2D/3D image registration using regression learning

•A novel rigid or deformable 2D/3D image registration method using regression learning.•The method learns a shape space of geometric transformation from the 3D image set.•The method uses multi-scale linear regressions on the 2D image intensity residues.•Target problem is registration between planning time and treatment time in radiotherapy.

In computer vision and image analysis, image registration between 2D projections and a 3D image that achieves high accuracy and near real-time computation is challenging. In this paper, we propose a novel method that can rapidly detect an object’s 3D rigid motion or deformation from a 2D projection image or a small set thereof. The method is called CLARET (Correction via Limited-Angle Residues in External Beam Therapy) and consists of two stages: registration preceded by shape space and regression learning. In the registration stage, linear operators are used to iteratively estimate the motion/deformation parameters based on the current intensity residue between the target projection(s) and the digitally reconstructed radiograph(s) (DRRs) of the estimated 3D image. The method determines the linear operators via a two-step learning process. First, it builds a low-order parametric model of the image region’s motion/deformation shape space from its prior 3D images. Second, using learning-time samples produced from the 3D images, it formulates the relationships between the model parameters and the co-varying 2D projection intensity residues by multi-scale linear regressions. The calculated multi-scale regression matrices yield the coarse-to-fine linear operators used in estimating the model parameters from the 2D projection intensity residues in the registration. The method’s application to Image-guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) requires only a few seconds and yields good results in localizing a tumor under rigid motion in the head and neck and under respiratory deformation in the lung, using one treatment-time imaging 2D projection or a small set thereof.