Automatic registration of CT volumes and dual-energy digital radiography for detection of cardiac and lung diseases.

We are investigating image processing and analysis techniques to improve the ability of dual-energy digital radiography (DR) for the detection of cardiac calcification. Computed tomography (CT) is an established tool for the diagnosis of coronary artery diseases. Dual-energy digital radiography could be a cost-effective alternative. In this study, we use three-dimensional (3D) CT images as the "gold standard" to evaluate the DR X-ray images for calcification detection. To this purpose, we developed an automatic registration method for 3D CT volumes and two-dimensional (2D) X-ray images. We call this 3D-to-2D registration. We first use a 3D CT image volume to simulate X-ray projection images and then register them with X-ray images. The registered CT projection images are then used to aid the interpretation dual-energy X-ray images for the detection of cardiac calcification. We acquired both CT and X-ray images from patients with coronary artery diseases. Experimental results show that the 3D-to-2D registration is accurate and useful for this new application.