Generation of Combined-Modality Tetrahedral Meshes

Registering and combining anatomical components from different image modalities, like MRI and CT that have different tissue contrast, could result in patient-specific models that more closely represent underlying anatomical structures. In this study, we combined a pair of CT and MRI scans of a pig thorax to make a tetrahedral mesh and compared different registration techniques including rigid, affine, thin plate spline morphing (TPSM), and iterative closest point (ICP), to superimpose the segmented bones from the CT scan on the soft tissues segmented from the MRI. The TPSM and affine-registered bones remained close to, but not overlapping, important soft tissue. Simulation models, including an ECG forward model and a defibrillation model, were computed on generated multi-modality meshes after TPSM and affine registration and compared to those based on the original torso mesh.