.. _tricks: ================================== Image Processing Tips and Tricks ================================== | Maintainer: Dianne Patterson Ph.D. dkp @ arizona.edu | Date Created: 2019_08_17 | Date Updated: 2023_03_07 | Tags: anat, segmentation, image formats, header editing, registration .. toctree:: :hidden: :maxdepth: 3 Most of the tools described below are based on FSL. FSL is not the only tool that can be used for this sort of processing, it is just the tool I know best. Where appropriate, bash scripts are available for download from my `Bitbucket tools site `_. You can just `download the whole repository `_ if you want, but it'll include scripts that may be of no interest. Otherwise, the scripts you want are described in each section (left click a link to view the script, right-click to download). Also, see the :ref:`Clinical Scans ` page for issues related to processing data from clinical scans (which may be CTs and or have very low resolution in two of the three planes). .. _anatomical_image_prep: Anatomical Image Preparation ********************************* Strutural images, usually T1-weighted, but sometimes T2-weighted, FLAIR, scalar DWIs (B0, FA, MD etc.) or even CTs may be available as underlays to draw lesion masks on. CTs are a really special case and are discussed separately on the :ref:`Clinical Scans ` page. T1w images can be processed with a single script described in :ref:`Prepare T1w Image ` that reorients, bias-corrects, crops and even generates a brain mask. Several of these processing steps can also be handled separately as described in other sections below. .. _prepT1wImage: Prepare T1w Image ====================== For a T1w image, you can use `prep_T1w.sh `_ to run fslreorient2std, robustfov, bias correction, and to create a brain mask for a T1w image. Note that prep_T1w.sh depends on FSL and on two additional scripts being present: `fsl_anat_alt.sh `_ and `optiBET.sh `_:: prep_T1w.sh sub-001_T1w Optionally, if you have a lesion mask in native space, you can ensure that it also gets cropped and reoriented by adding it to the ``prep_T1w.sh`` command:: prep_T1w.sh sub-001_T1w lesion Check the brain mask! Large lesions, especially chronic lesions near the surface of the cortex, frequently result in a brain mask that does not have enough coverage. If all of your data consists of high quality research scans, then consider using :ref:`SPM12 normalization ` before you delineate the lesion. That way, you can use the standard brain mask instead of generating a brain mask. Running ``prep_T1w.sh`` creates a subdirectory named after your anatomical file, e.g., ``sub-001_T1w.anat``. It also backs up your original files, e.g., ``sub-001_T1w_orig.nii.gz`` and optionally your lesion file if you processed it, e.g., ``lesion_mask_orig.nii.gz``. The suffix ``_orig`` has been added to these original files. Your new cropped images will have the names that you originally passed in (e.g., ``sub-001_T1w.nii.gz`` and ``lesion_mask.nii.gz``). .. _fslreorient2std: fslreorient2std ==================== It never hurts to reorient the image to standard orientaion. Some viewer programs will show you the image in standard orientaion whether or not it is stored that way. Other image viewers will show you the image as it is stored. For the sake of consistency, ensure the image is stored in the same orientation as the MNI standard. You can try this test data to see fslreorient2std in action: `sub-001_T1w.nii.gz `_ (this is my head, so no worries about HIPPA, it is free to use):: fslreorient2std sub-001_T1w sub-001_T1w_reoriented The command is harmless if the data is already correctly oriented. If you apply the above command to the ITK-SNAP tutorial data `T1w_defaced.nii.gz `_, nothing changes. .. _robustfov: Crop Neck with robustfov ============================ Crop the anatomical images, thus removing the lower head and neck. This command will run fslreoreint2std if it has not already been done.:: robustfov -i sub-001_T1w_reoriented -r sub-001_T1w_cropped .. _correct_anisotropy: Correct Extreme Anisotropy ============================= Clinical images often have extremely anisotropic voxels. This is not well handled by tools like `MRIcron `_. In addition, ITK-SNAP needs isotropic (or near isotropic) data to do good semi-automated segmentation. You can easily make voxels isotropic with flirt: A simple FSL-based script to facilitate creating isotropic images (anatomical images or masks) is available here.: `iso.sh `_. To try the script out, download `T1w_aniso.nii.gz `_:: iso.sh T1w_aniso 1 The above command takes ``T1w_aniso.nii.gz`` as input and reslices it to 1mm isotropic voxels. The output is called ``T1w_aniso_1mm.nii.gz``. The output image can now be used in ITK-SNAP or MRIcron. Note that the image is just as blurry, but it has more slices in the z direction now. That means any mask you draw will be smoother. .. _reslice: Reslice Other