diff --git a/Modules/ImageExtraction/mitkExtractImageFilter.cpp b/Modules/ImageExtraction/mitkExtractImageFilter.cpp
index 4300630..0941ec8 100644
--- a/Modules/ImageExtraction/mitkExtractImageFilter.cpp
+++ b/Modules/ImageExtraction/mitkExtractImageFilter.cpp
@@ -20,14 +20,15 @@ See LICENSE.txt or http://www.mitk.org for details.
 #include "mitkITKImageImport.h"
 #include "mitkImageTimeSelector.h"
 
-#include <mitkImageAccessByItk.h>
-
 #include <itkExtractImageFilter.h>
 
+#include <mitkImageAccessByItk.h>
+
 mitk::ExtractImageFilter::ExtractImageFilter()
 :m_SliceIndex(0),
  m_SliceDimension(0),
- m_TimeStep(0)
+ m_TimeStep(0),
+ m_DirectionCollapseToStrategy( DIRECTIONCOLLAPSETOGUESS )
 {
   MITK_WARN << "Class ExtractImageFilter is deprecated! Use ExtractSliceFilter instead.";
 }
@@ -109,14 +110,32 @@ void mitk::ExtractImageFilter::ItkImageProcessing( itk::Image<TPixel,VImageDimen
   typedef itk::Image< TPixel, VImageDimension >   ImageType3D;
   typedef itk::Image< TPixel, VImageDimension-1 > ImageType2D;
 
+  typedef itk::ExtractImageFilter<ImageType3D, ImageType2D> ExtractImageFilterType;
   typename ImageType3D::RegionType inSliceRegion = itkImage->GetLargestPossibleRegion();
 
   inSliceRegion.SetSize( m_SliceDimension, 0 );
 
-  typedef itk::ExtractImageFilter<ImageType3D, ImageType2D> ExtractImageFilterType;
-
   typename ExtractImageFilterType::Pointer sliceExtractor = ExtractImageFilterType::New();
-  sliceExtractor->SetDirectionCollapseToSubmatrix();
+
+  typename ExtractImageFilterType::DIRECTIONCOLLAPSESTRATEGY collapseStrategy;
+  switch( m_DirectionCollapseToStrategy )
+  {
+    case DIRECTIONCOLLAPSETOUNKOWN:
+      collapseStrategy = ExtractImageFilterType::DIRECTIONCOLLAPSETOUNKOWN;
+      break;
+    case DIRECTIONCOLLAPSETOIDENTITY:
+      collapseStrategy = ExtractImageFilterType::DIRECTIONCOLLAPSETOIDENTITY;
+      break;
+    case DIRECTIONCOLLAPSETOSUBMATRIX:
+      collapseStrategy = ExtractImageFilterType::DIRECTIONCOLLAPSETOSUBMATRIX;
+      break;
+    case DIRECTIONCOLLAPSETOGUESS:
+    default:
+      collapseStrategy = ExtractImageFilterType::DIRECTIONCOLLAPSETOGUESS;
+      break;
+  }
+
+  sliceExtractor->SetDirectionCollapseToStrategy( collapseStrategy );
   sliceExtractor->SetInput( itkImage );
 
   inSliceRegion.SetIndex( m_SliceDimension, m_SliceIndex );
diff --git a/Modules/ImageExtraction/mitkExtractImageFilter.h b/Modules/ImageExtraction/mitkExtractImageFilter.h
index 125c719..8a07ac7 100644
--- a/Modules/ImageExtraction/mitkExtractImageFilter.h
+++ b/Modules/ImageExtraction/mitkExtractImageFilter.h
@@ -76,6 +76,19 @@ class ImageExtraction_EXPORT ExtractImageFilter : public ImageToImageFilter
     itkSetMacro(TimeStep, unsigned int);
     itkGetConstMacro(TimeStep, unsigned int);
 
+    typedef enum DirectionCollapseStrategyEnum {
+        DIRECTIONCOLLAPSETOUNKOWN=0,
+        DIRECTIONCOLLAPSETOIDENTITY=1,
+        DIRECTIONCOLLAPSETOSUBMATRIX=2,
+        DIRECTIONCOLLAPSETOGUESS=3
+    } DIRECTIONCOLLAPSESTRATEGY;
+
+    /**
+      \brief Collapse strategy to be used.
+     */
+    itkSetMacro(DirectionCollapseToStrategy, DIRECTIONCOLLAPSESTRATEGY);
+    itkGetConstMacro(DirectionCollapseToStrategy, DIRECTIONCOLLAPSESTRATEGY);
+
   protected:
 
     ExtractImageFilter(); // purposely hidden
@@ -92,6 +105,7 @@ class ImageExtraction_EXPORT ExtractImageFilter : public ImageToImageFilter
     unsigned int m_SliceIndex;
     unsigned int m_SliceDimension;
     unsigned int m_TimeStep;
+    DIRECTIONCOLLAPSESTRATEGY m_DirectionCollapseToStrategy;
 };
 
 } // namespace