A robust hybrid method for nonrigid image registration

A nonrigid registration method is proposed to automatically align two images by registering two sets of sparse features extracted from the images. Motivated by the paradigm of Robust Point Matching (RPM) algorithms [1] and [2], which were originally proposed for shape registration, we develop Robust Hybrid Image Matching (RHIM) algorithm by alternatively optimizing feature correspondence and spatial transformation for image registration. Our RHIM algorithm is built to be robust to feature extraction errors. A novel dynamic outlier rejection approach is described for removing outliers and a local refinement technique is applied to correct non-exactly matched correspondences arising from image noise and deformations. Experimental results demonstrate the robustness and accuracy of our method.     

一种新的基于多特征的图像自动配准技术*

提出了一种新的基于多特征的图像自动配准技术。该方法使用不变矩对图像中的区域进行匹配,然后利用匹配区域的区域标记寻找大尺度上的特征点作为控制点进行初始配准,进而在此基础上指导改进链码的方法对开放边缘进行二次配准。最后根据所得到的控制点构成的超定方程组利用最小二乘拟合的方法得到配准参数。经过实验证明该算法能够达到亚像素级的配准精度,并且适用于不同传感器图像以及同传感器同波段或不同波段图像之间的精确配准。     

一种新的基于多特征的图像自动配准技术

提出了一种新的基于多特征的图像自动配准技术。该方法使用不变矩对图像中的区域进行匹配,然后利用匹配区域的区域标记寻找大尺度上的特征点作为控制点进行初始配准,进而在此基础上指导改进链码的方法对开放边缘进行二次配准。最后根据所得到的控制点构成的超定方程组利用最小二乘拟合的方法得到配准参数。经过实验证明该算法能够达到亚像素级的配准精度,并且适用于不同传感器图像以及同传感器同波段或不同波段图像之间的精确配准。     

Feature matching based on unsupervised manifold alignment

Feature-based methods for image registration frequently encounter the correspondence problem. In this paper, we formulate feature-based image registration as a manifold alignment problem, and present a novel matching method for finding the correspondences among different images containing the same object. Different from the semi-supervised manifold alignment, our methods map the data sets to the underlying common manifold without using correspondence information. An iterative multiplicative updating algorithm is proposed to optimize the objective, and its convergence is guaranteed theoretically. The proposed approach has been tested for matching accuracy, and robustness to outliers. Its performance on synthetic and real images is compared with the state-of-the-art reference algorithms.     

A fast object registration method for augmented reality assembly with simultaneous determination of multiple 2D-3D correspondences

A fast and robust object registration is one of the fundamental steps of an augmented reality (AR) assembly guidance system. To manage the registration of texture-less objects from monocular images, this paper presents a three-dimensional (3D) object registration solution in the view-based framework, which incorporates a new image feature named as chain-of-lines feature (COLF). The COLF, constructed by several directed line segments with geometric constraints, enhances the robustness of the registration by establishing multiple correspondences between the two-dimensional (2D) image and 3D model simultaneously. In order to save on computational cost and improve the efficiency of the COLF-based registration, a compression algorithm based on the local breadth-first search (LBFS) strategy is also proposed; this adaptively reduces the number of keyframes according to the target model. In the experimental evaluation, the combination of COLF and LBFS-based keyframe compression shows higher registration success rate and faster speed in comparison with conventional registration methods. Moreover, an AR assembly guidance prototype system for reductors is introduced to illustrate the application of the proposed registration method.     

Fast image registration by hierarchical soft correspondence detection

A new approach, based on the hierarchical soft correspondence detection, has been presented for significantly improving the speed of our previous HAMMER image registration algorithm. Currently, HAMMER takes a relative long time, e.g., up to 80 min, to register two regular sized images using Linux machine (with 2.40 GHz CPU and 2-Gbyte memory). This is because the results of correspondence detection, used to guide the image warping, can be ambiguous in complex structures and thus the image warping has to be conservative and accordingly takes long time to complete. In this paper, a hierarchical soft correspondence detection technique has been employed to detect correspondences more robustly, thereby allowing the image warping to be completed straightforwardly and fast. By incorporating this hierarchical soft correspondence detection technique into the HAMMER registration framework, both the robustness and the accuracy of registration (in terms of low average registration error) can be achieved. Experimental results on real and simulated data show that the new registration algorithm, based on the hierarchical soft correspondence detection, can run nine times faster than HAMMER while keeping the similar registration accuracy.     

