Nonfiducial shape-based registration of biological tissue
Kevin N. Montgomery, Muriel D. Ross · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 1996
Three-dimensional reconstruction of biological specimens often requires the registration of successive sections of tissue. However, the introduction of fiducial markers is exceedingly difficult in some imaging modalities. We describe a fully automated registration method for use with transmission electron microscopy or other modalities that does not require the existence of fiducial markers. This system employs an error manipulation approach with progressive refinement that converges to the locally optimal registration across al considered objects. When used in conjunction with other methods for coarse refinement, a globally optimal solution is produced. The method can also be customized to the characteristics of the tissue involved. Among many of the possibilities, it can register based on contour location or, more interestingly, on contour shape, which effectively minimizes the surface tension of the resulting reconstruction. In addition, weighting factors are available to give increased consideration to larger objects when appropriate.