US & MR/CT Image Fusion with Markerless Skin Registration: A Proof of Concept.

This paper presents an innovative automatic fusion imaging system that combines 3D CT/MR images with real-time ultrasound acquisition. The system eliminates the need for external physical markers and complex training, making image fusion feasible for physicians with different experience levels. The...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Journal of Imaging Informatics in Medicine Vol. 38; no. 1; pp. 615 - 629
Autores principales: Paccini, Martina, Paschina, Giacomo, De Beni, Stefano, Stefanov, Andrei, Kolev, Velizar, Patanè, Giuseppe
Formato: computer program diagnostic images pictorial tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Springer Nature Feb2025
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:This paper presents an innovative automatic fusion imaging system that combines 3D CT/MR images with real-time ultrasound acquisition. The system eliminates the need for external physical markers and complex training, making image fusion feasible for physicians with different experience levels. The integrated system involves a portable 3D camera for patient-specific surface acquisition, an electromagnetic tracking system, and US components. The fusion algorithm comprises two main parts: skin segmentation and rigid co-registration, both integrated into the US machine. The co-registration aligns the surface extracted from CT/MR images with the 3D surface acquired by the camera, facilitating rapid and effective fusion. Experimental tests in different settings, validate the system's accuracy, computational efficiency, noise robustness, and operator independence.