Optimised MRI intensity standardisation based on multi-dimensional sub-regional point cloud registration

ABSTRACT

As one of the most widely used medical imaging methods, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and its corresponding automatic image analysis are research hotspots in computer-aided medical diagnosis. However, due to the disparities in imaging parameters and scanner characteristics, the variation in intensity distribution between scanners results in performance reduction in automatic image analysis and diagnosis. This paper aims at obtaining sub-region intensity distribution and forming a robust non-rigid intensity transforming function in order to standardise the intensities of MR images. The proposed method includes multi-modality image registration, sub-region standard intensity estimation, weighted $n$ -dimensional point cloud generation and global intensity transformation. Between the target images and reference images, this novel method could not only avoid the intensity distortion due to the inconsistency of inter-tissue brightness relationship, but also reduce the dependence on the accuracy of multi-modality MR image registration. Experiments show performance enhancement in peak signal-to-noise ratio, average disparity, histogram correlation, mean square error and structural similarity over the existing methods. Therefore, the intensities of MR images from different scanners could be standardised by the proposed method, so that multi-centre/multi-machine correlation could be promoted.

KEYWORDS:

• Magnetic resonance imaging
• intensity standardisation
• sub-region intensity
• point cloud
• spline interpolation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary data

Supplementary data for this article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China [2015CB755500].

Notes on contributors

Yuan Gao

Yuan Gao received the B.Sc. degree in electronic engineering from Fudan University, Shanghai, China, in 2015. He is currently an Ph.D. candidate in biomedical engineering in the Department of Electronic Engineering, Fudan University. His current research interests include medical image processing and ultrasound imaging.

Jiawei Pan

Jiawei Pan, Doctor of Medicine, graduated from Medical College of Fudan University. He is currently working in Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University. He is currently engaged in post-doctoral research in the School of Information Engineering, Fudan University. His main research direction is imaging diagnosis of cerebrovascular diseases.

Yi Guo

Yi Guo received the Ph.D. degree in biomedical engineering from Fudan University, Shanghai, China, in 2013.She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Electronic Engineering, Fudan University. Her current research interests include medical signal and image processing.

Jinhua Yu

Jinhua Yu received the Ph.D. degree in electronic engineering from Fudan University, Shanghai, China, in 2008. From 2008 to 2010, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Department of Bioengineering, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO.She is currently a Full Professor in Electronic Engineering Department of Fudan University. Her current research interests include medical signal analysis, radiomics, and ultrasound imaging.

Jun Zhang

Jun Zhang, Doctor of Medicine, graduated from Medical College of Fudan University. He is currently working in Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University. His main research interests are central nervous system imaging diagnosis and molecular imaging.

Daoying Geng

Daoying Geng, Professor, PhD supervisor. She received a bachelor's degree in medicine from Xuzhou Medical College of Jiangsu Province, a doctor's degree in medicine from Graduate School of Shanghai Medical University, and a postdoctoral title in basic medicine from Shanghai Medical University in May 1998. She was a visiting scholar at University of Southern California University and Saint Joseph Medical Center.

Yuanyuan Wang

Yuanyuan Wang received the B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electronic engineering from Fudan University, Shanghai, China, in 1990, 1992 and 1994, respectively.During 1994 to 1996, he was a Postdoctoral research Fellow with the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science at University of Wales, Bangor, UK. In May 1996, he went back to Department of Electronic Engineering at Fudan University as an associate professor. He was then promoted to a full professor in May, 1998. He is currently the director of Biomedical Engineering Center at Fudan University. He is also the author or coauthor of 6 books and 500 research papers. His research interests include medical ultrasound techniques and medical image processing.