Elastic image registration via rigid object motion induced deformation

In this paper, we estimate the deformations induced on soft tissues by the rigid independent movements of hard objects and create an admixture of rigid and elastic adaptive image registration transformations. By automatically segmenting and independently estimating the movement of rigid objects in 3D images, we can maintain rigidity in bones and hard tissues while appropriately deforming soft tissues. We tested our algorithms on 20 pairs of 3D MRI datasets pertaining to a kinematic study of the flexibility of the ankle complex of normal feet as well as ankles affected by abnormalities in foot architecture and ligament injuries. The results show that elastic image registration via rigid object-induced deformation outperforms purely rigid and purely nonrigid approaches.