一种病变眼底图像的配准方法

对于具有病变的眼底图像,血管结构不够清晰,采用基于血管分割和血管分支点、交叉点等眼底图像配准方法具有一定的局限性。为了解决这个问题,提出一种基于不变特征的眼底图像配准方法。提取眼底图像的尺度不变特征(SIFT)作为特征点,提出双边或的Best-Bin-First(BBF)算法进行特征点匹配,并根据特征点具有旋转不变性的方向特征和空间斜率及空间距离等几何特性的一致性检测去除误匹配,精化匹配特征,利用得到的匹配特征进行M估计得到眼底图像的变换关系。通过对不同程度病变的眼底图像数据进行配准实验,观察配准结果,对比匹配特征的正确匹配数量和分析衡量配准精度的均方根误差。结果表明,该方法实现了良好的细节对齐,保留了足够的正确匹配对,对实验的病变眼底图像配准成功后的均方根误差均小于1,且浮动于0.5左右,验证了方法的精确性和有效性。     

基于多分辨率GMI Demons算法的18F-FDG PET-CT图像配准在食道癌病例中的应用

18F-FDG PET和CT图像的精确配准在肿瘤的放射治疗中具有重要的临床研究意义,本研究采用全局刚性粗配准对食道癌病例中的PET和CT图像进行预处理,尽可能地减小摆位误差,然后使用基于互信息梯度的Demons算法(GMI Demons)进行局部形变配准,有效弥补内部器官误差,另外为了加快配准过程,保持图像的鲁棒性的同时避免局部极值,在形变配准前使用多分辨率图像金字塔结构。通过对10例食道癌病例的定量分析,最大互信息值结果说明经GMI Demons算法配准之后的图像精度比基于MI算法要提高8.046%±0.041%,配准前后临床上肿瘤靶区(GTV)大小的变化,说明经GMI Demons算法配准之后的GTV大小比基于MI算法配准之后的精度提高8.022%±0.044%。两种定量结果的一致性和通过对图像的定性分析,说明该配准策略可以快速地精确肿瘤靶区位置,在制定精确的放疗计划和实际的临床应用中具有研究意义。     

多模态图像配准在HIFU定位系统中的应用

在交互式图像导航HIFU(高强度聚焦超声)治疗系统中,需要对病灶目标进行非常精确的实时成像和定位.而现有的超声成像技术很难单独完成这个任务.本文提出了一种用手术前MRI三维图像与手术中的超声图像进行配准的方法,对手术前MR图像和手术中超声图像两种模态下都可见的血管进行配准.配准算法采用遗传算法和共轭梯度法结合的优化策略来最小化目标函数,并设计了两个实验对配准方法进行评价,从实验结果看这种方法从配准精度和收敛速度上都要优于另外的两种经典算法.     

基于血管匹配的三维超声与CT图像的配准方法

提出一种基于血管匹配的三维超声与CT图像配准的新方法.首先,基于水平集方法自动分割出CT图像中的血管；其次,由于超声图像中的声影与血管均属于低回声区域,我们结合声影形成的物理原理及图像纹理特性,自动检测出声影区域,以提高配准的鲁棒性；最后,采用进化算法,将CT图像中分割出的血管与超声图像中低回声区域进行匹配.在肝脏体模和临床脾脏数据上进行了实验验证,自动配准的成功率在95％以上,平均目标配准误差在2 mm以内,实验结果验证了本方法的可行性.     

基于ITK多图谱配准的脑部皮质下核团的分割研究

大量研究表明,阿尔茨海默症(AD)的病变与大脑皮质下核团的萎缩息息相关,某些核团的萎缩(如海马)可能成为AD疾病早期诊断的标志,而皮质下核团的分割是研究核团萎缩模式的重要前提。基于AD患者和正常人各30例3DT1W-MR图像,先结合直方图分析和三维形态学分析方法对图像进行脑组织提取,后采用ITK配准算法将10个脑图谱图像经两阶段分别配准到提取脑组织后的图像空间。第一阶段实现基于均方差的仿射配准,第二阶段实现基于互信息的B样条形变配准,两阶段的配准均采用线性插值法和梯度下降的优化搜索方法。最后采用STAPLE融合算法,对配准后得到的10个目标图像进行图像融合,得到最终的分割结果。结果表明:除尾状核外,分割得到的其余6对核团的体积与常用的FSL-FIRST算法的分割结果无统计学差别(P>0.05);AD患者的右侧伏核和双侧海马发生萎缩(P<0.05)。因此,基于ITK配准框架的多图谱配准分割方法能有效分割MR图像上边界不明确的皮质下核团。     

