Estimation of Vertex-wise Sulcal Width Maps on Cortical Surfaces

Abstract

Sulcal width, defined as the physical distance between opposing sulcal banks, has shown promise as a biomarker. We present the first method to obtain a vertex-wise representation of this metric directly on the brain’s cortical surface. The algorithm samples the surface at different depths and estimates the distances between the opposing sulcal banks. The method is validated against a simulated sulcus and compared to other sulcal width tools based on regions of interest, showing solid correlations between the proposed algorithm and two widely-used reference methods. A vertex-wise assessment of the sulcal width is carried out by evaluating the correlation between sulcal width and age in a sample of an aging population, revealing clusters in the central, cingulate, and temporal sulcus regions associating wider sulci for older participants. The results confirm that the algorithm is reliable for obtaining sulcal width maps, allowing for vertex-wise analyses, and providing aggregated measures similar to the existing methods. The present algorithm is publicly available viahttps://github.com/HGGM-LIM/SWiM.