MIDA: A Multimodal Imaging-Based Detailed Anatomical Model of the Human Head and Neck

TLDR

Computational modeling is increasingly used to complement experimental testing, and numerous voxel‑ and surface‑based whole‑ and partial‑body models exist with 1–2 mm resolution and 10–50 tissue types. MIDA was built by integrating structural T1/T2, high‑contrast T2 ear/eye, MRA, and DTI MRI modalities, applying an atlas‑based segmentation to map thalamic and midbrain nuclei, and validating the model’s suitability for diverse numerical methods and DTI‑based conductivity in a transcranial alternating current stimulation case study. The resulting MIDA model resolves 153 distinct structures—including muscles, bones, vessels, nerves, and salivary glands—provides detailed eye, ear, and deep brain characterization, and offers freely available voxel‑ and surface‑based versions that have been shown to support accurate simulations across multiple discretization approaches.

Abstract

Computational modeling and simulations are increasingly being used to complement experimental testing for analysis of safety and efficacy of medical devices. Multiple voxel- and surface-based whole- and partial-body models have been proposed in the literature, typically with spatial resolution in the range of 1-2 mm and with 10-50 different tissue types resolved. We have developed a multimodal imaging-based detailed anatomical model of the human head and neck, named "MIDA". The model was obtained by integrating three different magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) modalities, the parameters of which were tailored to enhance the signals of specific tissues: i) structural T1- and T2-weighted MRIs; a specific heavily T2-weighted MRI slab with high nerve contrast optimized to enhance the structures of the ear and eye; ii) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) data to image the vasculature, and iii) diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to obtain information on anisotropy and fiber orientation. The unique multimodal high-resolution approach allowed resolving 153 structures, including several distinct muscles, bones and skull layers, arteries and veins, nerves, as well as salivary glands. The model offers also a detailed characterization of eyes, ears, and deep brain structures. A special automatic atlas-based segmentation procedure was adopted to include a detailed map of the nuclei of the thalamus and midbrain into the head model. The suitability of the model to simulations involving different numerical methods, discretization approaches, as well as DTI-based tensorial electrical conductivity, was examined in a case-study, in which the electric field was generated by transcranial alternating current stimulation. The voxel- and the surface-based versions of the models are freely available to the scientific community.