Anatomicals into One Space ============================================= You can use the script `reslice.sh `_ to facilitate running FSL flirt:: reslice.sh anat_FLAIR anat_T1w * This example reslices an image, ``anat_FLAIR.nii.gz`` to be in the same space as ``anat_T1w.nii.gz``. * The script can be used, for example, to ensure that images of several different modalities are in the same space so they can be used with :ref:`3D segmentation clustering in ITK-SNAP `. * **Clinical CT** Another useful application of reslice.sh is to apply :ref:`gantry tilt correction ` (Use the gantry tilt corrected image as the reference image). * **Fusion Images** In the section on :ref:`fusion images `, I walk you through using reslice.sh to create a very simple fusion image. .. Warning:: reslice.sh uses trilinear interpolation, which is fast and fine for anatomical images. However, it is NOT appropriate for reslicing masks. .. _masks: Masks *********** A mask (such as a lesion mask) should be binary, that is, it should contain ONLY 0's and 1's. This is because statistical programs for evaluating lesion masks, along with various image math procedures often assume the values are 0's and 1's. So, we want to make sure the masks remain binary. Some tools, like MRIcron, offer a smoothing option for masks. The problem is that smoothing may be accomplished by softening the edges which means that those values are interpolated (i.e., 1's are replaced with values like 0.5, 0.3 etc). In addition, if you register your mask to a different image space you can introduce interpolated values if you fail to use *Nearest Neighbour* interpolation. You should go through the :ref:`Hidden Problems Section ` below, before registering a mask. In this section, I offer several tools for improving masks without compromising their binary nature. .. _ensure_binary_masks: **Ensure Masks are Binary** If you reslice a mask into a different space, you should do so with *Nearest Neighbour* interpolation. Otherwise, values at the edges of the mask may be interpolated between 1 and 0. Smoothing a mask may result in the same problem. To ensure masks are binary, use fslmaths. ``-bin`` sets all values above ``0`` to ``1``. ``-odt char`` sets the bitdepth to 8-bits:: fslmaths lesion -bin lesion -odt char Check that a mask contains correct values (``-M`` Mean of non-zero voxels should be 1. ``-S`` Standard deviation of non-zero voxels should be 0:: fslstats lesion -M -S 1.000000 0.000000 .. _erode: Erode ========== Remove islands and spikes by eroding the edges of the lesion mask. `erode.sh `_ is a bit less complex to call than the fslmaths command. In the command below, we do one iteration of the erosion and do it in 3D (default is 2D):: erode.sh lesion 1 3D .. Warning:: Be Careful with erosion! If you run too many iterations on a small mask, the mask will disappear! You might want to make a backup copy of your mask first. .. _dilate: Dilate ========== Fill tiny holes in the mask by dilating the edges of the lesion mask. `dilate.sh `_ is a bit less complex to call than the fslmaths command. In the command below, we do one iteration of the dilation and do it in 3D (default is 2D):: dilate.sh lesion 1 3D .. _fill_holes: Fill Holes ================= fslmaths has its own hole-filling algorithm. Simply add the appropriate flag to fslmaths. | -fillh : fill holes in a binary mask (holes are internal - i.e. do not touch the edge of the FOV) | -fillh26 : fill holes using 26 connectivity | In the command below we input the lesion_mask, fill the holes and output it with the same name. Finally, we ensure it is the correct datatype:: fslmaths lesion -fillh lesion -odt char .. _cluster_count: Cluster Count ================== It can be difficult to determine whether a lesion mask is one big volume or whether little islands have broken off. `cluster_count.sh `_ tells you how many separate clusters are in the mask, how big they are and the center of each one. In general, I can't imagine why you'd want to keep clusters of less than about 10 voxels. In the command below we ask how many clusters are in lesion_mask.nii.gz and we set connectivity to 6. **Connectivity** can be set at 6, 18 or 26, but always defaults to 26. * If the connectivity is set to 6, then voxels only belong to a single cluster if their faces are in contact. * If the connectivity is set to 18, then voxels belong to a single cluster if their faces OR edges are in contact. * And, if the connectivity is set to 26 (the default if you don't specify a number), then voxels belong to a single cluster if their faces, edges or corners are in contact. So, setting the connectivity to 6 ensures the greatest possible number of clusters will be counted:: cluster_count.sh lesion 6 .. _cluster_clean: Cluster Clean ================== If there are several clusters, especially if there are several tiny clusters, you may wish to remove the smallest ones. cluster_clean.sh