Derek Magee et al 2010 Phys. Med. Biol. 55 4755 doi:10.1088/0031-9155/55/16/009
Derek Magee1,5, Steven F Tanner2, Michael Waller3, Ai Lyn Tan3,4, Dennis McGonagle3,4 and Alan P Jeavons2
Show affiliationsCo-registration of clinical images acquired using different imaging modalities and equipment is finding increasing use in patient studies. Here we present a method for registering high-resolution positron emission tomography (PET) data of the hand acquired using high-density avalanche chambers with magnetic resonance (MR) images of the finger obtained using a 'microscopy coil'. This allows the identification of the anatomical location of the PET radiotracer and thereby locates areas of active bone metabolism/'turnover'. Image fusion involving data acquired from the hand is demanding because rigid-body transformations cannot be employed to accurately register the images. The non-rigid registration technique that has been implemented in this study uses a variational approach to maximize the mutual information between images acquired using these different imaging modalities. A piecewise model of the fingers is employed to ensure that the methodology is robust and that it generates an accurate registration. Evaluation of the accuracy of the technique is tested using both synthetic data and PET and MR images acquired from patients with osteoarthritis. The method outperforms some established non-rigid registration techniques and results in a mean registration error that is less than approximately 1.5 mm in the vicinity of the finger joints.
General scientific summary. Clinically studies of human diseases increasingly combine information obtained from different imaging modalities. The images have to be registered when the data is obtained from separate devices. Here, we present a non-rigid registration methodology for combining high resolution positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance (MR) data of the hand. This allows the identification of the anatomical location of the PET radiotracer and thereby locates an area of active bone metabolism/'turnover'. Image fusion involving data acquired from the hand is demanding because rigid-body transformations cannot be employed to accurately register the data. The non-rigid registration technique that has been implemented in this study uses both a variational approach to maximise the mutual information between images and a model-based approach to regularise this image based registration. The method has been evaluated using both synthetic data and images acquired from patients with osteoarthritis. The mean accuracy of the technique is better than approximately 1.5 mm.
87.57.uk Positron emission tomography (PET)
87.19.R- Mechanical and electrical properties of tissues and organs
Issue 16 (21 August 2010)
Received 29 January 2010, in final form 14 May 2010
Published 30 July 2010
Derek Magee et al 2010 Phys. Med. Biol. 55 4755
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