Some methods of analyzing one or more brain lesions of a patient comprise, for each of the lesion(s), calculating one or more lesion characteristics from a first 3-dimensional (3D) representation of the lesion obtained from data taken at a first time and a second 3D representation of the lesion obtained from data taken at a second time that is after the first time. The characteristic(s) can include a change, form the first time to the second time, in the lesion's volume and/or surface area, the lesion's displacement from the first time to the second time, and/or the lesion's theoretical radius ratio at each of the first and second times. Some methods comprise characterizing whether the patient has multiple sclerosis and/or the progression of multiple sclerosis in the patient based at least in part on the calculation of the lesion characteristic(s) of each of the lesion(s).