Atlas to patient registration with brain tumor based on a mesh-free method

Brain atlas to patient registration in the presence of tumors is a challenging task because its presence cause brain structure deformations and introduce large intensity variation between the affected areas. This large dissimilarity affects the results of traditional registration methods based on intensity or shape similarities. In order to overcome these problems, we propose a novel method that brings closer the atlas and the patient´s image by simulating the mechanical behavior of brain deformation under a tumor pressure. The proposed method use a mesh-free total Lagrangian Explicit Dynamic algorithm for the simulation of atlas deformation and a data driven model of the tumor using multi-modal MRI segmentation. Experimental results look structurally very similar to the patient´s image and outperform two of the top ranking algorithms.