多模态图像配准技术在HIFU手术中的应用

在交互式的图像导航热疗手术中 ,需要对病灶目标进行非常精确的实时成像和定位。而现有的超声成像技术很难单独完成这个任务。本研究提出了一种用手术前MRI图像重建的三维图像与手术中的超声图像进行配准的方法 ,对肝部肿瘤热疗手术中的目标进行定位。其配准方法采用的是基于肝部血管和表皮等特征的遗传配准算法。     

基于特征提取的脑部医学图像配准研究

目的 基于特征的配准算法具有鲁棒性强、针对性好等显著优势,在图像配准领域被广泛应用,但是该类方法的精度受图像间特征构建和环境噪声影响大,该研究旨在对其缺点进行改进。方法 该研究基于SURF和ORB两种算法,提出了SURF-ORB算法,将参考图像与待配准图像分成上下两部分分别配准。在配准过程中,首先对SURF提取的图像特征点的Harris响应值进行优化,并使用灰度质心法确定特征点主方向。然后计算rBRIEF（旋转BRIEF）描述子,并使用汉明距离进行特征点匹配。最后加入RANSAC精匹配算法,剔除误匹配点。结果和结论 该研究通过对比分析SURF、ORB、SURF-ORB这3种算法的配准结果、抗噪声能力及多模态配准能力,验证了SURF-ORB算法具有较高的配准精度、配准速度和抗噪声能力。文章的创新之处该研究首次将SURF和ORB两种算法进行结合并应用于脑部横断面图像。     

基于多对比度磁共振颈动脉图像的配准算法研究

基于在血管壁增强显示方面的强大潜力,近年来多对比度核磁共振成像已成为斑块分析研究的有力工具,但其效能受到多序列图像血管不匹配的影响。为实现多序列图像的准确血管配准,在管腔分割的基础上提出一种由粗到精的两步配准策略:先采用迭代最近点实现多对比度图像中心线的刚性配准,再采用薄板样条实现基于血管边界点的非刚性配准。在第二步配准中,为准确寻找不同序列血管边界的匹配点,创新使用形状上下文描述子对边界点进行筛选,并应用确定性退火技术进行全局优化。采用新型三维多对比度磁共振血管成像序列,对提出算法的有效性进行定量评价。结果表明,配准后不同序列的边界重合度均达到95%以上,平均表面距离0.12 mm,可有效提高配准精度,为后续斑块成分的分析奠定基础。     

基于Demons算法的弹性配准在放疗锥形束CT图像配准中的应用

将基于经典Demons算法与加速Demons算法的弹性配准模型应用到放疗患者不同分次间的锥形束CT(CBCT)图像中,为进一步分析肿瘤及危及器官的变化提供软件支持。通过Matlab软件编写三维弹性配准程序,并用此程序对宫颈癌放疗患者不同分次时的两组锥形束CT图像进行仿真实验验证。结果表明经典Demons算法配准前后对比,最小均方误(MSE)减少59.7%,相关系数(CC)提高了11.0%;加速Demons算法配准前后对比,MSE减少40.1%,CC提高7.2%。实验验证上述两种基于Demons模型的弹性配准在CBCT图像配准中取得较好的配准效果,但对细微差别处仍显得精度不够,且整个配准时间较长,如要应用到在线自适应放疗中仍需进一步提高形变的精度并减少配准时间。     

