-storage medium;
• and
• computing from the stored first and second measured characteristics an indicator of an average change of the characteristic for each of the plurality of groups.

At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium,

• comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, analyze image data collected with an imaging device by:
• obtaining an indication of a position of a first anatomical landmark in a 3-dimensional representation of a brain collected during a first imaging session and an indication of a position of a second anatomical landmark in the 3-dimensional representation of the brain collected during the first imaging session;
• and
• computing, from the 3-dimensional representation of the brain collected during the first imaging session, a first slice with an orientation in the 3-dimensions, wherein the orientation of the first slice is selected based on the obtained position of the first anatomical landmark and the obtained position of the second anatomical landmark such that the orientation of the first slice is not constrained by an orientation of the imaging device and the first slice encompasses:
• a position selected based on at least the position of the first anatomical landmark and
• a position selected based on at least the position of the second anatomical landmark;
• obtaining an indication of a position of the first anatomical landmark in a 3-dimensional representation of a brain collected during a second imaging session and an indication of a position of the second anatomical landmark in the 3-dimensional representation of the brain collected during the second imaging session;
• and
• computing, from the 3-dimensional representation of the brain collected during the second imaging session, a second slice with an orientation in the 3-dimensions, wherein the orientation of the second slice is selected based on the obtained position of the first anatomical landmark and the obtained position of the second anatomical landmark in the second 3-dimensional representation such that the orientation of the second slice is not constrained by an orientation of the imaging device, wherein the orientation of the second slice with respect to the orientation of the imaging device is different than the orientation of the first slice with respect to the orientation of the imaging device, and wherein the second slice encompasses:
• a position selected based on at least the position of the first anatomical landmark and
• a position selected based on at least the position of the second anatomical landmark;
• and
• measuring a change in a characteristic of mi anatomical feature based on a comparison of information from the first slice to information from the second slice to track the change in the characteristic of the anatomical feature over time.