Rapid and Accurate Registration Method between Intraoperative 2D XA and Preoperative 3D CTA Images for Guidance of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

In this paper, we propose a rapid rigid registration method for the fusion visualization of intraoperative 2D X-ray angiogram (XA) and preoperative 3D computed tomography angiography (CTA) images. First, we perform the cardiac cycle alignment of a patient’s 2D XA and 3D CTA images obtained from a different apparatus. Subsequently, we perform the initial registration through alignment of the registration space and optimal boundary box. Finally, the two images are registered where the distance between two vascular structures is minimized by using the local distance map, selective distance measure, and optimization of transformation function. To improve the accuracy and robustness of the registration process, the normalized importance value based on the anatomical information of the coronary arteries is utilized. The experimental results showed fast, robust, and accurate registration using 10 cases, each of the left coronary artery (LCA) and right coronary artery (RCA). Our method can be used as a computer-aided technology for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Our method can be applied to the study of other types of vessels.