Generalized regional disorder-sensitive-weighting scheme for 3D neuroimaging retrieval.

3D functional neuroimaging is used in the diagnosis and management of neurological disorders. The efficient management and analysis of these large imaging datasets has prompted research in the field of content-based image retrieval. In this context, our generalized regional disorder-sensitive-weighting (DSW) scheme gives greater weight to brain regions affected by the diseases than regions that are relatively spared. We used two DSW matrices; one matrix is based on the occurrence maps that highlight abnormal functional regions; the other is based on the regional Fisher discriminant ratio. Our results suggest that our DSW matrices enhance neuroimaging data retrieval and provide a flexible weighting solution for the clinical analysis of different types of neurological disorders.