Diffusion MRI GAN synthesizing fibre orientation distribution data using generative adversarial networks

Machine learning may enhance clinical data analysis but requires large amounts of training data, which are scarce for rare pathologies. While generative neural network models can create realistic synthetic data such as 3D MRI volumes and, thus, augment training datasets, the generation of complex data remains challenging. Fibre orientation distributions (FODs) represent one such complex data type, modelling diffusion as spherical harmonics with stored weights as multiple three-dimensional volumes. We successfully trained an alpha-WGAN combining a generative adversarial network and a variational autoencoder to generate synthetic FODs, using the Human Connectome Project (HCP) data. Our resulting synthetic FODs produce anatomically accurate fibre bundles and connectomes, with properties matching those from our validation dataset. Our approach extends beyond FODs and could be adapted for generating various types of complex medical imaging data, particularly valuable for augmenting limited clinical datasets.