title: Nonrigid registration of images with different topologies using embedded maps.
abstract: Changes in image topology occur in medical images due to normal variation in anatomy, image artifacts, and the presence of pathology. Non-rigid registration of images undergoing topological change for the purpose of atlas-based segmentation or deformation analysis is challenging since non-smooth geometric transformations must be introduced. As most registration methods impose a smoothness constraint on the allowable transformations they either do not model such changes or perform poorly in their presence. In this paper we describe an approach to non-rigid registration treating the images as embedded maps that deform in a Riemannian space. We show that smooth transformations representing topological changes in the original images can be obtained and describe the evolution in terms of a partial differential equation. Two-dimensional examples from brain morphometry are used to illustrate the method.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Virginia Tech - Wake Forest Univ., Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. clwyatt@vt.edu
authors.forename: Christopher L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Wyatt
authors.forename: Paul J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Laurienti
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D015233:Models, Statistical; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D012984:Software