title: A comparative study of biomechanical simulators in deformable registration of brain tumor images.
abstract: Simulating the brain tissue deformation caused by tumor growth has been found to aid the deformable registration of brain tumor images. In this paper, we evaluate the impact that different biomechanical simulators have on the accuracy of deformable registration. We use two alternative frameworks for biomechanical simulations of mass effect in 3-D magnetic resonance (MR) brain images. The first one is based on a finite-element model of nonlinear elasticity and unstructured meshes using the commercial software package ABAQUS. The second one employs incremental linear elasticity and regular grids in a fictitious domain method. In practice, biomechanical simulations via the second approach may be at least ten times faster. Landmarks error and visual examination of the coregistered images indicate that the two alternative frameworks for biomechanical simulations lead to comparable results of deformable registration. Thus, the computationally less expensive biomechanical simulator offers a practical alternative for registration purposes.
authors.affiliation: Section of Biomedical Image Analysis, Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, 3600 Market Street, Suite 380, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. eva.zacharaki@uphs.upenn.edu
authors.forename: Evangelia I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Zacharaki
authors.forename: Cosmina S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Hogea
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Biros
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Davatzikos
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena / Q000379:methods; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004548:Elasticity; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008954:Models, Biological; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013382:Subtraction Technique