Stent graft removal for improving 2D–3D registration

Being performed under extensive radiation exposure, endovascular stent graft placements would greatly benefit from a reliable navigation solution. A successful implementation of such a system requires an accurate 2D-3D registration. Since the stent graft is only visible in the radiograph, registration algorithms can easily be attracted to wrong structures. In this paper, we address this problem by presenting a fast algorithm for removing the stent graft which meets real-time constraints. Based on Poisson editing, our method is easy to implement and extremely user-friendly as it requires neither parameter adjustment nor precise presegmentation. Moreover, we prove the significance of our algorithm by a realistic ground truth study.