Matching of projection imaging and tomographic imaging: application to digital subtracted angiography (DSA) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA)

This study proposes a new method for matching vascular imaging modalities without the use of external frame or external landmarks. We first perform a 3D reconstruction of a piece of the cerebral vascular tree using Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA). Then, this structure is projected on the Digital Subtracted Angiography (DSA) images until its best position and orientation are found. As the 3D structure is known in the MRA referential, this method enables us to match information from DSA and MRA. The complete matching of all the DSA images in many incidences and the MRA set have been obtained. For the DSA images, the epipolar constraint has been verified between all the incidences. This new approach in medical imaging brings a very original method, making easier and more efficient visualization and quantification of vascular information.