1
|
Wallace G, Polcyn S, Brooks PP, Mennen AC, Zhao K, Scotti PS, Michelmann S, Li K, Turk-Browne NB, Cohen JD, Norman KA. RT-Cloud: A cloud-based software framework to simplify and standardize real-time fMRI. Neuroimage 2022; 257:119295. [PMID: 35580808 PMCID: PMC9494277 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2022] [Accepted: 05/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Real-time fMRI (RT-fMRI) neurofeedback has been shown to be effective in treating neuropsychiatric disorders and holds tremendous promise for future breakthroughs, both with regard to basic science and clinical applications. However, the prevalence of its use has been hampered by computing hardware requirements, the complexity of setting up and running an experiment, and a lack of standards that would foster collaboration. To address these issues, we have developed RT-Cloud (https://github.com/brainiak/rt-cloud), a flexible, cloud-based, open-source Python software package for the execution of RT-fMRI experiments. RT-Cloud uses standardized data formats and adaptable processing streams to support and expand open science in RT-fMRI research and applications. Cloud computing is a key enabling technology for advancing RT-fMRI because it eliminates the need for on-premise technical expertise and high-performance computing; this allows installation, configuration, and maintenance to be automated and done remotely. Furthermore, the scalability of cloud computing makes it easier to deploy computationally-demanding multivariate analyses in real time. In this paper, we describe how RT-Cloud has been integrated with open standards, including the Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS) standard and the OpenNeuro database, how it has been applied thus far, and our plans for further development and deployment of RT-Cloud in the coming years.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Grant Wallace
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States
| | - Stephen Polcyn
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States
| | - Paula P Brooks
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States
| | - Anne C Mennen
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States
| | - Ke Zhao
- Cognitive Science Program, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Paul S Scotti
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States
| | - Sebastian Michelmann
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States
| | - Kai Li
- Department of Computer Science, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States
| | | | - Jonathan D Cohen
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States; Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States
| | - Kenneth A Norman
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States; Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Misaki M, Bodurka J, Paulus MP. A Library for fMRI Real-Time Processing Systems in Python (RTPSpy) With Comprehensive Online Noise Reduction, Fast and Accurate Anatomical Image Processing, and Online Processing Simulation. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:834827. [PMID: 35360171 PMCID: PMC8963181 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.834827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2021] [Accepted: 02/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Real-time fMRI (rtfMRI) has enormous potential for both mechanistic brain imaging studies or treatment-oriented neuromodulation. However, the adaption of rtfMRI has been limited due to technical difficulties in implementing an efficient computational framework. Here, we introduce a python library for real-time fMRI (rtfMRI) data processing systems, Real-Time Processing System in python (RTPSpy), to provide building blocks for a custom rtfMRI application with extensive and advanced functionalities. RTPSpy is a library package including (1) a fast, comprehensive, and flexible online fMRI image processing modules comparable to offline denoising, (2) utilities for fast and accurate anatomical image processing to define an anatomical target region, (3) a simulation system of online fMRI processing to optimize a pipeline and target signal calculation, (4) simple interface to an external application for feedback presentation, and (5) a boilerplate graphical user interface (GUI) integrating operations with RTPSpy library. The fast and accurate anatomical image processing utility wraps external tools, including FastSurfer, ANTs, and AFNI, to make tissue segmentation and region of interest masks. We confirmed that the quality of the output masks was comparable with FreeSurfer, and the anatomical image processing could complete in a few minutes. The modular nature of RTPSpy provides the ability to use it for a simulation analysis to optimize a processing pipeline and target signal calculation. We present a sample script for building a real-time processing pipeline and running a simulation using RTPSpy. The library also offers a simple signal exchange mechanism with an external application using a TCP/IP socket. While the main components of the RTPSpy are the library modules, we also provide a GUI class for easy access to the RTPSpy functions. The boilerplate GUI application provided with the package allows users to develop a customized rtfMRI application with minimum scripting labor. The limitations of the package as it relates to environment-specific implementations are discussed. These library components can be customized and can be used in parts. Taken together, RTPSpy is an efficient and adaptable option for developing rtfMRI applications. Code available at:https://github.com/mamisaki/RTPSpy