can remove islands without the dangers of erosion. Often you'll find you have one gigantic cluster (many thousands of voxels) and several clusters of 1-10 voxels. You can safely remove the tiny ones with the `cluster_clean.sh `_. A command like the following which removes any clusters smaller than 10 voxels from the mask image:: cluster_clean.sh lesion 10 As with cluster_count.sh, a third argument can be added to specify connectivity of 6 or 18. The default connectivity is 26:: cluster_clean.sh lesion 10 18 .. _smooth: Smooth ======== Yes, this is what I warned you against, but with some care it seems to work in FSL and produce binary results. You may have to play with the ``-kernel gauss 0.1`` setting a bit. This seems to do very gentle smoothing, but still dilates the mask (and larger kernel values are more extreme). One iteration of erosion afterwards seems to do the trick. I ran this smoothing three times, each time running on the output of the previous iteration, and then eroding the results. The effects were improved:: fslmaths lesion -kernel gauss 0.1 -fmean -bin lesion_smooth erode.sh lesion_smooth 1 3D .. _flip-nudge: Left-Right Flip and Nudge ================================ It can be useful to flip the normal ventricles in one hemisphere onto the abnormal ventricles in the other hemisphere to characterize ventricular enlargement. This is a two step process: See :ref:`Left-Right Flip ` and :ref:`Nudging ` .. _check_hidden_problems: Check for Hidden Problems ******************************* The section above deals with ways to clean up the way a mask looks, ensuring that it is shaped organically, like the lesion, and is not filled with simple drawing errors. However, before using a mask for image math or statistical analyses, you want to make sure that more insidious problems are not present. The checks below can prevent some of these more insidious problems for both masks and antomical images. .. _fslhd_fslinfo: fslinfo and fslhd ====================== fslinfo provides very limited information about your images. fslhd provides more. Both are useful. Try them like this:: fslinfo lesion fslhd lesion .. _zeros_not_NaNs: Ensure Zeros, not NaNs =========================== SPM uses NaN (Not-a-Number) in addition to zeros in NIFTI images. However, some processing programs (e.g., FSL) do not handle NaN well at all. In fact fslstats will add NaN values in a mask image to the ones in that mask image, and FSLeyes will display both NaNs and ones as values distinct from zero (right-hand image below) if the range is set from -1 to 1. The bottom line is that it is a better and more robust choice for your mask images to use only zeros and ones. The following FSL command will convert all NaN values in ``lesion`` to zeros in ``lesion2``. The resulting 1's and 0's in lesion2.nii.gz will be handled correctly by all viewing programs:: fslmaths lesion -nan lesion2 .. image:: /pictures/fsl_FSLeyes_NaN.png :alt: comparison of preferred image with zeros (left) vs image with NaNs and zeros (right) .. _sform_qform: Ensure SFORM and QFORM Match ================================= The image header for NIFTI has two separate ways to represent positional information in a viewer. Some programs (ITK-SNAP) prefer to edit the qform and others prefer to edit the sform (SPM, FSL), but these choices have evolved over the years along with what happens to the other matrix when the preferred one gets edited (set the other to 0s, match the other to the preferred, leave the other as it was). ITK-SNAP sets the sform to 0s, a potential problem for other viewers. The following tools can help: `sqdiff.sh `_ tells you whether the sform and qform of an image differ. `sqdiff_wrap.sh `_ will run sqdiff on every image it finds in subject subdirectories (sub*) of the current directory. `q2s.sh `_ copies the qform to the sform. `s2q.sh `_ copies the sform to the qform. All are based on the fsl tool *fslorient*. .. Note:: Because the sform and qform are stored differently, they have different levels of precision. It is possible to copy the sform to the qform and still find that they are reported to be a bit different by sqdiff.sh. If you copy the qform to the sform, however, any differences will be completely removed. If you created a lesion_mask.nii.gz in ITK-SNAP, then your header will contain a qform but not sform:: sqdiff.sh lesion diff results for Temp lesion_mask.nii.gz: 1c1 < 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 --- > -0.999994 -0.00314216 0.00112513 96.8904 -0.00315573 0.99992 -0.0122661 -90.1013 0.0010865 0.0122696 0.999924 -77.9563 0 0 0 1 sqdiff.sh compares the sform and qform. You see results if they are different. In the example above, ITK-SNAP has set the sform to ``0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1`` which is quite different that the qform! You can also call sqdiff_wrap.sh to get a report on all sform and qform data in sub* subdirectories