This paper aims to present a review of recent as well as classic image registration methods. Image registration is the process of overlaying images (two or more) of the same scene taken at different times, from different viewpoints, and/or by different sensors. The registration geometrically align two images (the reference and sensed images). The reviewed approaches are classified according to their nature (areabased and feature-based) and according to four basic steps of image registration procedure: feature detection, feature matching, mapping function design, and image transformation and resampling. Main contributions, advantages, and drawbacks of the methods are mentioned in the paper. Problematic issues of image registration and outlook for the future research are discussed too. The major goal of the paper is to provide a comprehensive reference source for the researchers involved in image registration, regardless of particular application areas. q 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The techniques available for the interrogation and analysis of neuroimaging data have a large influence in determining the flexibility, sensitivity and scope of neuroimaging experiments. The development of such methodologies has allowed investigators to address scientific questions which could not previously be answered and, as such, has become an important research area in its own right. In this paper, we present a review of the research carried out by the Analysis Group at the Oxford Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain (FMRIB). This research has focussed on the development of new methodologies for the analysis of both structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging data. The majority of the research laid out in this paper has been implemented as freely available software tools within FMRIB’s Software Library (FSL). 1

Abstract not found

A fully probabilistic framework is presented for estimating local probability density functions on parameters of interest in a model of diffusion. This technique is applied to the estimation of parameters in the diffusion tensor model, and also to a simple partial volume model of diffusion. In both cases the parameters of interest include parameters defining local fiber direction. A technique is then presented for using these density functions to estimate global connectivity (i.e., the probability of the existence of a connection through the data field, between any two distant points), allowing for the quantification of belief in tractography results. This technique is then applied to the estimation of the cortical connectivity of the human thalamus. The resulting connectivity distributions correspond well with predictions from invasive tracer methods in nonhuman primate.

Abstract. Many variants of MI exist in the literature. These vary primarily in how the joint histogram is populated. This paper places the four main variants of MI: Standard sampling, Partial Volume Estimation (PVE), In-Parzen Windowing and Post-Parzen Windowing into a single mathematical framework. Jacobians and Hessians are derived in each case. A particular contribution is that the non-linearities implicit to standard sampling and post-Parzen windowing are explicitly dealt with. These non-linearities are a barrier to their use in optimisation. Side-byside comparison of the MI variants is made using eight diverse data-sets, considering computational expense and convergence. In the experiments, PVE was generally the best performer, although standard sampling often performed nearly as well (if a higher sample rate was used). The widely used sum of squared differences metric performed as well as MI unless large occlusions and non-linear intensity relationships occurred. The binaries and scripts used for testing are available online. 1

Abstract — Since the invention of diffusion MRI, currently the only established method for studying white matter connectivity in a clinical environment, there has been a great deal of interest in the effects of various pathologies on the connectivity of the brain. As methods for in vivo tractography have been developed it has become possible to track and segment specific white matter structures of interest for particular study. However, the consistency and reproducibility of tractography-based segmentation remain limited, and attempts to improve them have thus far typically involved the imposition of strong constraints on the tract reconstruction process itself. In this work we take a different approach, developing a formal probabilistic model for the relationships between comparable tracts in different scans, and then using it to choose a tract, a posteriori, which best matches a predefined reference tract for the structure of interest. We demonstrate that this method is able to significantly improve segmentation consistency without directly constraining the tractography algorithm. Index Terms — magnetic resonance imaging, diffusion, brain, white matter, tractography, segmentation, model, probabilistic I.

the apparent diffusion tensor of water (D) in the brain (1). Diagonalizing D produces eigenvalues and eigenvectors, the effective principal diffusivities along the orthotropic axes of the tissue, which can be used to measure the mean diffusivity (#D#) and diffusion anisotropy indices, such as the fractional anisotropy (FA) (2). Values of #D# indicate the magnitude of water molecule diffusion, while FA provides a scalar measure of diffusion anisotropy, which is the deviation from pure isotropic diffusion of water mobility in vivo. While measuring the #D# and FA values of different parenchymal structures is important in characterizing the imaging signatures of healthy and diseased brain, a more complete understanding of anatomical connectivity and how it is altered in various pathologies requires the underlying white matter structure to be accurately mapped. This 3D tracking of white matter fiber bundles can be achieved using the information contained within the eigenvectors of D if it

Abstract. We developed an analysis pipeline enabling population studies of HARDI data, and applied it to map genetic influences on fiber architecture in 90 twin subjects. We applied tensor-driven 3D fluid registration to HARDI, resampling the spherical fiber orientation distribution functions (ODFs) in appropriate Riemannian manifolds, after ODF regularization and sharpening. Fitting structural equation models (SEM) from quantitative genetics, we evaluated genetic influences on the Jensen-Shannon divergence (JSD), a novel measure of fiber spatial coherence, and on the generalized fiber anisotropy (GFA; [1]) a measure of fiber integrity. With random-effects regression, we mapped regions where diffusion profiles were highly correlated with subjects ’ intelligence quotient (IQ). Fiber complexity was predominantly under genetic control, and higher in more highly anisotropic regions; the proportion of genetic versus environmental control varied spatially. Our methods show promise for discovering genes affecting fiber connectivity in the brain. 1

This paper presents a new approach for multimodal medical image registration and compares it to normalized mutual information (NMI) and the correlation ratio (CR). Like NMI and CR, the new method’s measure of registration quality is based on the distribution of points in the joint intensity scatter plot (JISP); compact clusters indicate good registration. This method iteratively fits the JISP clusters with regressors (in the form of points and line segments), and uses those regressors to efficiently compute the next motion increment. The result is a striking, dynamic process in which the regressors float around the JISP, tracking groups of points as they contract into tight clusters. One of the method’s strengths is that it is intuitive and customizable, offering a multitude of ways to incorporate prior knowledge to guide the registration process. Moreover, the method is adaptive, and can adjust itself to fit data that does not quite match the prior model. Finally, the method is efficiently expandable to higher-dimensional scatter pots, avoiding the “curse of dimensionality ” inherent in histogram-based registration methods such as MI and NMI. In two sets of experiments, a simple implementation of the new registration framework is shown to be comparable to (if not superior to) state-of-the-art implementations of NMI and CR in both accuracy and convergence robustness.

Abstract — Multimodal image registration is a difficult problem in both medical imaging and remote sensing. The least-squares cost function has generally been overlooked for multimodal registration problems due to an underlying assumption that the two images being registered must have corresponding intensities. More recently, methods that employ the least-squares cost function have been developed to efficiently evaluate the globally optimal shift and intensity remapping simultaneously. However, these methods estimate the translation and not the rotation. In this paper we propose a method for using the least-squares cost function efficiently for multimodal registration. By modeling rotation using a linear approximation, we find the globally optimal translation and intensity remapping, and locally optimal rotation angle. In a series of experiments based on registering PD-, T1-, and T2-weighted magnetic resonance images, our method performs better than mutual information.