diff --git a/HD_BET/hd-bet b/HD_BET/hd-bet
index e0bf563..11faaab 100755
--- a/HD_BET/hd-bet
+++ b/HD_BET/hd-bet
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 
 import os
+import multiprocessing
 from HD_BET.run import run_hd_bet
 from HD_BET.utils import maybe_mkdir_p, subfiles
 import HD_BET
 
 
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     print("\n########################")
     print("If you are using hd-bet, please cite the following paper:")
@@ -33,6 +35,10 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
                                                                '\'cpu\' to run on CPU. When using CPU you should '
                                                                'consider disabling tta. Default for -device is: 0',
                         required=False)
+    parser.add_argument('-threads', default=0, type=int, help='used to set the number of cpu threads. '
+                                                               'Must be either int or str. Use 0 for max available cpus.'
+                                                               'Default for -threads is: 0',
+                        required=False)
     parser.add_argument('-tta', default=1, required=False, type=int, help='whether to use test time data augmentation '
                                                                           '(mirroring). 1= True, 0=False. Disable this '
                                                                           'if you are using CPU to speed things up! '
@@ -58,6 +64,7 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
 
     mode = args.mode
     device = args.device
+    threads = args.threads
     tta = args.tta
     pp = args.pp
     save_mask = args.save_mask
@@ -90,6 +97,13 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
         output_files = [output_file_or_dir]
         input_files = [input_file_or_dir]
 
+    max_cpu_count = multiprocessing.cpu_count()
+    if threads == 0:
+        threads = max_cpu_count
+    elif threads not in range(1, max_cpu_count + 1):
+        raise ValueError(f"Unknown value for threads: {threads}. Expected: value between 1 and maximum number of available threads ({max_cpu_count}) \
+        Tip: A value of 0 will pick the maximum available number.")
+
     if tta == 0:
         tta = False
     elif tta == 1:
@@ -118,4 +132,4 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
     else:
         raise ValueError("Unknown value for pp: %s. Expected: 0 or 1" % str(pp))
 
-    run_hd_bet(input_files, output_files, mode, config_file, device, pp, tta, save_mask, overwrite_existing)
+    run_hd_bet(input_files, output_files, mode, config_file, device, threads, pp, tta, save_mask, overwrite_existing)
diff --git a/HD_BET/run.py b/HD_BET/run.py
index 858934d..f2464e8 100755
--- a/HD_BET/run.py
+++ b/HD_BET/run.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ def apply_bet(img, bet, out_fname):
 
 
 def run_hd_bet(mri_fnames, output_fnames, mode="accurate", config_file=os.path.join(HD_BET.__path__[0], "config.py"), device=0,
-               postprocess=False, do_tta=True, keep_mask=True, overwrite=True):
+               threads=0, postprocess=False, do_tta=True, keep_mask=True, overwrite=True):
     """
 
     :param mri_fnames: str or list/tuple of str
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ def run_hd_bet(mri_fnames, output_fnames, mode="accurate", config_file=os.path.j
     :return:
     """
 
+    torch.set_num_threads(threads)
+
     list_of_param_files = []
 
     if mode == 'fast':