Atlas-based segmentation and tracking of 3D cardiac MR images using non-rigid registration

We propose a novel method for fully automated segmentation and tracking of the myocardium and left and right ventricles (LV and RV) using 4D MR images. The method uses non-rigid registration to elastically deform a cardiac atlas built automatically from 14 normal subjects. The registration yields robust performance and is particularly suitable for processing a sequence of 3D images in a cardiac cycle. Transformations are calculated to obtain the deformations between images in a sequence. The registration algorithm aligns the cardiac atlas to a subject specific atlas of the sequence generated with the transformations. The method relates images spatially and temporally and is suitable for measuring regional motion and deformation, as well as for labelling and tracking specific regions of the heart. In this work experiments for the registration, segmentation and tracking of a cardiac cycle are presented on nine MRI data sets. Validation against manual segmentations and computation of the correlation between manual and automatic tracking and segmentation on 141 3D volumes were calculated. Results show that the procedure can accurately track the left ventricle (r=0.99), myocardium (r=0.98) and right ventricle (r=0.96). Results for segmentation are also obtained for left ventricle (r=0.92), myocardium (r=0.82) and right ventricle (r=0.90).