Steps toward a Simulator for Magnetic Resonance Images of the Neonatal Brain

Purpose: With the increased interest in computer-aided analysis of magnetic resonance images (MRI) from neonates, objective methods for evaluation of image processing algorithms become indispensable. Due to anatomical differences between neonates and adults, it is not reasonable to use an existing adults' brain simulator (i.e. Brainweb) for this purpose. In this paper, we present our approach to implement a MRI simulator especially for images of neonatal brain tissues. Materials and Methods: Basically, the simulator combines the anatomical complexity provided by a neonatal digital brain phantom with the simulati…