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William Wells, PhD Core Lead |
Bruno Madore, PhD Project Lead |
The computation project is leveraging recent progress in ultrasound-ultrasound (US) registration and in hybrid US-MRI technology to develop synergistic software and hardware technology that is aimed at improving surgical and interventional guidance in the presence of tissue deformation or motion, issues that complicate treatment monitoring or comparisons to pre-operative images and treatment plans. Our approach to addressing deformation problems in image guided therapy (IGT) leverages our recent work in feature-based US-US registration, where image content is modeled in terms of local scale-invariant image features, i.e., distinctive patterns of echogenic anatomical tissue that can be automatically extracted from images and used as the basis for registration. Our solution for motion in IGT is built upon our recent developments in hybrid US-MRI technology that acquires MRI and ultrasound simultaneously to exploit the relative strengths of MRI (high spatial resolution and excellent soft tissue contrast), and US (high frame rate). Much of the proposed research deals with providing solutions to registration problems for IGT applications, such as tissue deformation fields, and we believe that in this context it is important to characterize the potential uncertainties in these solutions, similarly to providing error bars in other estimation problems.To this end we are developing registration-with-uncertainty algorithms that incorporate random process models of spatial uncertainty. The technology is evaluated in the context of our testbed clinical projects, image-guided neurosurgery and abdominal cryotherapy, in the AMIGO suite, our advanced interventional suite that includes intra-operative 3T MRI, ultrasound and PET/CT. The hybrid US-MRI approach enables rapid updates to MRI images to accommodate, e.g., breathing motions during cryoablation procedures.In addition, US-US registration algorithms facilitate improvements in US-updated neurosurgical guidance, and have potential IGT applications in our program or elsewhere, for example in prostate biopsies. In order to facilitate dissemination of these algorithms to the broader IGT community, we distribute software components in the open-source SlicerIGT platform. Our projects are:
Registration algorithms for MRI and US with emphasis on uncertainty and algorithm performance. We continue algorithm developments aimed at characterizing uncertainty and accuracy in image registration,and tissue deformation estimation from implanted trackers,that are based on Gaussian Random Fields (GRF). We are also developing algorithms that estimate surgical tissue deformations from our feature-based ultrasound / ultrasound registration technology. Finally, we translate the developed algorithms into AMIGO using the SlicerIGT platform by providing extensions that visualize deformed MRI based on intraoperative US, associated registration uncertainty, and integrated laser surface scanning for neurosurgery. (Contact: William Wells)
Technology for simultaneous US-MRI acquisition for monitoring procedures. We are developing machine learning techniques that use high bandwidth US data to estimate motion and deformation in MRI images. We are also further generalizing the hybrid US-MRI approach by exploiting information from 256 independent channels, from a custom-built MR-compatible 256-element 2D US transducer array provided by an industrial partner. We are developing a pre-scan calibration (“learning”) phase that employs simultaneously-acquired MRI and USdata. We will deploy on-line deformation-corrected updates of MR as they become available from the scanner, for monitoring cryoablations. (Contact: Bruno Madore)
Software and Documentation |
3D Slicer, a comprehensive open source platform for medical image analysis, contains several modules and functions that have been contributed by us for Computation. These include:
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Data |
MRI acquired to guide Gynecologic Brachytherapy Catheter Placement |
Links |
3D Slicer |