Automatic image matching for breast cancer diagnostics by a 3D deformation model of the mamma.

X-ray mammograms and MR volumes provide complementary information for early breast cancer diagnosis. The breast is deformed during mammography, therefore the images can not be compared directly. A registration algorithm is investigated to fuse the images automatically. A finite element simulation was applied to a MR image of an underformed breast and compared to a compressed breast using different tissue models and boundary conditions. Based on the results a set of patient data was registered. To archive the requested accuracy distinguishing between the different tissue types of the breast was not necessary. A linear elastic model was sufficient. It was possible to simulate the deformation with an average deviation of approximately of the size of a voxel in the MRI data and retrieve the position of a lesion with an error of 3.8 mm in the patient data.