基于Co-motion的可见光——热红外图像序列自动配准算法

提出了一种基于Co-motion的可见光--热红外图像序列自动配准方法, 引入Co-motion运动统计特征来解决异源图像序列配准问题, 从而避开了异源图像相似图像特征提取和精确运动检测的难题. 由于可见光和热红外成像机理不同, 在运用运动统计特征时, 会面临与同源配准不同的诸多问题, 如难以提取相似前景、大量外点干扰和易受大尺度变化的影响等. 本文通过对所面临难题的分析 提出了适合于异源图像序列配准的同名点对选取方法和外点去除方法, 并精确迭代优化变换模型. 对俄亥俄州大学红外--可见光数据库和自建数据库共8组数据的实验分析结果表明, 该算法在大尺度、旋转、平移及视场角变化下均能精确配准.     

基于粒子滤波和模拟退火方法的图像配准

图像配准技术在很多领域都应用广泛,如在医学图像分析、计算机视觉、遥感图像等。在仿射变换模型下,只需知道仿射变换参数即可对图像进行配准。为了准确快速地配准,论文在贝叶斯框架下,提出了一种基于粒子滤波和模拟退火法相结合的图像配准算法。首先通过观测模型得到参数的后验概率分布,利用粒子滤波逐步迭代并更新权值来逼近参数的真实值,再利用重构的概率分布模型获得准确的仿射变换参数,对图像进行配准。在粒子更新阶段利用模拟退火算法改进寻优过程,提高运算效率,使结果快速收敛。最后通过实验验证,该文方法易于实现,有较高的准确性和鲁棒性。     

Fingerprint image mosaicking by recursive ridge mapping.

To obtain a large fingerprint image from several small partial images, mosaicking of fingerprint images has been recently researched. However, existing approaches cannot provide accurate transformations for mosaics when it comes to aligning images because of the plastic distortion that may occur due to the nonuniform contact between a finger and a sensor or the deficiency of the correspondences in the images. In this paper, we propose a new scheme for mosaicking fingerprint images, which iteratively matches ridges to overcome the deficiency of the correspondences and compensates for the amount of plastic distortion between two partial images by using a thin-plate spline model. The proposed method also effectively eliminates erroneous correspondences and decides how well the transformation is estimated by calculating the registration error with a normalized distance map. The proposed method consists of three phases: feature extraction, transform estimation, and mosaicking. Transform is initially estimated with matched minutia and the ridges attached to them. Unpaired ridges in the overlapping area between two images are iteratively matched by minimizing the registration error, which consists of the ridge matching error and the inverse consistency error. During the estimation, erroneous correspondences are eliminated by considering the geometric relationship between the correspondences and checking if the registration error is minimized or not. In our experiments, the proposed method was compared with three existing methods in terms of registration accuracy, image quality, minutia extraction rate, processing time, reject to fuse rate, and verification performance. The average registration error of the proposed method was less than three pixels, and the maximum error was not more than seven pixels. In a verification test, the equal error rate was reduced from 10% to 2.7% when five images were combined by our proposed method. The proposed method was superior to other compared methods in terms of registration accuracy, image quality, minutia extraction rate, and verification.     

基于角点特征和最大互信息的图像配准

基于互信息的配准方法是图像配准领域的重要方法。互信息是图像配准中常用的相似性度量,具有鲁棒、精度高等优点,但基于互信息的配准计算量大,制约了它的实际应用。文章提出一种基于角点和最大互信息配准方法:首先采用间接算法来计算曲率的极大值点,从而能快速准确的提取角点集;接着计算两幅图像角点集间的互信息,最后通过POWELL算法搜索使互信息最大以实现配准。实验表明,该算法计算简单,配准速度快,具有更好的精确性和鲁棒性。     

