Skip to content

AFNI 3D Skull Strip

Library: AFNI | Docker Image: brainlife/afni

Function

Removes non-brain tissue using a modified spherical surface expansion algorithm adapted from BET.

Modality: T1-weighted or T2-weighted 3D NIfTI/AFNI volume.

Typical Use: Brain extraction for structural or functional images in AFNI pipelines.

Key Parameters

-input (input dataset), -prefix (output prefix), -push_to_edge (expand mask), -orig_vol (output original volume)

Key Points

Often more aggressive than BET. Use -push_to_edge if too much brain is removed. Works on T1 or T2 images.

Inputs

Name Type Required Label Flag
input File Yes Input volume -input
prefix string Yes Output volume prefix -prefix
mask_vol boolean No Output mask volume instead of skull-stripped volume -mask_vol
orig_vol boolean No Preserve original intensity values -orig_vol
skulls boolean No Output skull surface models -skulls
niter int No Iteration count (default 250) -niter
shrink_fac double No Brain/non-brain intensity threshold (0-1, default 0.6) -shrink_fac
var_shrink_fac boolean No Vary shrink factor across iterations (default) -var_shrink_fac
no_var_shrink_fac boolean No Keep constant shrink factor -no_var_shrink_fac
shrink_fac_bot_lim double No Minimum shrink factor (default 0.65-0.4) -shrink_fac_bot_lim
init_radius double No Initial sphere radius in mm -init_radius
exp_frac double No Expansion speed (default 0.1) -exp_frac
push_to_edge boolean No Aggressive push to brain edges -push_to_edge
no_push_to_edge boolean No Disable aggressive edge push (default) -no_push_to_edge
touchup boolean No Include uncovered areas (default) -touchup
no_touchup boolean No Skip touchup operations -no_touchup
fill_hole double No Fill holes up to R pixels -fill_hole
smooth_final int No Final smoothing iterations (default 20) -smooth_final
avoid_vent boolean No Avoid ventricles (default) -avoid_vent
no_avoid_vent boolean No Disable ventricle avoidance -no_avoid_vent
avoid_eyes boolean No Avoid eyes (default) -avoid_eyes
no_avoid_eyes boolean No Disable eye avoidance -no_avoid_eyes
use_edge boolean No Edge detection to reduce leakage (default) -use_edge
no_use_edge boolean No Disable edge detection -no_use_edge
blur_fwhm double No Blur kernel width (recommended 2-4) -blur_fwhm
monkey boolean No Process monkey brain data -monkey
marmoset boolean No Process marmoset brain data -marmoset
rat boolean No Process rat brain data -rat

Accepted Input Extensions

  • input: .nii, .nii.gz, +orig.HEAD, +orig.BRIK, +tlrc.HEAD, +tlrc.BRIK

Outputs

Name Type Glob Pattern
skull_stripped File $(inputs.prefix)+orig.HEAD, $(inputs.prefix)+tlrc.HEAD
mask File $(inputs.prefix)_mask+orig.HEAD, $(inputs.prefix)_mask+tlrc.HEAD
log File $(inputs.prefix).log

Output Extensions

  • skull_stripped: +orig.HEAD, +orig.BRIK, +tlrc.HEAD, +tlrc.BRIK
  • mask: +orig.HEAD, +orig.BRIK, +tlrc.HEAD, +tlrc.BRIK

Parameter Bounds

Parameter Min Max
shrink_fac 0 1

Docker Tags

Available versions: latest, 16.3.0

Categories

  • Structural MRI > AFNI > Brain Extraction

Documentation

Official Documentation