A computerized system for the elastic matching of deformed radiographic images to idealized atlas images

A system of computer programs is described which, for the first time, is able to use computerized tomographic data to automatically locate, measure, and describe anatomical structures of interest with accuracy and consistency. Input to the system consists of any digitized radiographic data. Computer assisted tomographic (CAT) scans of the head were used in this first implementation. Using these data and a predefined atlas picture representing an idealized view of the average normal image, an individualized atlas was created. From the individualized atlas, structure size, density, location displacement, and distortion may be calculated. The individualized atlas created using high resolution data, such as the CAT scan, may then be directly superimposed on pictures obtained using lower resolution modalities, such as positron emission tomographic scan images. This allows the precise location of structures poorly visualized by the secondary imaging modality. This system is capable of using either two- or three-dimensional data.