Population-guided deformable registration

Abstract

A registration technique is provided that can combine one or more related registrations to enhance accuracy of a registration of image volumes. A registration relationship between a first source volume and a target volume and a registration relationship between the first source volume and a second source volume are concatenated to provide an estimate of a registration relationship between the second source volume and the target volume. The estimate is utilized to inform the direct registration of the second source volume to the target volume or utilized in place of the direct registration.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An image registration system, comprising:
 a registration engine configured to:
 obtain a first set of registration relationships respectively mapping between respective source images of a set of images and at least one target image; 
 determine a second set of registration relationships between respective pairs of source images in the set of images; 
 generate a set of estimated registration relationships via respective combinations of a relationship from the first set with a relationship of the second set; and 
 register at least one source image from the set of images to the at least one target image based in part on an associated estimated registration relationship from the set of estimated registration relationships; and 
   a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the registration engine comprises computer-executable instructions stored on the computer-readable storage medium.   
     
     
         2 . The image registration system of  claim 1 , wherein the registration engine determines deformable registrations between images. 
     
     
         3 . The image registration system of  claim 1 , wherein the registration engine utilizes the associated estimated registration relationship as a final registration relationship between the at least one source image and the at least one target image. 
     
     
         4 . The image registration system of  claim 1 , wherein a combination of a first registration relationship with a second registration relationship correlates a first location of a first image to a second location of a second image via a third location of a third image,
 wherein the first registration relationship maps the first location of the first image to the third location of the third image, and   the second registration relationship maps the third location of the third image to the second location of the second image.   
     
     
         5 . The image registration system of  claim 1 , wherein the registration engine is further configured to determine an initial set of registration relationships between respective pairs of source images in the set of images, the initial set being distinct from the second set of registration relationships. 
     
     
         6 . The image registration system of  claim 5 , wherein the registration engine is further configured to combine respective pairs of registration relationships from the initial set to build an initial set of estimated registration relationships between respective pairs of source images in the set of images. 
     
     
         7 . The image registration system of  claim 6 , wherein the registration engine is further configured to refine the initial set of registration relationships based on the initial set of estimated registration relationships to produce a refined set of registration relationships. 
     
     
         8 . The image registration system of  claim 7 , wherein the registration engine is further configured to iteratively combine respective pairs of registration relationships from the refined set and update the refined set based on results of a combination. 
     
     
         9 . The image registration system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one target image is a plurality of target images registered to a common space, and
 wherein the registration engine is further configured to register source images of the set of images to the plurality of target images to generate a final registration relationship between the source images and the common space, the final registration relationship is based on respective registration relationships between the source images and each target image.   
     
     
         10 . The image registration system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one target image is a plurality of target images registered to a common space, and
 wherein the registration engine is further configured to register source images of the set of images to the plurality of target images to generate a final registration relationship between the source images and the common space, the final registration relationship is based on respective registration parameters between the source images and each target image.   
     
     
         11 . The image registration system of  claim 10 , wherein, as a result of registration based on the respective registration parameters, the source images are registered to the common space according to an equal contributing influence from each of the plurality of target images. 
     
     
         12 . The image registration system of  claim 1 , wherein the registration engine is further configured to determine, simultaneously and iteratively, the first set of registration relationships and the second set of registration relationships. 
     
     
         13 . The image registration system of  claim 1 , wherein the registration engine is further configured to guide a registration of the at least one source image from the set of images to the at least one target image towards the associated estimate registration relationship. 
     
     
         14 . The image registration system of  claim 1 , wherein the computer-readable storage medium further stores thereon a library comprising the set of images, and
 wherein, after registration of the at least one source image to the at least one target image, a resultant registration relationship and the at least one target image are added to the library.   
     
     
         15 . A method of registering image volumes, comprising:
 registering a first image volume to a second image volume;   registering a third image volume to the first image volume;   combining a first registration relationship, between the first image volume and the second image volume, with a second registration relationship, between the third image volume to the first image volume, such that a combination of the first and second registration relationship is an estimated registration relationship between the third image volume and the second image volume; and   registering the third image volume to the second image volume based at least in part on the estimated registration relationship.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein registering comprises performing a deformable registration operation. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the first image volume, the second image volume, and the third image volume are medical images. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the first image volume and the third image volume are stored in a common library, the method further comprising pre-registering the third image volume to the first image volume. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising storing a resultant registration relationship in the common library. 
     
     
         20 . A method of generating a reference template for registration, comprising:
 respectively registering pairs of image volumes of a library of image volumes to generate a first set of intra-library registration relationships;   concatenating each registration relationship from the first set of intra-library registration relationships to a selected relationship to build a set of estimated registration relationships to the reference template; and   registering image volumes to the reference template based on the set of estimate registration relationships.