Development of a low-cost hardware accelerator for 3D image registration

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant Our overall goal is to develop a novel computing solution for automatic and accurate registration spatial alignment of dimensional D medical images of any modality and any anatomy rigid or deformable in minute or less Such capability currently does not exist Existing image registration solutions have limited accuracy and or limited applicability preventing wide and routine clinical use Building on significant prior academic research we demonstrated the feasibility of creating the proposed technology in Phase I of this project We now propose to create a fully functional turnkey prototype a compact relatively low cost manufacturing cost $ PC board of hardware accelerated image registration with commercialization as the ultimate goal Image registration is a fundamental need in modern medicine a need that remains unmet It is the necessary first step before images with complementary information can be fused or images taken at different times can be subtracted to quantify anatomic physiologic changes It is also essential when creating a population based atlas from images of many subjects Image registration has numerous other applications including the registration of pre and intra operative images in a host of emerging minimally invasive image guided interventions especially those to treat cancer Our specific aims for Phase II are to create a fully integrated prototype of min image registration develop software for convenient third party integration and technology demonstration perform PACS picture archival and communication system integration and analyze enterprise wide utilization and develop high impact model applications These aims will continue the progress made in Phase I and help create a clinically tested and viable multipurpose image registration computing technology The proposed Phase II work will also put us in a strong position to secure private capital and licensing agreements and pursue commercialization Our proposed low cost ultrafast easy to use and accurate computing solution promises to unlock the full potential of medical image registration in virtually all clinical disciplines including radiology oncology neurology and cardiology Combining or more medical images of different types gives more precise information on a patientandapos s condition Comparing images taken at different times helps monitor how a disease is responding to treatment In either case image registration alignment is the crucial first step Current image registration methods are slow complex and tedious with limited practical applicability We propose developing automatic high speed dimensional registration capabilities that are applicable to most organs and image types We demonstrated the feasibility of creating such a technology in Phase I We propose its full development and extensive clinical demonstration in Phase II