Rapid registration for wide field of view freehand three-dimensional ultrasound.
A freehand scanning protocol is the only way to acquire arbitrary large volumes of three-dimensional ultrasound (US) data. For some applications, multiple freehand sweeps are required to cover the area of interest. Aligning these multiple sweeps is difficult, typically requiring nonrigid image-based registration as well as the readings from the spatial locator attached to the US probe. Conventionally, nonrigid warps are achieved through general elastic spline deformations, which are expensive to compute and difficult to constrain. This paper presents an alternative registration technique, where the warp's degrees of freedom are carefully linked to the mechanics of the freehand scanning process. The technique is assessed through an extensive series of in vivo experiments, which reveal a registration precision of a few pixels with comparatively little computational load.
Gee
Andrew H
AH
Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK. ahg@eng.cam.ac.uk
Treece
Graham M
GM
Prager
Richard W
RW
Cash
Charlotte J C
CJ
Berman
Laurence
L
D000465:Algorithms; D005542:Forearm / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013382:Subtraction Technique; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods*