A computer-implemented method, an apparatus, and a system for estimating synthetic values of quantitative metrics are provided. They involve calculating new, more accurate boundaries using a classifier based on local intensity and spatial estimators, for the segmentation mask provided by a non-local means patch-based segmentation in a test image, and estimating for the pixels of interest at least one synthetic value of a quantitative metric using a given value of the quantitative metric assigned to the reference images and the boundaries. The method, apparatus, and system provide the advantage of generating synthetic values directly comparable against known values for given subjects or against predetermined scales for diagnostic or prognostic purposes. In the specific case of Alzheimer's disease, the invention stretches the predictive range up to two full decades, which constitutes a significant advance in the field of medical diagnostics.
