NAME

       mincblob - calculate blobs from minc deformation grids

SYNOPSIS

       mincblob [<options>] <in1>.mnc

DESCRIPTION

       mincblob  will  calculate  simple  statistical  metrics  of a minc deformation grid file related to local
       volume change. The input deformation grid files are typically produced by minctracc.

       There are currently 4 deformation grid metrics  to  choose  from:  trace,  determinant,  translation  and
       magnitude.  The  first two relate to different estimates of local volume change the third is a measure of
       how consistent movement is in a direction but without a local change in volume. The  last  calcuates  the
       magnitude  of  the  local  deformation vector. These metrics are all calculated with respect to a vectors
       immediate neighbours. No smoothing of the field is performed as part of this calculation so if  a  smooth
       results is desired input grid files should be first smoothed or blurred.

OPTIONS

       Note  that  options  can  be  specified in abbreviated form (as long as they are unique) and can be given
       anywhere on the command line.

General options

       -clobber
              Overwrite an existing file.

       -noclobber
              Don't overwrite an existing file (default).

       -verbose
              Print out extra information (more than the default).

              -trace Compute the areas within the deformation field that equate to volume increase  or  decrease
              (+ve  or  -ve  dilation)  Dilation is defined as the trace of the deformation field Thus it should
              range between -1..1 with -1 being compression and 1 being dilation. This  measure  while  fast  is
              essentially a sum of partial derivatives in all three directions.

       -determinant
              This  computes the same metric as -trace but with greater accuracy as the local Jacobian matrix is
              first estimated. The first order determinant of the Jacobian is then returned.

       -translation
              Compute the areas within the deformation field that equate to translation Translation  is  defined
              as: trans = arccos( A.B / |A|.|B| ) * e^- (|A|-|B|) Thus it should range between 0..1 with 1 being
              "translation".

       -magnitude
              Compute the magnitude of the local deformation vector.

Generic options for all commands:

       -help  Print summary of command-line options and exit.

       -version
              Print the program's version number and exit.

AUTHOR

       Andrew Janke

COPYRIGHTS

       Program: Copyright © 2000 by Andrew Janke

       Man page: Copyright © 2001 by Peter Neelin

                                          $Date: 2004-05-20 21:52:09 $                               MINCBLOB(1)