Non-rigid registration of mammogram images using large displacement optical flow with extended flexibility for manual interventions

Abstract

This thesis presents a registration method for mammogram images with extended flexibility for manual inputs from medical specialists. The algorithm was developed as part of the Mammography project led by Professor. Regina Barzilay at MIT CSAIL. Given a sequence of mammogram images, the algorithm finds an optimal registration by considering both the global and local constraints as well as user-defined constraints such as manually selected matching points. This allows the registration process to be guided by both the algorithm itself and human experts. The second half of the thesis focuses on evaluating well-known optical flow and medical registration algorithms on mammogram images. It provides insights into how they perform when encountered by challenges and constraints that are unique in mammogram images.