Rigid and non-rigid registration algorithm evaluation in MRI for breast cancer therapy monitoring

Abstract

One of the most common methods in breast cancer radiotherapy planning is Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). It is also used for patient evaluation during treatment because of its sensitivity and lack of ionizing radiation. During each imaging session a patient position can be different, and inaccuracies can occur. In this case it is very difficult to compare two image sets originating from different patient examination. The main goals of this work were to implement an algorithm, based on affine transformation with Mutual Information as the quality factor of images match and the method based on the Navier-Lame equation for elastic image co-registration. The rigid transformation is used for the preliminary processing, and the non-rigid transformation allows for successful co-registration of both image sets. Our results were evaluated visually, and the MI indices were calculated. These algorithms allowed for image co-registration in different imaging sessions during the course of treatment.