Convex hull, developed at the Research Imaging Center (RIC),
uses algorithms to "warp" images of human brains and make them
ready for scientific comparison. The task is much like fitting a
grapefruit inside an orange. No two brains have the exact same
size, shape and structure. Identifying the functions of
different parts of the brain requires accurate cross-comparison
between images taken from hundreds of people. The outgrowth of
work in the '80s by the center's director, Peter T. Fox, MD,
convex hull has been honed into computer algorithms by medical
physicist J. Hunter Downs III, PhD, an RIC instructor. The brain
research community is debating the convex hull method as a
possible standard in building an atlas of the brain's functions.
Accepting a standard would speed the brain mapping project by
letting researchers worldwide compare and share like data. "I'm
a toolmaker," said Dr. Downs, who studied computer science as an
undergraduate at The University of Texas at San Antonio and
completed his doctorate i