Slice-to-volume medical image registration: A survey

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Image Registration
• Computer-Aided Surgery

Background:

• Medical imaging research has seen significant advancements in image registration techniques.
• Slice-to-volume registration is crucial for image-guided surgeries and volumetric image reconstruction.
• Existing literature lacks a comprehensive survey on slice-to-volume registration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present the first comprehensive survey of the literature on slice-to-volume registration.
• To categorize existing slice-to-volume registration algorithms using a novel taxonomy.
• To analyze the advantages and disadvantages of different algorithmic approaches.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature review of slice-to-volume registration algorithms.
• Development of an ad-hoc taxonomy for categorizing algorithms.
• Comparative analysis of algorithm categories based on performance and applicability.

Main Results:

• The paper introduces a novel taxonomy for classifying slice-to-volume registration methods.
• Detailed analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of various algorithmic categories is provided.
• Key trends and challenges in the field are identified.

Conclusions:

• Slice-to-volume registration is a vital but underexplored area in medical imaging.
• The proposed taxonomy offers a structured approach to understanding existing methods.
• Future research should focus on addressing identified limitations and exploring novel techniques.