of the current directory:: sqdiff_wrap.sh >> sqdiff.txt To make the sform and qform match (a very good idea), you can run either q2s.sh or s2q.sh. After generating a mask with ITK-SNAP, you can see that the sform has been zeroed out, so we want to copy the qform to the sform:: q2s.sh lesion Both q2s.sh and s2q.sh run on specified image file argument (as illustrated above). However, if you type the script name with no arguments, you get a choice to run on all images in the current directory or to view the help message. .. _right2left_header: Ensure Standard Orientation in NIFTI Header ================================================= Standard orientations should be ``Right-to-Left`` for sform and qform orient (e.g.) | qform_xorient Right-to-Left | qform_yorient Posterior-to-Anterior | qform_zorient Inferior-to-Superior If you encounter an image with the following: | qform_xorient Left-to-Right | qform_yorient Posterior-to-Anterior | qform_zorient Inferior-to-Superior then some programs will have trouble (iMango and Papaya will get the L-R wrong as of May 23, 2019). Note that this is not proper behavior for such programs, and it should be reported as a bug (it has been) Nevertheless, it doesn't hurt to make sure everything is consistent: See `get_orient.sh `_ to view orientations. If you have run fslreorient2std on sub-001_T1w_reoriented.nii.gz, you'll find it is still in Left-to-Right orientation:: get_orient.sh sub-001_T1w_reoriented See `reset_orient.sh `_ to switch the orientations and then view the results:: reset_orient.sh sub-001_T1w .. _save_hd_space: Save Space on your Hard Drive ================================== FSL saves images with a high bitdepth (32 bits). You don't need that for binary masks. It justs wastes space. DWI images use floating point values and should remaim 32 bit. fMRI statistics images also use floating point values, and so should be left at 32 bit. Ensure masks are binary and char (8 bit):: fslmaths lesion -bin lesion -odt char .. _brainmask: Create a Brain Mask ====================== It can be very useful to have a brain mask to trim the lesion if the filling algorithm leaks outside the brain. There are many ways to generate such a mask: BET in `FSL `_ , `optiBET `_, and `MRIcron `_. If you are working with T1w_defaced.nii.gz, you may wish to use the `native_brain_mask.nii.gz `_ that I have generated with optiBET. If you have normalized the head with SPM12 following :ref:`our suggested approach `, then you can use this standard brain mask `MNI_T1_1mm_brain_mask.nii.gz `_. This is the 1mm MNI brain mask cropped into the space of the final SPM12 output. If you generate your own brain mask, ensure that it has good coverage. After you have generated a lesion mask with ITK-SNAP, you should check that the lesion has not leaked outside of the brain mask (yellow arrow in figure below). .. image:: /pictures/fsl_fsleyes_brainmask_lesion_trim.png :alt: Using a brain mask to limit the spread of the lesion mask outside the brain. Yellow arrow points to lesion mask that grew outside the brain mask You can look at the T1w image, the brain mask and the lesion mask with FSLeyes. There are several ways to start FSLeyes, but the command below shows you some of the options you can pick at the command line:: fsleyes T1w_defaced -b 70 -c 70 lesion_mask -cm Red native_brain_mask -cm Blue -a 30 This command says: Use fsleyes to view the T1w_defaced.nii.gz image. FSL looks for files with the ``.nii.gz`` suffix, so supplying that at the command line is optional. Because the image is usually too dark on my monitor, I increase the brightness ``-b`` from the default 50% to 70%. I do the same with contrast ``-c``. Next, I want to add the lesion_mask with the red color mask ``-cm Red``. Next, I want to add the native_brain_mask with a blue color mask ``-cm Blue`` and with alpha transparency of 30% ``-a 30``. You can use a command like this to trim the lesion so it only occupies the region that overlaps the brain mask, e.g.:: fslmaths lesion_mask -mul native_brain_mask -bin lesion_mask -odt char This command says: Multiply the lesion_mask and the native_brain_mask, retaining only voxels that are in both. Then binarize the lesion mask with ``-bin`` and ensure that it doesn't take up too much space on your drive with ``-odt char`` which sets the output datatype to 8 bits. .. Note:: Especially in native space, the brain mask may have inadequate coverage. This is partly because brain masking is a hard problem, and partly because brain masking is a REALLY hard problem when there is a large lesion near the surface of the brain. Scroll through the 3 orthogonal slices and think carefully about whether you want to trim the lesion with the brain mask. .. _flip: Left-Right Flip Lateral Ventricle Mask ============================================== Many of the large lesions we mask are contiguous with the ventricle and result in abnormal enlargement of