title: Automatic registration of CT volumes and dual-energy digital radiography for detection of cardiac and lung diseases.
abstract: We are investigating image processing and analysis techniques to improve the ability of dual-energy digital radiography (DR) for the detection of cardiac calcification. Computed tomography (CT) is an established tool for the diagnosis of coronary artery diseases. Dual-energy digital radiography could be a cost-effective alternative. In this study, we use three-dimensional (3D) CT images as the "gold standard" to evaluate the DR X-ray images for calcification detection. To this purpose, we developed an automatic registration method for 3D CT volumes and two-dimensional (2D) X-ray images. We call this 3D-to-2D registration. We first use a 3D CT image volume to simulate X-ray projection images and then register them with X-ray images. The registered CT projection images are then used to aid the interpretation dual-energy X-ray images for the detection of cardiac calcification. We acquired both CT and X-ray images from patients with coronary artery diseases. Experimental results show that the 3D-to-2D registration is accurate and useful for this new application.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Radiol. & Biomed. Eng., Case Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, OH 44106, USA. baowei.fei@case.edu
authors.forename: Baowei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fei
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hesheng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Sabol
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: DuPont
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Gilkeson
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001185:Artificial Intelligence; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D015900:Radiography, Dual-Energy Scanned Projection / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013382:Subtraction Technique; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*