MRI-SPECT fusion for the synthesis of high resolution 3D functional brain images: a preliminary study

Medical imaging being a fast-expanding held, multimodal data fusion appears more and more as a key element for the optimal use of images. By fusion. we mean the combination of several information sources tin particular images), with the aim of providing either more condensed or more pertinent information. The long term scope of this work would be to improve the interpretation of 3D brain images, providing extra elements for the diagnosis and patient follow up. This preliminary study is part of a wider context: the medical follow up of patients suffering from probable Alzheimer disease observed in single photon emission tomography by fusion after registration with magnetic resonance images. Several information combination techniques based on the possibility theory are presented. A new operator, more specifically adapted to the fusion of anatomical and functional images, as well as a high resolution functional image synthesis technique are proposed. A first comparative study of fusion techniques is then proposed. Although no thorough test protocol has been defined, these preliminary results are encouraging, giving access to a wide field of potential clinical applications. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.