Fetal Diffusion Tensor MRI Atlas for Gestational Weeks 23-38

A spatiotemporal diffusion tensor MRI atlas computed from in-utero DWI data of normative fetuses. It provides fractional anisotropy (FA), color FA (CFA), mean diffusivity (MD) maps, and tissue and regional segmentations for gestational ages 23 to 38 weeks. The atlas was created by researchers at Harvard and is published under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Use Cases

• Analyze fetal brain development by studying changes in fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) maps across gestational weeks 23 to 38.
• Train segmentation models for fetal brain tissue using the provided tissue and regional segmentation labels.
• Conduct tract-specific group analysis in fetal cohorts by utilizing the reconstructed tensor images and derived scalar maps like color FA (CFA).
• Compare brain growth patterns by overlaying the atlas data in the same space as the CRL2017 T2 Fetal Atlas, noting differences in processing pipelines.

Strengths

• Covers a specific gestational age range from 23 to 38 weeks.
• Includes multiple derived data types: FA, CFA, MD maps, tissue segmentations, and regional segmentations.
• Weeks 23-35 have been carefully edited for accuracy, as noted in the description.
• The atlas is spatially aligned to overlay with the CRL2017 T2 Fetal Atlas for comparative analysis.

Limitations

• Weeks 36-38 were created using multi-atlas segmentation and may contain errors, as stated in the description.
• The atlas is derived from in-utero DWI data of normative fetuses, which may limit applicability to atypical cases.
• Differences in processing pipelines and spatial distortions between modalities may affect the relative sizes of atlas brains.

Provenance

Source

Harvard Dataverse, authored by Shadab Khan.

Collection Method

Computed from in-utero diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) data of multiple normative fetal subjects at each gestational age.

Time Range

Gestational ages 23 to 38 weeks.

Freshness

Last updated on February 13, 2026, with a recent version created on February 12, 2026.

Geography

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