Brain morphometry in adult: volumetric visualization as a tool in image processing

Abstract

Brain morphometry is the discipline that provides tools for the measurement of the structural properties of the brain according to the type of imaging data used, characterizing focal brain morphology, functioning, and neurodegenerative processes related to age and gender, as well as local morphological alterations in neurological and psychiatric disorders. An overview of the influence of age and gender on brain morphometry will be provided. An analysis of the scientific literature on some neuroimaging techniques, their potential in the diagnosis of degenerative diseases and the experience of their use in Cuba is presented. Concepts such as: brain morphometry and its main techniques, volumetric and its objective in the field of medicine will be reaffirmed. Image segmentation methods and their clinical correlation will be addressed. The studies that were included in this review are current and located in the Science Direct, PubMed, and SciELO databases; original research reports were considered and the review of specialized books and review articles were included given their relevance in the field. It is concluded that age and sex are factors that affect brain morphometry. Medical imaging is an effective way to look at the anatomy of the brain. Voxel-based morphometric studies detect structural changes in healthy and pathological stages of life. Volumetric visualization is a tool that provides useful information related to the patient and their care. However, there are problems with the uniformity of image segmentation algorithms.