Elastic Matching Using a Deformation Sphere

A novel method is proposed for elastic matching of two data volumes. A combination of mutual information, gradient information and smoothness of transformation is used to guide the deformation of another of the volumes. The deformation is accomplished in a multiresolution process by spheres containing a vector field. Position and radius of the spheres are varied. The feasibility of the method is demonstrated in two cases: matching inter-patient MR images of the head and intra-patient cardiac MR and PET images.