Registration of 3-D head surfaces using multiple landmarks

• Published in: IEEE transactions on medical imaging Vol. 12; no. 3; pp. 515 - 520
• Main Authors: Fright, W.R., Linney, A.D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.09.1993; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Subjects: Application software; Biological and medical sciences; Computed tomography; Computer errors; Computer graphics; Computerized, statistical medical data processing and models in biomedicine; Head; Medical computing and teaching; Medical sciences; Newton method; Optical sensors; Position measurement; Shape measurement; X-ray imaging; Head; Radiodiagnosis; Three dimensional representation; Computer simulation; Mathematical analysis; Skin; Computerized axial tomography; Recording; Measurement method; Technique; X ray analysis; Surface
• ISSN: 0278-0062; 1558-254X
• DOI: 10.1109/42.241879

A mathematical procedure based on Newton's method is described that enables surface measurements to be registered, or normalized, with respect to spatial position, orientation, and, optionally, scale in three dimensions. An operator is required to identify homologous landmarks on the computer graphics images of surfaces to be registered. In this application, where the method is used to measure changes in facial shape, these landmarks are restricted to parts of the surface that have remained unchanged between the surfaces to be registered. Error in the registration of landmarks is minimized in a least-squares sense; hence multiple landmarks are favored to minimize the effect of individual errors produced by the measuring system and the operator. Examples are presented using measurements of the head taken with an optical surface scanner and a conventional X-ray computed tomography scanner.< >