Exploring the robustness of TractOracle methods in RL-based tractography

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Levesque, Jeremi, Théberge, Antoine, Descoteaux, Maxime, Jodoin, Pierre-Marc
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Levesque, Jeremi
Théberge, Antoine
Descoteaux, Maxime
Jodoin, Pierre-Marc
author_facet Levesque, Jeremi
Théberge, Antoine
Descoteaux, Maxime
Jodoin, Pierre-Marc
contents Tractography algorithms leverage diffusion MRI to reconstruct the fibrous architecture of the brain's white matter. Among machine learning approaches, reinforcement learning (RL) has emerged as a promising framework for tractography, outperforming traditional methods in several key aspects. TractOracle-RL, a recent RL-based approach, reduces false positives by incorporating anatomical priors into the training process via a reward-based mechanism. In this paper, we investigate four extensions of the original TractOracle-RL framework by integrating recent advances in RL, and we evaluate their performance across five diverse diffusion MRI datasets. Results demonstrate that combining an oracle with the RL framework consistently leads to robust and reliable tractography, regardless of the specific method or dataset used. We also introduce a novel RL training scheme called Iterative Reward Training (IRT), inspired by the Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) paradigm. Instead of relying on human input, IRT leverages bundle filtering methods to iteratively refine the oracle's guidance throughout training. Experimental results show that RL methods trained with oracle feedback significantly outperform widely used tractography techniques in terms of accuracy and anatomical validity.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_11486
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Exploring the robustness of TractOracle methods in RL-based tractography
Levesque, Jeremi
Théberge, Antoine
Descoteaux, Maxime
Jodoin, Pierre-Marc
Machine Learning
I.2.1
Tractography algorithms leverage diffusion MRI to reconstruct the fibrous architecture of the brain's white matter. Among machine learning approaches, reinforcement learning (RL) has emerged as a promising framework for tractography, outperforming traditional methods in several key aspects. TractOracle-RL, a recent RL-based approach, reduces false positives by incorporating anatomical priors into the training process via a reward-based mechanism. In this paper, we investigate four extensions of the original TractOracle-RL framework by integrating recent advances in RL, and we evaluate their performance across five diverse diffusion MRI datasets. Results demonstrate that combining an oracle with the RL framework consistently leads to robust and reliable tractography, regardless of the specific method or dataset used. We also introduce a novel RL training scheme called Iterative Reward Training (IRT), inspired by the Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) paradigm. Instead of relying on human input, IRT leverages bundle filtering methods to iteratively refine the oracle's guidance throughout training. Experimental results show that RL methods trained with oracle feedback significantly outperform widely used tractography techniques in terms of accuracy and anatomical validity.
title Exploring the robustness of TractOracle methods in RL-based tractography
topic Machine Learning
I.2.1
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.11486