US \& MRI Image Fusion Based on Markerless Skin Registration

TL;DR

This paper introduces an automatic, markerless US and MRI/CT image fusion system that uses skin registration for accurate, real-time medical imaging without external markers or extensive training.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel, fully automatic image fusion system combining 3D CT/MR with US using skin registration, eliminating external markers and simplifying clinical workflow.

Findings

Co-registration error under 1 cm

System demonstrates high accuracy and efficiency

Robust to noise and operator-independent

Abstract

This paper presents an innovative automatic fusion imaging system that combines 3D CT/MR images with real-time ultrasound (US) 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 software aligns the surface extracted from CT/MR images with patient-specific coordinates, facilitating rapid and effective fusion. Experimental testing in different settings validates the system's accuracy, computational efficiency, noise robustness, and operator independence. The co-registration error remains under the acceptable range of~$1$ cm.