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FreeSurfer MRI Intensity Normalization

Library: FreeSurfer | Docker Image: freesurfer/freesurfer

Function

Normalizes T1 image intensities so that white matter has a target intensity value (default 110).

Modality: T1-weighted 3D volume (MGZ format, within FreeSurfer pipeline).

Typical Use: Preparing T1 for segmentation within FreeSurfer pipeline.

Key Parameters

-n (number of iterations), -b (bias field smoothing sigma), -aseg (use aseg for normalization regions)

Key Points

Part of recon-all autorecon1. Creates nu.mgz (non-uniformity corrected) and T1.mgz (intensity normalized).

Inputs

Name Type Required Label Flag
subjects_dir Directory Yes FreeSurfer SUBJECTS_DIR
fs_license File Yes FreeSurfer license file
input File Yes Input volume
output string Yes Output normalized volume filename
gradient double No Max intensity/mm gradient (default 1) -g
niters int No Number of 3D normalization iterations -n
mask File No Input mask file -mask
noskull boolean No Do not normalize skull regions -noskull
aseg File No Input segmentation for guidance -aseg
noaseg boolean No Do not use aseg for normalization -noaseg
control_points File No Control points file -f
seed int No Random seed -seed
bias double No Bias field FWHM -b
sigma double No Sigma for bias field smoothing -sigma
brain_mask File No Brain mask volume -brainmask
mprage boolean No Assume darker gray matter (MPRAGE) -mprage
conform boolean No Conform to 256^3 and 1mm -conform
gentle boolean No Perform gentler normalization -gentle
disable_logging boolean No Disable logging -nolog

Accepted Input Extensions

  • input: .mgz, .mgh, .nii, .nii.gz
  • mask: .mgz, .mgh, .nii, .nii.gz
  • aseg: .mgz, .mgh, .nii, .nii.gz
  • control_points: .dat
  • brain_mask: .mgz, .mgh, .nii, .nii.gz

Outputs

Name Type Glob Pattern
normalized File $(inputs.output)*
log File mri_normalize.log

Output Extensions

  • normalized: .mgz, .mgh, .nii, .nii.gz

Docker Tags

Available versions: latest, 8.1.0, 8.0.0, 7.2.0, 7.3.0, 7.3.1, 7.3.2, 7.4.1, 7.1.1, 6.0

Categories

  • Structural MRI > FreeSurfer > Surface Reconstruction

Documentation

Official Documentation