---
title: Introduction
description: Welcome to ASL Methods Section Generator
---

# 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 

<Image zoom theme="dark" src="/assets/apps-dr.png" alt="Applications" />
<Image zoom theme="light" src="/assets/apps-lt.png" alt="Applications" />

## 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](https://www.ibrahim-abdelazim.de/) & [Hanliang Xu](https://hanliang-xu.github.io/#/) 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:

```bibtex
@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](../package/LICENSE) file for details.

---

<Info>
**Ready to get started?** Check out our [Quick Start Guide](./user-guide/quick-start) or explore the [API Documentation](./development/api-reference) for developers.
</Info>