Matching of tomographic slices for interpolation.

An automatic method that can transform a sequence of tomographic image slices into an isotropic volume data set is described. In this method, correspondence is established between points in consecutive slices, and then this correspondence is used to estimate data between the slices by linear interpolation. The method takes advantage of the fact that consecutive slices have small geometric differences, and carries out the search in predicted small neighborhoods. Only points with high gradient magnitudes are used in the search process to increase the reliability of the correspondences. Mismatches that occur are detected and corrected using the continuity constraint in the correspondences. Experimental results showing the matching and interpolation of magnetic resonance slices and computed tomography slices are presented.