Co-registration of radiography and nuclear medicine images with reference to bone tumours and trauma

Full text: Image co-registration is a computer technique that realigns images acquired from different modalities, presenting different orientations and magnifications, such that each possesses the same orientation and size. The images can then be overlaid demonstrate similarities and differences between the images We discuss several techniques that have been described for 2D or planar co-registration. The planar technique is less commonly used than 3D co-registration, which is widely undertaken with various applications. Wrist or ankle injury is sometimes difficult to diagnose with one imaging modality only, with reference to plain X-ray films and nuclear medicine images. Initial scaphoid radiographs are found to have a sensitivity to fracture of only 64%. Corroborative radiographic evidence is therefore often initially lacking at a time when the possibility of fracture asks the orthopaedic question: casting or not casting? A positive nuclear medicine scan may not always identify the precise anatomical location. By combining the information contained in each of the imaging modalities, a new representation can be produced by simultaneous display of anatomical information from X-rays and functional information from the bone scan. Very few papers have been written on this subject; however, 2 papers reported an improvement in localization, and consequent diagnosis, of wrist injury of 34 to 45%