that ventricle. To estimate the abnormal enlargement, one can segment the normal ventricle in the other hemisphere (assume the right ventricle for this discussion) and then Left-Right flip the segmentation. In standard space, this will generally be aligned in the opposite hemisphere, but in native space, where the head is often not perfectly straight in the scanner, it may be necessary to nudge the flipped segmentation by eye. Here I describe a combination of ITK-SNAP and FSL tools and some related concerns: As described above for lesion masking, segment and save the right lateral ventricle. Call it LV_R.nii.gz. Left-Right flip the segmentation using FSL command line tools. fslswapdim takes the mask ``LV_R.nii.gz`` as input and flips on the x axis (which is a left-right flip):: fslswapdim LV_R -x y z LV_L .. Warning:: The L-R flip works in isolation. That is, if you flip x only ``-x y z`` it works fine, but if you try to flip other orientations at the same time, e.g. ``-x -y z`` then x won't flip. Weird, so keep it in mind. See `Orientation Explained `_ In conjunction with flipping, it may be necessary to use nudge.sh (described below in :ref:`Nudging `), especially if you are working in native space. This is because the native space images are often tilted, so the two hemispheres may not be nicely aligned on a given slice. .. _nudge_example: Nudging =========== Tools like FSLeyes and MRIcron may allow you to move a mask image around relative to the anatomical underlay. But results may not carry over to image math operations or other pieces of software (Many thanks to Paul McCarthy of the FSL group for explaining this and providing an example of the right flags to provide to flirt). See the description of the problem in :term:`NIFTI Headers and Orientation` and in the section on :ref:`Sform and Qform `. See information about applying image transformations in `FSLeyes: Tools `_. It is a good sanity check to try nudging a mask a bit and then running a tool like `jaccard.sh `_ to determine whether the masks are no longer 100% overlapped. See further description of :ref:`Jaccard ` below. Rotation ----------------- Nudge allows translations and rotations. Rotations are tricky. Consider, for example, a Sylvian Fissure mask flipped from the other side of the brain. I suggest these strategies: #. Use the sagittal view, so you can see the relative position of the mask and the superior edge of the temporal lobe. You want your mask to sit directly above the temporal lobe and be aligned with it. #. When you choose Nudge from the FSLeyes Tools menu, you have 2 choices for rotation: ``Rotate around centre of image volume`` or ``Rotate around current cursor location``. #. For this task, ``Rotate around current cursor location`` is the more intuitive choice. Just make sure you locate your cursor at the center of the long axis of the mask. #. To rock the mask in the sagittal view, rotate around the x-axis. #. Remember there is a reset button .. _jaccardsh: `Jaccard `_ ============================================================== Once you have nudged a mask, you want to make sure that it has moved in both world and voxel space. nudge.sh saves a ``*.back`` image (e.g., LV_L_back.nii.gz) which you can use to compare. Remember, looking at the images in a viewer is not enough to gaurantee the nudge has been applied. You can use this simple `jaccard.sh `_ script that tells you how much two masks overlap. In the first case, ``jaccard.sh`` warns us that the images are not in the same space and that it will compare the two masks using voxel-based orientation. It then reports that Jaccard Index is 1 (the overlap is complete) and Jaccard distance is ``0`` (there is no distance between the masks):: >jaccard.sh cube cubeW WARNING:: Inconsistent orientations for individual images in pipeline! Will use voxel-based orientation which is probably incorrect - *PLEASE CHECK*! Total voxels cube is 125000 Total voxels cubeW is 125000 Intersect voxels are 125000 Union voxels are 125000 Jaccard index is 1.000000 Jaccard distance is 0 In this second case, the images are in the same space (there is no warning about inconsistent voxels). In addition, the images do NOT overlap completely (Jaccard Index is less than 1; Jaccard distance is more than ``0``):: >jaccard.sh cube cubeW+Vox Total voxels cube is 125000 Total voxels cubeW+Vox is 125000 Intersect voxels are 61250 Union voxels are 188750 Jaccard index is .324503 Jaccard distance is .675497 Image Math =============== Once you have nudged the ventricle mask into the correct location on the left, you can subtract it from the lesion mask, again, using FSL command line tools:: fslmaths lesion.nii.gz -sub LV_L.nii.gz -bin lesion_rev.nii.gz You will need to examine the results and clean up slim isthmuses left over by the subtraction. A benefit of this approach is that you have the mask used to remove the normal ventricle, so you can