基于Fourier-Mellin变换的图像配准方法及应用拓展

从两个方面拓展了基于Fourier—Mellin变换的图像配准方法的应用范围．首先是全景图像的拼接．不同于传统的方法,该方法不需要准确控制相机的运动,小需要知道相机的焦距等内部参数．也不需要检测图像特征,在配准精度要求不是很高的情况下,直接生成的全景图像可以满足很多实际应用的需要;同时,实验也表明,该方法应用于弱透视图像的配准．也具有很好的配准效果．另一个拓展是图像曲线的匹配．传统的曲线匹配方法一般通过曲线特征点（如角点、曲率极值点等）之间的对应求得曲线间的变换参数．一种新的思想是先将图像曲线转化为二值图像,然后应用Fourier—Mellin变换对这些二值图像进行配准,从而达到对两条曲线的匹配．大量实验表明,该方法对射影畸变不是十分显著且摄像机为一般运动下获得的图像之间的配准问题（如手持数码相机获取的图像之间的配准问题）均能取得比较好的配准效果．     

基于多空间信息提取的级联分块配准模型

在基于深度学习的医学图像配准中, 当医学图像中包含多种组织类型时, 不同组织之间结构的不同可能会导致网络配准的精度下降, 特别是在复杂形变区域, 如组织的交界处和病变区域, 精准的配准变得更加困难, 现有的配准算法对复杂形变区域的关注度不高, 导致配准精度较低. 同时现有的配准网络无法同时对图像的局部和全局空间信息进行捕获, 导致网络的鲁棒性不够, 在迁移到其他器官的配准工作中时配准准确率低. 为了解决上述的问题, 本文提出一种基于多空间信息提取的级联分块配准模型, 本模型可以有效利用输入图像的局部和空间信息, 并通过分块融合的技术, 将医学图像进行分块并依次对每个图像进行精细配准生成相应的形变场块, 在模型的最后阶段将生成的形变场块进行融合还原, 以增强网络对局部复杂形变区域的配准强度. 实验结果表明, 所提方法不仅在脑部配准上有所提升, 并且在其他人体部位的配准中也有较好的表现, 提高了医学图像配准的准确性和可靠性, 为临床医生提供更好的诊断和治疗支持.     

基于投影图像 SURF 特征提取的三维模型配准

针对传统三维模型配准方法存在对点云初始位置有一定要求、模型配准的精度有 时不高等问题,提出了一种基于三维模型投影图像 SURF 特征提取的三维模型配准方法。首先 通过扫描三维模型数据确定投影图像的范围,判断每个投影图像像素所隶属的模型网格,并求 解从投影图像到纹理图像的映射关系,从而获取二维投影图像;然后对这两幅投影图像分别进 行 SURF 特征点的选取与特征值的计算,并按 SURF 特征值进行特征匹配,再根据投影图像像 素点与三维网格端点的映射关系计算三维特征点对;最后通过匹配的特征点对求取模型变换矩 阵完成三维模型的配准。实验结果表明,该方法在配准时间变化不大的前提下,有效提高了配 准精度,并具有较好的鲁棒性。     

基于多通道稀疏编码的非刚性多模态医学图像配准

针对稀疏编码相似性测度在非刚性医学图像配准中对灰度偏移场具有较好的鲁棒性,但只适用于单模态医学图像配准的问题,提出基于多通道稀疏编码的非刚性多模态医学图像配准方法。该方法将多模态配准问题视为一个多通道配准问题来解决,每个模态在一个单独的通道下运行;首先对待配准的两幅图像分别进行合成和正则化,然后划分通道和图像块,使用K奇异值分解（K-SVD）算法训练每个通道中的图像块得到分析字典和稀疏系数,并对每个通道进行加权求和,采用多层P样条自由变换模型来模拟非刚性几何形变,结合梯度下降法优化目标函数。实验结果表明,与局部互信息、多通道局部方差和残差复杂性（MCLVRC）、多通道稀疏诱导的相似性测度（MCSISM）、多通道Rank Induced相似性测度（MCRISM）多模态相似性测度相比,均方根误差分别下降了30.86%、22.24%、26.84%和16.49%。所提方法能够有效克服多模态医学图像配准中灰度偏移场对配准的影响,提高配准的精度和鲁棒性。     

医学图像配准中基于图像梯度的灰度压缩

基于互信息的医学图像配准,其配准精度可以达到亚像素水平,精度高且鲁棒性好,但互信息的巨大计算量使配准速度较慢,不能达到临床使用要求,而互信息的计算速度与图像的灰度阶数有关。为此,针对互信息由于图像灰度级数过多造成互信息计算量大的问题,提出一种基于图像梯度的灰度压缩算法。算法采用图像的梯度信息,根据图像梯度对图像进行非线性灰度映射,同时利用小波对差异图像进行分解和重构。实验结果证明,该算法能减少图像灰度阶数,同时较好地保留图像的细节信息,在保持配准精度的前提下减少配准时间。     

