.. _dwi2mask:

dwi2mask
===================

Synopsis
--------

Generates a whole brain mask from a DWI image

Usage
--------

::

    dwi2mask [ options ]  input output

-  *input*: the input DWI image containing volumes that are both diffusion weighted and b=0
-  *output*: the output whole-brain mask image

Description
-----------

All diffusion weighted and b=0 volumes are used to obtain a mask that includes both brain tissue and CSF.

In a second step peninsula-like extensions, where the peninsula itself is wider than the bridge connecting it to the mask, are removed. This may help removing artefacts and non-brain parts, e.g. eyes, from the mask.

Options
-------

-  **-clean_scale value** the maximum scale used to cut bridges. A certain maximum scale cuts bridges up to a width (in voxels) of 2x the provided scale. Setting this to 0 disables the mask cleaning step. (Default: 2)

DW gradient table import options
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

-  **-grad file** Provide the diffusion-weighted gradient scheme used in the acquisition in a text file. This should be supplied as a 4xN text file with each line is in the format [ X Y Z b ], where [ X Y Z ] describe the direction of the applied gradient, and b gives the b-value in units of s/mm^2. If a diffusion gradient scheme is present in the input image header, the data provided with this option will be instead used.

-  **-fslgrad bvecs bvals** Provide the diffusion-weighted gradient scheme used in the acquisition in FSL bvecs/bvals format files. If a diffusion gradient scheme is present in the input image header, the data provided with this option will be instead used.

-  **-bvalue_scaling mode** specifies whether the b-values should be scaled by the square of the corresponding DW gradient norm, as often required for multi-shell or DSI DW acquisition schemes. The default action can also be set in the MRtrix config file, under the BValueScaling entry. Valid choices are yes/no, true/false, 0/1 (default: true).

Standard options
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

-  **-info** display information messages.

-  **-quiet** do not display information messages or progress status. Alternatively, this can be achieved by setting the MRTRIX_QUIET environment variable to a non-empty string.

-  **-debug** display debugging messages.

-  **-force** force overwrite of output files. Caution: Using the same file as input and output might cause unexpected behaviour.

-  **-nthreads number** use this number of threads in multi-threaded applications (set to 0 to disable multi-threading).

-  **-help** display this information page and exit.

-  **-version** display version information and exit.

References
^^^^^^^^^^

Dhollander T, Raffelt D, Connelly A. Unsupervised 3-tissue response function estimation from single-shell or multi-shell diffusion MR data without a co-registered T1 image. ISMRM Workshop on Breaking the Barriers of Diffusion MRI, 2016, 5.

--------------



**Author:** David Raffelt (david.raffelt@florey.edu.au), Thijs Dhollander (thijs.dhollander@gmail.com) and Ben Jeurissen (ben.jeurissen@uantwerpen.be)

**Copyright:** Copyright (c) 2008-2018 the MRtrix3 contributors.

This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
file, you can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/

MRtrix3 is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty
of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

For more details, see http://www.mrtrix.org/


