ASL Methods Section Generator

The ASL Methods Section Generator is a comprehensive tool designed to assist researchers in creating standardized methods sections for Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) research papers. This open-source project streamlines the process of extracting, validating, and formatting ASL imaging parameters from DICOM and BIDS datasets.

Project Goals

• Standardization: Ensure consistent reporting of ASL parameters across research publications
• Validation: Automatically detect inconsistencies, invalid values, and potential issues in ASL datasets
• Efficiency: Reduce manual effort in writing methods sections while improving accuracy
• Harmonization: Contribute to the broader goal of harmonization in perfusion MRI studies

Overview

Key Features

Core Functionality

• Comprehensive Validation: Validates ASL parameters, M0 data, and TSV files against predefined schemas
• Report Generation: Generates detailed reports with errors, warnings, and parameter summaries
• DICOM to BIDS Conversion: Automatic conversion of DICOM files to BIDS format
• Multi-Vendor Support: Supports various ASL sequences
• Extensible Architecture: Easy to add new modalities and validators

User Interface

• Web-Based Interface: Modern, responsive web application built with Next.js
• File Upload: Folder selection for easy data upload
• Real-time Processing: Immediate feedback on validation results
• PDF Export: Generate downloadable PDF reports for inclusion in papers

API Integration

• RESTful API: FastAPI-based backend for programmatic access
• Docker Support: Containerized deployment for easy setup
• Cross-Platform: Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux

Supported Modalities

Currently, the tool supports:

• ASL (Arterial Spin Labeling): Full support with comprehensive validation
• DSC (Dynamic Susceptibility Contrast): (in development)

Planned modalities:

• DCE (Dynamic Contrast Enhanced)
• Other perfusion techniques

Validation Features

The tool performs comprehensive validation including:

• Parameter Consistency: Checks for variations across sessions
• Value Validation: Ensures parameters meet predefined criteria
• Format Compliance: Validates BIDS format requirements
• Missing Data Detection: Identifies required parameters
• Warning Generation: Highlights potential issues

Acknowledgements

This project has been developed by Ibrahim Abdelazim & Hanliang Xu under the mentorship and supervision of Jan Petr, David Thomas, and the OSIPI TF 4.1 ASL Lexicon as part of Google Summer of Code 2024/2025 projects.

Citing ASL Methods Section Generator

If you use the ASL Methods Section Generator in your research, please cite it as follows:

@misc{asl_methods_section_generator,
  title = {ASL Methods Section Generator},
  author = {Ibrahim Abdelazim, Hanliang Xu, Jan Petr, David Thomas},
  year = {2025},
  url = {https://asl-methods-section-generator.readthedocs.io/},
  note = {Accessed: 2025-01-01}
}

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.