Collapse
|
3
|
Kumar M, Anderson MJ, Antony JW, Baldassano C, Brooks PP, Cai MB, Chen PHC, Ellis CT, Henselman-Petrusek G, Huberdeau D, Hutchinson JB, Li YP, Lu Q, Manning JR, Mennen AC, Nastase SA, Richard H, Schapiro AC, Schuck NW, Shvartsman M, Sundaram N, Suo D, Turek JS, Turner D, Vo VA, Wallace G, Wang Y, Williams JA, Zhang H, Zhu X, Capota˘ M, Cohen JD, Hasson U, Li K, Ramadge PJ, Turk-Browne NB, Willke TL, Norman KA. BrainIAK: The Brain Imaging Analysis Kit. APERTURE NEURO 2022; 1. [PMID: 35939268 PMCID: PMC9351935 DOI: 10.52294/31bb5b68-2184-411b-8c00-a1dacb61e1da] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) offers a rich source of data for studying the neural basis of cognition. Here, we describe the Brain Imaging Analysis Kit (BrainIAK), an open-source, free Python package that provides computationally optimized solutions to key problems in advanced fMRI analysis. A variety of techniques are presently included in BrainIAK: intersubject correlation (ISC) and intersubject functional connectivity (ISFC), functional alignment via the shared response model (SRM), full correlation matrix analysis (FCMA), a Bayesian version of representational similarity analysis (BRSA), event segmentation using hidden Markov models, topographic factor analysis (TFA), inverted encoding models (IEMs), an fMRI data simulator that uses noise characteristics from real data (fmrisim), and some emerging methods. These techniques have been optimized to leverage the efficiencies of high-performance compute (HPC) clusters, and the same code can be seamlessly transferred from a laptop to a cluster. For each of the aforementioned techniques, we describe the data analysis problem that the technique is meant to solve and how it solves that problem; we also include an example Jupyter notebook for each technique and an annotated bibliography of papers that have used and/or described that technique. In addition to the sections describing various analysis techniques in BrainIAK, we have included sections describing the future applications of BrainIAK to real-time fMRI, tutorials that we have developed and shared online to facilitate learning the techniques in BrainIAK, computational innovations in BrainIAK, and how to contribute to BrainIAK. We hope that this manuscript helps readers to understand how BrainIAK might be useful in their research.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Manoj Kumar
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
| | - Michael J. Anderson
- Work done while at Parallel Computing Lab, Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA
| | - James W. Antony
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
| | | | - Paula P. Brooks
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
| | - Ming Bo Cai
- International Research Center for Neurointelligence (WPI-IRCN), UTIAS, The University of Tokyo, Japan
| | - Po-Hsuan Cameron Chen
- Work done while at Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
| | | | | | | | | | - Y. Peeta Li
- Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
| | - Qihong Lu
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
| | - Jeremy R. Manning
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
| | - Anne C. Mennen
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
| | - Samuel A. Nastase
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
| | - Hugo Richard
- Parietal Team, Inria, Neurospin, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, France
| | - Anna C. Schapiro
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Nicolas W. Schuck
- Max Planck Research Group NeuroCode, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany; Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Michael Shvartsman
- Work done while at Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
| | - Narayanan Sundaram
- Work done while at Parallel Computing Lab, Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA
| | - Daniel Suo
- epartment of Computer Science, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
| | - Javier S. Turek
- Brain-Inspired Computing Lab, Intel Corporation, Hillsboro, OR
| | - David Turner
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
| | - Vy A. Vo
- Brain-Inspired Computing Lab, Intel Corporation, Hillsboro, OR
| | - Grant Wallace
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
| | - Yida Wang
- Work done while at Parallel Computing Lab, Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA
| | - Jamal A. Williams
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ; Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
| | - Hejia Zhang
- Work done while at Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
| | - Xia Zhu
- Brain-Inspired Computing Lab, Intel Corporation, Hillsboro, OR
| | - Mihai Capota˘
- Brain-Inspired Computing Lab, Intel Corporation, Hillsboro, OR
| | - Jonathan D. Cohen
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ; Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
| | - Uri Hasson
