Method for determining a transformation of coordinates of different images of an object

• US 7,844,132 B2
• Filed: 07/05/2005
• Issued: 11/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/07/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Siemens Healthineers AG (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Rahn, Norbert, Boese, Jan, Kleen, Martin
• Primary Examiner(s): PATEL, KANJIBHAI B
• Application Number:
  US11/631,769
• Publication Number:
  US 20080044105A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,974 Days
• Field of Search: 382/276, 382/278, 382/287, 382/294, 382/302, 382/303, 382/305, 382/312, 375/240.18, 358/1.2, 345/645, 600/411
• US Class Current: 382/294
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30004 Biomedical image processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/32 using correlation-based methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/33 using feature-based methods

Abstract

Disclosed is a method for registering images of an object according to which a landmark that is common to the images is first identified, and the transformations in relation to the remaining degrees of freedom are determined by means of a position alignment that is not based on the landmark.

Claims

1. A method for determining a transformation of coordinates of a plurality of different images of an object, comprising:

assigning a landmark to the object;

identifying the landmark in the different images of the object;

determining elements in a transformation matrix based on the landmark;

determining remaining elements in the transformation matrix with a position alignment not based on the landmark if the landmark is not found or the remaining elements cannot be determined by the landmark; and

computing the transformation of coordinates using the transformation matrix.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the position alignment is oriented to an overall structure of the object.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the position alignment is oriented to a volume of the object mapped in the images.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the position alignment is oriented to a surface of the object mapped in the images.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transformation of coordinates is computed between volume images.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transformation of coordinates is computed between projection images.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transformation of coordinates is computed between a projection of a volume image and a projection image.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a position of the object is aligned by the transformation of coordinates.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein a characteristic measure for a correlation between the images is optimized through the alignment.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the position alignment is performed manually by a use matching positions of the images of the object at a display unit.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the position alignment is performed automatically by evaluating voxels of the images of the object for a correlation between the images.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the landmark is identified automatically.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the landmarks is identified by a user at a display unit.

14. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the object is a patient.

15. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transformation of coordinates is optimized or verified by determining all elements in the transformation matrix with the position alignment not based on the landmark.

16. A device for determining a transformation of coordinates of a plurality of different images of an object having a landmark, the landmark being identified in the different images, comprising:

a display unit that displays the different images; and

a computing unit that computes the transformation of coordinates by determining a transformation matrix,

wherein the transformation matrix comprises elements based on the landmark and elements determined by a position alignment not based on the landmark if the landmark is not found or the remaining elements cannot be determined by the landmark.