基于局部重叠区域的无显著特征图像配准算法

针对沙漠、戈壁等特征不显著场景在配准过程中存在快速性、精确性等问题,提出一种基于局部重叠区域的特征不显著图像配准方法。首先利用图像标记对待配准图像进行预处理增强其特征,接着通过多相机三维投影对多幅待配准图像重叠区域进行预算,并采用图像掩膜和图像分割技术将重叠区域分割出来,最后对重叠区域使用ORB+GMS（Oriented Brief-Grid-based Motion Statistics for Fast）融合算法进行配准,完成多幅图像的配准工作。基于图像重叠区域的配准避免了无显著特征图像在进行整体配准时精确性低的缺点,并且由于是局部配准,相较于全局配准拥有更快的配准速度。对比传统配准方法和本文提出的改进配准方法,实验结果显示,本文提出的改进方法配准精度在传统配准方法的基础上提升了28%,同时,算法具有更高的鲁棒性和实时性。     

基于改进快速鲁棒特征的图像快速拼接算法

针对快速鲁棒特性（SURF）算法实时性、鲁棒性等无法满足实际应用需求的问题,提出了一种对SURF的改进算法,实现图像快速拼接。改进的算法采用机器学习的方法,建立一个二进制分类器,识别出SURF提取的特征点中的关键特征点,并剔除非关键特征点。此外,采用Relief-F算法将改进的SURF描述子降维简化来完成图像配准。图像融合阶段采用带阈值的加权融合算法,实现了图像无缝拼接。实验结果表明,改进的算法具有较强的实时性和鲁棒性,并且提高了图像配准的效率,加快了图像拼接的速度。     

Parametric estimation of affine deformations of planar shapes

We consider the estimation of affine transformations aligning a known 2D shape and its distorted observation. The classical way to solve this registration problem is to find correspondences between the shapes and then compute the transformation parameters from these landmarks. Here we propose a novel approach where the exact transformation is obtained as the solution of a polynomial system of equations. The method has been tested on synthetic as well as on real images and its robustness in the presence of segmentation errors and additive geometric noise has also been demonstrated. We have successfully applied the method for the registration of hip prosthesis X-ray images. The advantage of the proposed solution is that it is fast, easy to implement, has linear time complexity, works without established correspondences and provides an exact solution regardless of the magnitude of transformation.     

基于交叉累计剩余熵的多谱磁共振图像配准

针对传统互信息(MI)图像配准容易产生局部极值的问题,提出一种基于交叉累计剩余熵(CCRE)的多谱磁共振图像配准方法.首先,将参考和浮动图像压缩至5位和7位灰度级;然后,采用哈宁窗Sinc插值计算5位灰度图像的CCRE,并用Brent算法搜索CCRE得到预配准的变换参数;最后,从该变换参数出发,采用部分体积(PV)插值计算7位灰度图像的CCRE,用Powell算法进行优化,得到最终的变换参数.实验结果表明,该方法的鲁棒性相比直接采用PV插值的CCRE配准得到提高;配准时间比直接采用哈宁窗Sinc插值的CCRE配准节省了90%左右,且配准精度有所提高.该方法兼顾了鲁棒性、效率和精度,适合用于多谱图像配准.     

基于机器学习的肺部CT图像非刚性配准误差预测方法

配准误差评估通常由人工完成,耗时费力;常用的Dice测度只关注组织边缘的配准误差,难以评估组织内部配准结果。针对以上问题,提出一种基于机器学习的肺部CT图像非刚性配准误差预测方法(PREML)。该方法首先构建形变场统计特征、形变场物理保真度特征和图像相似性特征三类特征,然后通过池化方法扩充特征数量,最后使用随机森林回归方法预测非刚性配准误差,并且使用自适应随机扰动方法模拟肺部配准误差空间分布,进一步提升形变场统计特征的配准误差表征能力。在三个肺部CT图像数据集上进行训练与测试,其配准误差预测结果与金标准之间的平均绝对差异为1.245±2.500 mm,预测性能优于基线方法。结果表明,PREML方法具有预测精度高、鲁棒性强的特点,可提升配准算法在临床应用的有效性和安全性。