Boklye Kim, Ph.D.
Jennifer L. Boes, Ph.D.
Charles R. Meyer, Ph.D.
Department of Radiology, University of Michigan Medical Center
Abstract
Images obtained from
[14C]-2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG)
autoradiography of a rat brain have
been reconstructed into 3D volumes and registered with in vivo MRI volume data of the same animal
for the purpose of providing spatially registered, histologic "truth" data. Following implementation
of a multivariate optimization algorithm to correct for in-plane deformation, a non-affine
registration method employing thin-plate-spline (TPS) warping utilizing user-identified point and
path features has been developed and used here to correct for cryomicrotome cutting artifacts. The
warping algorithm has been applied to the slice-by-slice (2D) registration of 2DG-autoradiography
images for reconstruction of a data volume spatially consistent with the uncut specimen. In 3D the
same algorithm was used for registration of the reconstructed 2DG-autoradiography volume with in
vivo MRI volume data of the same rat brain where the feature set is augmented to include
user-identified homologous surface patches as well as the point and line segment features. The
warping technique utilizing thin-plate-spline (TPS) transformations computed from
user-identified features consisting of points, paths and patches, provides more accurate registration;
specifically the result shows a 26% improvement in registration accuracy compared to the previous
application employing affine registration technique.
Dr. Kim received an RSNA Resident Trainee Award for this work.
The paper was presented at the 1995 meeting of the RSNA
in Chicago, Illinois,November 1995.