基于DRR及相似性测度的2D-3D医学图像配准算法

目的 针对术前三维电子计算机断层扫描(computed tomography,CT)图像和术中二维X线图像的配准问题提出了精确高效的全自动配准算法,使得该算法能够适应不同X线图像的风格.方法 首先通过数字重建放射影像(digitally reconstructured radiograph,DRR)技术,把CT图像转换成DRR图像,从而将CT和X线图像的配准转换成DRR图像和X线图像的配准.然后在传统的归一化互相关(normalized cross correlation,NCC)和梯度差分(gradiant difference,GD)相似性测度指标基础上提出融合NCC和GD的归一化互相关-梯度差分(normalized cross correlation?gradient difference,NG)指标,并基于NG指标计算DRR图像和X线图像的相似性.通过Powell算法迭代求取相似性测度的极值,从而获得配准矩阵.最后在人体头颅CT数据上采用"黄金标准"判断法量化配准系统的精度,并通过脊柱CT和X线配准案例验证系统在实际场景的性能.结果 基于DRR及NG相似性测度的2D/3D图像配准系统的配准距离误差为0.51 mm,角度误差为0.40°.结论 基于DRR及NG相似性测度的2D/3D图像配准算法具有较好的配准精度,能适应不同风格的二维输入图像,基于该算法的配准系统具有较好的鲁棒性.     

A rigidity penalty term for nonrigid registration

Medical images that are to be registered for clinical application often contain both structures that deform and ones that remain rigid. Nonrigid registration algorithms that do not model properties of different tissue types may result in deformations of rigid structures. In this article a local rigidity penalty term is proposed which is included in the registration function in order to penalize the deformation of rigid objects. This term can be used for any representation of the deformation field capable of modelling locally rigid transformations. By using a B-spline representation of the deformation field, a fast algorithm can be devised. The proposed method is compared with an unconstrained nonrigid registration algorithm. It is evaluated on clinical three-dimensional CT follow-up data of the thorax and on two-dimensional DSA image sequences. The results show that nonrigid registration using the proposed rigidity penalty term is capable of nonrigidly aligning images, while keeping user-defined structures locally rigid.     

Digital subtraction angiogram registration method with local distortion vectors to decrease motion artifact.

We have been investigating registration methods for improving digital subtraction angiography (DSA) images to extract blood vessels by reducing artifacts due to body motion, such as rotation, contraction, and dilation. In this paper, we propose a new and simple DSA registration algorithm with local distortion vectors to reduce artifacts. According to the results, the proposed method works well for vascular system around the nasal cavity and the orbit of the head and neck DSA images, which cannot be observed clearly by conventional methods. Additionally, we have applied the proposed method to abdominal and leg DSA images.     

Development and validation of a CT-3D rotational angiography registration method for AVM radiosurgery

In this paper a novel technique is proposed and validated for radiosurgery treatment planning of arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). The technique was developed for frameless radiosurgery by means of the CyberKnife, a nonisocentric, linac-based system which allows highly conformed isodose surfaces to be obtained, while also being valid for other treatment strategies. The technique is based on registration between computed tomography (CT) and three-dimensional rotational angiography (3DRA). Tests were initially performed on the effectiveness of the correction method for distortion offered by the angiographic system. These results determined the registration technique that was ultimately chosen. For CT-3DRA registration, a twelve-parameter affine transformation was selected, based on a mutual information maximization algorithm. The robustness of the algorithm was tested by attempting to register data sets increasingly distant from each other, both in translation and rotation. Registration accuracy was estimated by means of the "full circle consistency test." A registration quality index (expressed in millimeters) based on these results was also defined. A hybrid subtraction between CT and 3DRA is proposed in order to improve 3D reconstruction. Preprocessing improved the ability of the algorithm to find an acceptable solution to the registration process. The robustness tests showed that data sets must be manually prealigned within approximately 15 mm and 20 degrees with respect to all three directions simultaneously. Results of the consistency test showed agreement between the quality index and registration accuracy stated by visual inspection in 20 good and 10 artificially worsened registration processes. The quality index showed values smaller than the maximum voxel size (mean 0.8 mm compared to 2 mm) for all successful registrations, while it resulted in much greater values (mean 20 mm) for unsuccessful registrations. Once registered, the two data sets can be used for CyberKnife treatment planning. Target delineation is performed on 3DRA while dose calculation and DRR generation are performed on CT. In conclusion, a method was developed for using 3DRA images for AVM frameless radiosurgery treatment planning. The method proved to be feasible, robust, and accurate for clinical use. 3DRA can be performed at different times or locations compared to standard, frame based stereotactic angiography. Unlike two-dimensional angiography, 3DRA allows examination of the shape of the AVM and of the surrounding target from any arbitrary point of view during treatment planning. The method can be applied to any case of intermodality registration, is operator-independent, and allows estimation of registration quality. Further research is desirable to improve time resolution in order to distinguish between feeding and draining vessels.     

