[Insight-developers] Suggestion: Tensors and Tensor Image Filters

[Gunnar Farneback]

Torsten wrote:
> Also, can anyone think of a reason why the tensor dimension (i.e., the 
> tensor matrix size) should be a template parameter (as opposed to fixed 
> 3x3)? My current state of mind is that tensor image dimensions should 
> definitely be templated to allow processing of 2D slices, whereas the 
> tensors themselves really don't seem to make much sense in anything 
> other than 3D.

If your aim is strictly Diffusion Tensor MRI, I don't think anything
but 3x3 is meaningful. However, it's also possible to represent the
orientation and structure of local features in an intensity image with
tensors, usually called orientation tensors or structure tensors.
These are in general NxN for N-dimensional images and at least 2x2,
3x3, and 4x4 tensors are in common use. 

The properties of these tensors are very similar to diffusion tensors
and many of the same operations on the tensors are relevant, so it
would be useful with a more general tensor class.

I can provide further explanation and references on request.

/Gunnar