Objective To establish a stereotactic localization system based on standard cranial MRI, and validate its anatomical accuracy in three-dimensional spatial localization of the parieto-occipital sulcus.

Methods The continuous cranial MRI tomographic images (DICOM 3.0 format) from 30 healthy adults were collected. After converting the images to JPG format using the eFilm 2.1 workstation, the standardized image processing was performed using Photoshop software.Through the image size calibration, orientation rotation and coordinate axis translation techniques, a three-dimensional coordinate system was constructed with the midpoint of the confluence interval diameter (AC-PC) line as the origin and confluence interval diameter line as the Y-axis. The X and Y coordinates of the parieto-occipital sulcus on cross-sectional images were directly measured using software, while the Z coordinate was calculated through the distance between scanning planes and bicommissural plane, as well as slice thickness parameters. The reliability of coordinate system was verified by measuring the coordinates of the anterior and posterior commissures and comparing intercommissural distances.

Results All samples achieved precise three-dimensional coordinate positioning of the parieoccipital groove, and their spatial positioning maps were successfully established. The results of three-dimensional coordinate system constructed based on AC-PC showed that the length of AC-PC was (23.65 ± 1.68) mm, and there was no statistical significance compared with the measurement result of the eFilm medical image processing system (23.81 ± 1.72) mm (P ＞ 0.05), confirming the accurate construction of the coordinate system.

Conclusions The MRI stereotactic localization method established in this study has reliable anatomical localization accuracy and provides an effective spatial localization technical solution for the neuroimaging research of the parieo-occipital sulcus.