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NIfTI conversion plugin

Conversion between BrainVoyager and NIfTI file formats

NIfTI is a file format to save volumetric (f)MRI data and is the successor of Analyze 7.5. NIfTI-BIDS is the successor of NIfTI and supported in BrainVoyager.
 
Just for the few cases where BrainVoyager conversion functions cannot be used, the plugin to import from NIfTI to BrainVoyager formats and from BrainVoyager formats to NIfTI is still available from this support site.
Please note that positioning information of non-native conversions might not be accurate. Import/export of data with native (scanner) positions should be fine. This tool should in no circumstances be used for any medical purposes.
 
 
Versions
 
NIfTI converter 1.09: macOS Intel, Windows 64-bit for BV 21, Linux Ubuntu, manual
 

Conversion options between BrainVoyager and NIfTI

 

Import to 3D statistical map (VMP)

In BrainVoyager 23, a statistical volume map can be loaded on the anatomical image in the 3D Volume Map dialog via the "Load..." button (see Figures below).

 

 

 
 
For specific cases, for example import of statistical volume maps to VMP in non-sagittal orientation, there is for example also a Python script to convert from NIfTI to VMP: please see https://helpdesk.brainvoyager.com/626518-Python-script-to-convert-NIfTI-to-VMP.
 

Workaround for import of unsigned 32-bit integer masks from CONN Toolbox

Problem:

NIfTI format masks with cluster labels (e.g., {0, 1, 2, 3, etc.}) generated from a seed-to-voxel analysis and exported using the "export mask" feature of the CONN MATLAB toolbox.
When opening the NIfTI file in BrainVoyager, an error message was displayed: "data type 768 is currently not supported," which suggested to me that the issue was related to the "variable/data type" that CONN was using to store the data for each voxel.
Although the range of label values was just {0, 1, 2} in this case, CONN was using a datatype with ID 768 (unsigned int 32 bits https://nifti.nimh.nih.gov/nifti-1/documentation/nifti1fields/nifti1fields_pages/datatype.html), as confirmed in the NIfTI file header metadata using software like ITKsnap.

Solution that was tested and worked:

Open the NIfTI file using ITKsnap and save it without making any changes. This approach can probably be applied using other NIfTI reading software as well.
ITKsnap seems to adjust the "variable/data type" with which it saves the NIfTI file based on the range of variable values (in this case {0, 1, 2}) and thus saved it using a data type with ID 4 (DT_INT16), which appears to be compatible with BrainVoyager. Make sure to verify that the newly saved image matches the original one and that no data was lost in the process.

Kindly contributed by Ricardo Martins

 
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