NIfTI-MRS discussion thread

Data Processing
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This is a discussion thread for the NIfTI-MRS format. This carries on the discussion from the slightly confusingly titled BIDs thread (BIDS for Spectroscopy)

Please see the GitHub repository: GitHub - wtclarke/mrs_nifti_standard: The NIfTI-MRS data standard: specification, code, and example data.
Please try out the conversion tool on your data: GitHub - wtclarke/spec2nii: Multi-format in vivo MR spectroscopy conversion to NIFTI . (You can get it from Conda or pypi).

Hopefully there will be a pre-print soon to send out and garner any suggestions and feedback from the community.

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The NIfTI-MRS standard is now ready for feedback from the wider community!

For those new to the idea, recently a group of researchers have been developing a proposal to store MRS and MRSI data in a NIfTI format. The aims of this effort are to:
• provide a simplified pathway from scanner to final analysis,
• enable interoperability and modularity of analysis programs,
• enable easier display and co-interpretation with other modalities, and
• establish a format for data sharing.
A summary of our proposal was presented at the most recent ISMRM meeting and can be watched online.

Since ISMRM we have carried on developing the proposal and have generated a format specification, example data, a repository for associated code, and a pre-print publication. The specification is accompanied by a conversion program, spec2nii. Visualisation of the data in the new format can be carried out in FSLeyes (plugin required) or in SPANT or Osprey software.

We are now seeking from the community feedback on:

  1. The technical implementation of the standard. Do we capture the information important for MRS data?
  2. Whether the standard is compatible with data you typically use. We have tried to be flexible in our implementation, but we are aware that our own expertise is limited to specific sub-fields.
  3. If your data works with the conversion software spec2nii.
  4. If you are a software developer whether you are interested in making your software compatible with the standard.
    If you have suggestions please do get in contact either via [email](mailto: william.clarke@ndcn.ox.ac.uk), this thread, or the repository issues page. We would ask that feedback is provided before the end of December.

On behalf of the NIfTI-MRS Standard authors,

Will nifti_mrs_specification.pdf (75.2 KB)

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