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ; Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
| | - Kai Li
- Department of Computer Science, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
| | - Peter J. Ramadge
- Department of Electrical Engineering, and the Center for Statistics and Machine Learning, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
| | | | | | - Kenneth A. Norman
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ; Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Misaki M, Bodurka J. The impact of real-time fMRI denoising on online evaluation of brain activity and functional connectivity. J Neural Eng 2021; 18. [PMID: 34126595 DOI: 10.1088/1741-2552/ac0b33] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2020] [Accepted: 06/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Objective. Comprehensive denoising is imperative in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analysis to reliably evaluate neural activity from the blood oxygenation level dependent signal. In real-time fMRI, however, only a minimal denoising process has been applied and the impact of insufficient denoising on online brain activity estimation has not been assessed comprehensively. This study evaluated the noise reduction performance of online fMRI processes in a real-time estimation of regional brain activity and functional connectivity.Approach.We performed a series of real-time processing simulations of online fMRI processing, including slice-timing correction, motion correction, spatial smoothing, signal scaling, and noise regression with high-pass filtering, motion parameters, motion derivatives, global signal, white matter/ventricle average signals, and physiological noise models with image-based retrospective correction of physiological motion effects (RETROICOR) and respiration volume per time (RVT).Main results.All the processing was completed in less than 400 ms for whole-brain voxels. Most processing had a benefit for noise reduction except for RVT that did not work due to the limitation of the online peak detection. The global signal regression, white matter/ventricle signal regression, and RETROICOR had a distinctive noise reduction effect, depending on the target signal, and could not substitute for each other. Global signal regression could eliminate the noise-associated bias in the mean dynamic functional connectivity across time.Significance.The results indicate that extensive real-time denoising is possible and highly recommended for real-time fMRI applications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Masaya Misaki
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136, United States of America
| | - Jerzy Bodurka
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, 6655 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136, United States of America.,Stephenson School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oklahoma, 173 Felgar St., Norman, OK 73019, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
MacInnes JJ, Adcock RA, Stocco A, Prat CS, Rao RPN, Dickerson KC. Pyneal: Open Source Real-Time fMRI Software. Front Neurosci 2020; 14:900. [PMID: 33041750 PMCID: PMC7522368 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2020] [Accepted: 08/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Increasingly, neuroimaging researchers are exploring the use of real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (rt-fMRI) as a way to access a participant's ongoing brain function throughout a scan. This approach presents novel and exciting experimental applications ranging from monitoring data quality in real time, to delivering neurofeedback from a region of interest, to dynamically controlling experimental flow, or interfacing with remote devices. Yet, for those interested in adopting this method, the existing software options are few and limited in application. This presents a barrier for new users, as well as hinders existing users from refining techniques and methods. Here we introduce a free, open-source rt-fMRI package, the Pyneal toolkit, designed to address this limitation. The Pyneal toolkit is python-based software that offers a flexible and user friendly framework for rt-fMRI, is compatible with all three major scanner manufacturers (GE, Siemens, Phillips), and, critically, allows fully customized analysis pipelines. In this article, we provide a detailed overview of the architecture, describe how to set up and run the Pyneal toolkit during an experimental session, offer tutorials with scan data that demonstrate how data flows through the Pyneal toolkit with example analyses, and highlight the advantages that the Pyneal toolkit offers to the neuroimaging community.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jeff J MacInnes
- Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - R Alison Adcock
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Andrea Stocco
- Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States.,Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Chantel S Prat
- Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States.,Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Rajesh P N Rao
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Center for Neurotechnology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Kathryn C Dickerson
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
| |
Collapse
|