Non-rigid registration between 3D ultrasound and CT images of the liver based on intensity and gradient information

In order to utilize both ultrasound (US) and computed tomography (CT) images of the liver concurrently for medical applications such as diagnosis and image-guided intervention, non-rigid registration between these two types of images is an essential step, as local deformation between US and CT images exists due to the different respiratory phases involved and due to the probe pressure that occurs in US imaging. This paper introduces a voxel-based non-rigid registration algorithm between the 3D B-mode US and CT images of the liver. In the proposed algorithm, to improve the registration accuracy, we utilize the surface information of the liver and gallbladder in addition to the information of the vessels inside the liver. For an effective correlation between US and CT images, we treat those anatomical regions separately according to their characteristics in US and CT images. Based on a novel objective function using a 3D joint histogram of the intensity and gradient information, vessel-based non-rigid registration is followed by surface-based non-rigid registration in sequence, which improves the registration accuracy. The proposed algorithm is tested for ten clinical datasets and quantitative evaluations are conducted. Experimental results show that the registration error between anatomical features of US and CT images is less than 2 mm on average, even with local deformation due to different respiratory phases and probe pressure. In addition, the lesion registration error is less than 3 mm on average with a maximum of 4.5 mm that is considered acceptable for clinical applications.     

An algorithm for mapping the catheter tip position on a fluorograph to the three-dimensional position in magnetic resonance angiography volume data

This paper proposes an algorithm which maps the position of a catheter tip on a fluorograph to the 3D position in magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) data. This algorithm was assessed for its accuracy. We designed an algorithm consisting of a registration step and a recognition step. The registration step registers MRA and fluorography data using a digital subtraction angiography (DSA) image. The recognition step recognizes the position in the MRA data corresponding to the catheter tip position on a fluorograph. We checked the accuracy of the recognition step by employing an artificial data set consisting of 3D image data (64 x 64 x 64 matrix) and its projection image (92 x 92 matrix) and the accuracy of the registration step with the aid of three of the 3D time-of-flight MRA data sets (256 x 256 matrix and 60 slices) and their projection images in the form of DSA images. The accuracy of the recognition step depended upon that of the registration. When there was no misregistration, all of the mean errors were less than 0.2 mm. The mean errors of the registration step were 0.273 mm and 0.226 mm, respectively, for the longitudinal shift along the X and Y axes, 0.478 degrees, 1.203 degrees and 0.208 degrees, respectively, for the rotation angles around the X, Y and Z axes and 0.020 times for the magnification. The mean image error between the projection image of the registered MRA data and that of the MRA data which were employed as the DSA image was 0.034 mm.     

基于分段B样条形变配准方法的头颈部伪CT生成研究

目的:探讨分段B样条形变配准方法在头颈部伪CT(sCT)生成中的应用,以及对sCT生成精度的影响。方法:收集已经进行调强放射治疗的鼻咽癌患者45例,每例计划均包括头颈部T1加权核磁共振成像(MRI)和CT图像。使用3D Slicer软件对MRI和CT图像分别进行分段B样条形变配准、整体B样条形变配准、分段刚性配准和整体刚性配准4种方法配准,比较配准后的MRI图像和真实CT图像的Dice相似性系数(DSC)值。随机选取其中的30例患者作为训练集,15例患者为测试集,将配准后的MRI和CT图像通过pix2pix网络进行模型训练生成sCT,对生成的sCT和真实CT进行平均绝对误差(MAE)、结构相似性系数(SSIM)和峰值信噪比(PSNR)值的比较,分析通过阈值法分割为不同组织(骨头、软组织、空气和脂肪)的MAE值。结果:配准后的MRI和真实CT图像比较,分段B样条形变配准方法的DSC值最优;使用4种配准方法生成的sCT和真实CT图像进行MAE、SSIM和PSNR值比较,分段配准方法比整体配准方法好,B样条形变配准方法比刚性配准方法好。分段B样条形变配准方法的MAE值为(74.783±9.8...     

