Patent ID: 7200269

Claim:
A method for non-rigid image registration using distance functions, the method comprising: receiving a source shape comprising uncertainties and a target shape; creating an augmented registration space comprising a plurality of target shape clones coherently positioned in an information space; considering a global linear parametric registration model and a corresponding local pixel-wise deformation field resulting in a non-rigid registration paradigm for the target shape; recovering both of the global linear parametric registration model and the corresponding local pixel-wise deformation field simultaneously through a gradient-descent method; integrating at least one global linear parametric registration model with local deformations from at least one corresponding local pixel-wise deformation field to assess the source shape; optimizing a functional defined on a parameter or feature space, the functional quantifying the similarity between the source shape and at least one target shape or target shape clone in terms of distance functions; and registering the source shape by seeking mutual correspondences between the source shape, the target shape and the target shape clones.