Patent ID: 7127093

Claim:
A method for integrated image registration of cardiac magnetic resonance perfusion data that integrates a first channel of information indicative of pixel intensities with a second channel of information indicative of local gradients, the method comprising: providing a contoured region of interest on a first image having a plurality of pixels; receiving a second image corresponding to a time other than that of said first image; calculating pixel intensities for the second image from the first channel of information; estimating edge parameters for at least one of said first and second images from the second channel of information; calculating a template-match between said first and second images; selecting a pair of pixel locations from at least one of said first and second images in accordance with said template-match; registering the estimated edge parameters in correspondence with said calculated template-match for a pair of pixel values at said selected locations in said first image and a pair of pixel values at said selected locations in said second image, wherein said registering comprises applying an entropy framework to the first and second images; compensating for drifts due to sub-pixel shifts by incorporating the second channel of information in association with the applied entropy framework; and detecting a changed pixel location in accordance with said registering and said compensating.