3D-2D registration in mobile radiographs: algorithm development and preliminary clinical evaluation

An image-based 3D-2D registration method is presented using radiographs acquired in the uncalibrated, unconstrained geometry of mobile radiography. The approach extends a previous method for six degree-of-freedom (DOF) registration in C-arm fluoroscopy (namely 'LevelCheck') to solve the 9-DOF estimate of geometry in which the position of the source and detector are unconstrained. The method was implemented using a gradient correlation similarity metric and stochastic derivative-free optimization on a GPU. Development and evaluation were conducted in three steps. First, simulation studies were performed that involved a CT scan of an anthropomorphic body phantom and 1000 randomly generated digitally reconstructed radiographs in posterior-anterior and lateral views. A median projection distance error (PDE) of 0.007 mm was achieved with 9-DOF registration compared to 0.767 mm for 6-DOF. Second, cadaver studies were conducted using mobile radiographs acquired in three anatomical regions (thorax, abdomen and pelvis) and three levels of source-detector distance (similar to 800, similar to 1000 and similar to 1200 mm). The 9-DOF method achieved a median PDE of 0.49 mm (compared to 2.53 mm for the 6-DOF method) and demonstrated robustness in the unconstrained imaging geometry. Finally, a retrospective clinical study was conducted with intraoperative radiographs of the spine exhibiting real anatomical deformation and image content mismatch (e.g. interventional devices in the radiograph that were not in the CT), demonstrating a PDE = 1.1 mm for the 9-DOF approach. Average computation time was 48.5 s, involving 687701 function evaluations on average, compared to 18.2 s for the 6-DOF method. Despite the greater computational load, the 9-DOF method may offer a valuable tool for target localization (e.g. decision support in level counting) as well as safety and quality assurance checks at the conclusion of a procedure (e.g. overlay of planning data on the radiograph for verification of the surgical product) in a manner consistent with natural surgical workflow.