Medical Image Registration Using Phase Variables
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical imaging technologies face challenges in accurately registering image data from different streams, especially when organs undergo cyclic movements, as traditional methods rely on time-based synchronization which is not always precise due to quasi-periodic organ movements.
Innovation Solution
The method uses a phase variable to define the evolution of organ shape within image streams instead of time, allowing for precise registration and fusion of images by associating corresponding scans or images based on their phase values, enabling high-precision registration even with sparse sampling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If time-based synchronization is used to register image data from different streams, then the registration process can be implemented, but the precision is insufficient due to quasi-periodic organ movements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the synchronization parameter from time-based to phase-based. Instead of using time stamps to align images from different streams, the system extracts phase information (e.g., respiratory phase, cardiac phase) from physiological signals and uses this phase data to synchronize and register images. This parameter transformation resolves the contradiction by providing reliable phase-aligned registration even when time-based synchronization fails due to quasi-periodic movements.
2Ease of manufacture
If traditional time-based registration methods are used, then the system is simple to implement, but the registration precision deteriorates when organs undergo cyclic movements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces phase information as an intermediary variable between the image streams and the registration process. Phase data from physiological signals serves as a mediator that connects different image streams, allowing them to be synchronized and registered accurately despite time variations. This intermediary approach maintains implementation simplicity while significantly improving registration accuracy for moving organs.
3Productivity
If sparse sampling of image streams is used, then the acquisition effort is reduced, but the registration precision is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adds a phase dimension to the registration process. Instead of relying solely on temporal proximity or dense sampling, the system uses phase information to create a four-dimensional registration framework (three spatial dimensions plus phase dimension). This allows precise registration even with sparse temporal sampling, as the phase dimension provides the necessary alignment information that would otherwise require dense sampling to achieve.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a method and arrangement for registering first image data of a first stream with second image data of a second stream. The image data include image information about at least one organ, wherein a shape and/or position of the organ is cyclically changing: Each of the streams include a series of images of the at least one organ at a plurality of different discrete stages of the cyclic change so that each image corresponds to one of the discrete stages. A phase variable defines the stage of the cyclic change and a phase value of the phase variable is assigned to each image within each stream, thereby defining the discrete stage represented by the image. A registration is determined for a pair of images selected by choosing or interpolating images from the first stream and second stream to which a same phase value is assigned.