Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 27, 2026
Author Spotlight: An Efficient and Robust Software for Automated Fusion of Multiple Preclinical Imaging Modalities
Published on: October 27, 2023
Registration strategies for multi-modal whole-body MRI mosaicing
Jakub Ceranka1,2, Mathias Polfliet1,2,3, Frédéric Lecouvet4
1Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Department of Electronics and Informatics (ETRO), Brussels, Belgium.
Purpose:
To test and compare different registration approaches for performing whole-body diffusion-weighted (wbDWI) image station mosaicing, and its alignment to corresponding anatomical T1 whole-body image.
Methods:
Four different registration strategies aiming at mosaicing of diffusion-weighted image stations, and their alignment to the corresponding whole-body anatomical image, were proposed and evaluated. These included two-step approaches, where diffusion-weighted stations are first combined in a pairwise (Strategy 1) or groupwise (Strategy 2) manner and later non-rigidly aligned to the anatomical image; a direct pairwise mapping of DWI stations onto the anatomical image (Strategy 3); and simultaneous mosaicing of DWI and alignment to the anatomical image (Strategy 4). Additionally, different images driving the registration were investigated. Experiments were performed for 20 whole-body images of patients with bone metastases.
Results:
Strategies 1 and 2 showed significant improvement in mosaicing accuracy with respect to the non-registered images (P < 0.006). Strategy 2 based on ADC images increased the alignment accuracy between DWI stations and the T1 whole-body image (P = 0.0009).
Conclusions:
A two-step registration strategy, relying on groupwise mosaicing of the ADC stations and subsequent registration to T1 , provided the best compromise between whole-body DWI image quality and multi-modal alignment. Magn Reson Med 79:1684-1695, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
