Groupwise registration of sequential images from multispectral imaging (MSI) of the retina and choroid

Multispectral Imaging (MSI) produces a sequence of discrete spectral slices that penetrate different light-absorbing species or chromophores and is a noninvasive technology useful for the early detection of various retinal, optic nerve and choroidal diseases. However, eye movement during the image acquisition process may introduce spatial misalignment between MSI images. This potentially causes trouble in the manual/automatic interpretation of MSI, but still remains an unresolved problem to this date. To deal with this MSI misalignment problem, we present a method on the groupwise registration of sequential images from MSI of the retina and choroid. The advantage of our algorithm is at least threefold: 1) simultaneous estimation of landmark correspondences and a parametric motion model via quadratic programming, 2) enforcement of temporal smoothness on the estimated motion, and 3) inclusion of a robust matching cost function. As validated in our experiments with a database of 22 MSI sequences, our algorithm outperforms two state-of-the-art registration techniques proposed originally in other domains. Our algorithm is potentially invaluable in ophthalmologists' clinical practice regarding various eye diseases.