This study investigates the applicability of a multimodular neuro-fuzzy system in the multispectral analysis of magnetic resonance (MR) images of the human brain. The system consists of two components: an unsupervised neural module for image segmentation in tissue regions and a supervised module for tissue labeling. The former is the fuzzy Kohonen clustering network (FKCN). The latter is a feed-forward network based on the back-propagation learning rule. The results obtained with the FKCN have been compared with those extracted by a self organizing map (SOM). The system has been used to analyze the multispectral MR brain images of a healthy volunteer. The data set included the proton density (PD), T2, T1 weighted spin-echo (SE) bands and a new T1- weighted three dimensional sequence, i.e. the magnetization- prepared rapid gradient echo (MP-RAGE). One of the main objectives of this study has been to evaluate the usefulness of brain imaging with the MP-RAGE sequence in view of automatic tissue classification. To this purpose, a quantitative evaluation has been provided on the base of some labeled areas selected interactively by a neuro- radiologist from the input raw images. Quantitative results seem to indicate that the MP-RAGE sequence may provide higher tissue separability than the T1-weighted SE sequence.
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