Osirix^TM as a feasible tool for in office manual hippocampal volumetry in the elderly: a technical note

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Manual tracing is an effective method to measure hippocampal volume. OsiriXTM is a Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) viewer with an intuitive user interface that has been widely used by radiologists and other specialists in their daily practice. OBJECTIVE: To describe OsiriXTM, a tool for in office manual measurement of hippocampal volume. METHODS: The open-source OsiriXTM viewer was used with three dimensions (3D) T1 weighted spoiled gradient recalled echo (SPGR) sequence images, with 1 mm slice thickness and 0.1mm gap (voxel size 1 mm3). Magnetic Resonance Imagings (MRI) were obtained on a 1.5 T system. The entire procedure lasted less than 15 minutes for each hippocampus. CONCLUSION: OsiriXTM viewer is a feasible tool for in office manual hippocampal measurement. There is no standard hippocampal volume for Alzheimer's disease, thus comparison could be regarded as the rate of hippocampal atrophy over time, correlated with clinical evaluation and cognitive tests.</p