Table of Contents
Data organization is an important factor in understanding and using BrainVISA. In fact, BrainVISA was designed to simplify the use of the different neuroimaging tools developed by laboratories, and to combine data acquired by different methods (aMRI, fMRI, dMRI, EEG/MEG, PET, etc.). These different tools and methods are compatible, thanks to a data management system. In order to remain compatible with existing software, BrainVISA is mainly based on directories and file organization and naming to build a database.
BrainVISA data management system offers a lot of advantages because it defines a shared data organization. It enables to:
It is not really mandatory to use a database to process data with BrainVISA but it highly advisable. Indeed, some important features are not available when you are using data which are not in a database. For example, the BrainVISA ability to construct a default output file name when an input data is selected in a process relies on the database system. Moreover, some processes use the database system to find data. For example, the brain mask viewer tries to find the T1 MRI used to build the brain mask in order to superimpose both images in an Anatomist window.