Nonrigid registration with tissue-dependent filtering of the deformation field

In present-day medical practice it is often necessary to nonrigidly align image data. Current registration algorithms do not generally take the characteristics of tissue into account. Consequently, rigid tissue, such as bone, can be deformed elastically, growth of tumours may be concealed, and contrast-enhanced structures may be reduced in volume. We propose a method to locally adapt the deformation field at structures that must be kept rigid, using a tissue-dependent filtering technique. This adaptive filtering of the deformation field results in locally linear transformations without scaling or shearing. The degree of filtering is related to tissue stiffness: more filtering is applied at stiff tissue locations, less at parts of the image containing nonrigid tissue. The tissue-dependent filter is incorporated in a commonly used registration algorithm, using mutual information as a similarity measure and cubic B-splines to model the deformation field. The new registration algorithm is compared with this popular method. Evaluation of the proposed tissue-dependent filtering is performed on 3D computed tomography (CT) data of the thorax and on 2D digital subtraction angiography (DSA) images. The results show that tissue-dependent filtering of the deformation field leads to improved registration results: tumour volumes and vessel widths are preserved rather than affected.     

Construction and evaluation of an average CT brain image for inter-subject registration

An average CT brain image is constructed to serve as reference frame for inter-subject registration. A set of 96 clinical CT images is used. Registration includes translation, rotation, and anisotropic scaling. A temporary average based on a subset of 32 images is constructed. This image is used as reference for the iterative construction of the average CT image. This approach is computationally efficient and results in a consistent registration of the 96 images. Registration of new images to the average CT is more consistent than registration to a single CT image. The use of the average CT image is illustrated.     

Automatic registration between 3D intra-operative ultrasound and pre-operative CT images of the liver based on robust edge matching

The registration of a three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound (US) image with a computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance image is beneficial in various clinical applications such as diagnosis and image-guided intervention of the liver. However, conventional methods usually require a time-consuming and inconvenient manual process for pre-alignment, and the success of this process strongly depends on the proper selection of initial transformation parameters. In this paper, we present an automatic feature-based affine registration procedure of 3D intra-operative US and pre-operative CT images of the liver. In the registration procedure, we first segment vessel lumens and the liver surface from a 3D B-mode US image. We then automatically estimate an initial registration transformation by using the proposed edge matching algorithm. The algorithm finds the most likely correspondences between the vessel centerlines of both images in a non-iterative manner based on a modified Viterbi algorithm. Finally, the registration is iteratively refined on the basis of the global affine transformation by jointly using the vessel and liver surface information. The proposed registration algorithm is validated on synthesized datasets and 20 clinical datasets, through both qualitative and quantitative evaluations. Experimental results show that automatic registration can be successfully achieved between 3D B-mode US and CT images even with a large initial misalignment.     

Dual-isotope Acquisition for CT–SPECT Registration of Infection Studies

The registration of CT and NM images can enhance patient diagnosis since it allows for the fusion of anatomical and functional information as well as attenuation correction of NM images. However, irrespective of the methods used, registration accuracy depends heavily on the characteristics of the input images and the degree of similarity between them. This poses a challenge for registering CT and NM images as they may have very different characteristics. To address the particular problem of CT and In-111 SPECT registration, we propose to perform a dual-isotope study which involves an additional injection of Tc-99m MDP to generate two inherently registered images: In-111 SPECT and Tc-99m SPECT. As skeletal structures are visible in both CT and Tc-99m SPECT, performing registration of these images may be much more effective. The very same spatial transformation derived can be immediately applied to complete the registration of CT and the corresponding In-111 SPECT. Accordingly, we hypothesize that the registration of CT and Tc-99m SPECT can be more accurately performed than the registration of CT and In-111 SPECT and seek to compare the accuracies between the aforementioned registrations. In this paper, we have collected three clinical datasets, with the ground-truth transformations known, and tested the proposed approach by using a mutual information-based algorithm to solve for the rigid/non-rigid misalignments introduced to them. Based on the results of our experiments, we conclude that registration using Tc-99m SPECT can achieve 100% success rate, and is thus much more superior to the registration using In-111 SPECT, which at best, achieves only 38% success rate. Clearly, the introduction of a dual-isotope acquisition can substantially improve the registration of SPECT and CT images.