Automated Detection of Multiple Sclerosis Lesions in Normal Appearing White Matter from Brain MRI: A Survey

Abstract

Multiple Sclerosis is an inoperable disease of the Central Nervous System (CNS) that irritates the myelin sheath by forming lesions. This affects all organs of the CNS; the vital of them is the brain. This disease can be detected by diagnosis like Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). It is a non-invasive diagnostic test that provides detailed images of the soft tissues of the body. Out of the different variations of MRI, MS lesions are predominantly visible in the DTI (Diffusion Tensor Imaging) variant of MRI. DTI gives enhanced visualization of normal-appearing white matter tracts of the organs, hence providing a better image of the MS lesion. In this paper, the latest methodologies regarding the identification of the MS lesions in MRI scans like T2 FLAIR or DTI, using automated techniques like deep learning, computer vision, neural network and many more are surveyed. Furthermore, this paper consists of a proposed model which would focus on correlating the lesions found in DTI scan with the basic MRI scan like T2. It would identify the MS lesion in DTI scan and eventually highlight that lesion position in the T2 image scan. This would help radiologist in a way to effectively handle multiple MRI scans.