US \& MRI Image Fusion Based on Markerless Skin Registration
It makes image fusion more accessible for physicians by eliminating markers and training, though it is incremental in medical imaging.
This paper tackles the problem of fusing 3D CT/MR images with real-time ultrasound without external markers, achieving a co-registration error under 1 cm.
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.