always repeat the process exactly. Several useful tools for cleaning up masks are described here: :ref:`Useful Image Processing Tips and Tricks `. In addition, there are details about what is stored in the NIFTI image headers and problems that can arise when working with these data, especially across multiple image processing tools. .. _other: Other *********** .. _manual header_edit: Edit Image Header (Mango) ============================== If you encounter images with incorrect dimensions, you can revise the header using :ref:`Mango Header Editing `. This is handy if you have an image with the wrong slice thickness, for example. .. _visulaize_MIP: Visualization of Lesions using Maximum Intensity Projection =================================================================== #. In FSLeyes, load and display the anatomical image and two copies of the lesion file. #. By default the lesion file is displayed as a *3D/4D volume* which displays the lesion mask for each slice. In the figure below, the 3D lesion is displayed in red (and has a red box around it in the *Overlay list* on the bottom left of the figure). #. Set the second lesion file to display as a *Max Intensity Projection* (MIP). It needs to be underneath the lesion file above, as it will probably be bigger. You can find the *Max Intensity Projection* in the upper left corner and the corresponding copy of the lesion file in the *Overlay list* (pink boxes, figure below). The MIP is also displayed in pink. #. Settings for the lesion maps are available from the gear on the upper left of FSLeyes (yellow box, figure below) and include an option to invert the colormap and otherwise refine the display. To get this particular shade of pink, we chose the pink color map, then *Invert colour map* (green box, figure below) and we set the *Display range Max* to 2. It also seems to work to use the default pink color map and set the max to about 4. #. We chose the `ch2.nii.gz `_ standard image, and set the x coordinates to -35 (orange box, figure below). .. image:: /pictures/fsl_fsleyes_lesion-overlay.png :alt: fsleyes interface elements for controlling multiple overlays: the lesion mask and the MIP projection of the lesion mask You can also create this display at the command line:: fsleyes render --outfile 1158_mip.png --size 800 600 --worldLoc -35.0 -17 18 --hideCursor --hideLabels --hidey --hidez ch2 1158/w1158lesion_fsl -cm Pink --overlayType mip -dr 0 4 1158/w1158lesion_fsl -cm Red Here is how to understand the above command: **render** =do not start fsleyes, instead create a screenshot. You can learn more by typing:: fsleyes render —help **--outfile 1158_mip.png** You are required to specify an output file with its extension [ i.e., png]. **--size 800 600** You are required to specify a size for the output file: 800x600 pixels is fine for this example. **--worldLoc -35.0 -17 18** In this case we care about the ``-35`` in the ``x`` direction, but you have to specify three coordinates. **--hideCursor --hideLabels --hidey --hidez** There are a bunch of things we do not want cluttering up our picture: the green cross, the orientation labels, and 2 canvases: the coronal view and the axial view. **ch2** Next, we specify our underlay image. FSL does not need the .ni.gz extension specified, just the path to the image. In our example, the image is in the directory we are running the command from. **1158/w1158lesion_fsl -cm Pink --overlayType mip -dr 0 4** ``1158/w1158lesion_fsl`` is the relative path to the next layer on top of the underlay. The mask will be displayed with a Pink colormap (cm); it will be a Maximum Intensity Projection (mip) overlay type; It will have a display range (dr) 0 to 4. **1158/w1158lesion_fsl -cm Red** is the top layer. It is another copy of the same mask, but with a red colormap and default display parameters. To learn more:: fsleyes —fullhelp .. _SPM2FSL: Convert Images from SPM MNI to FSL MNI ============================================ Not all MNI spaces are created equal. In 1 mm resolution, the SPM MNI image is 181x217x181 but the FSL MNI image is 182x218x182. This is not a lot, but is just enough to break some tools (like `Tractotron `_) that expect one format and not the other. Here I provide a script to convert from the SPM12 MNI format to the FSL format. This script ensures that the shape, size and datatype of the image remain exactly the same, and, in fact, the coordinates of any structures remain exactly the same. I have Mark Jenkinson from the FSL group to thank for getting all the right flirt flags. You can download `spm2fsl.sh `_ :: spm2fsl.sh lesion_mask_spm_1mm VLSM is Picky ================ `VLSM `_ is a Matlab toolbox for identifying patterns in overlapping masks. Not only do all masks need to have the same field of view, voxel size and orientation, but they all need to be the same data type (you cannot have some masks stored as floats and some stored as chars).