Design for a 3-D deformable brain atlas

The 3-D deformable brain atlas (DBA), an integrated image database/knowledge base system is proposed. Major aims of the DBA are to integrate spatial and symbolic representations of anatomical knowledge, and to create an open system of information which the user can both search and append additional information. An object-oriented and landmark-based registration and integration scheme that fulfils these goals is described. Landmarks are chosen for image registration and atlas integration. The registration approach, which treats images as elastic materials, uses Gaussian radial basis functions. Registration is both simple and efficient and can be applied to both 2-D and 3-D imagery. Sets of landmarks, called frame points, allow new images to be integrated into the DBA through an existing parent image (2-D or 3-D). A web structure is used to track and update the information needed in the registration and integration process. The major features of the DBA system are illustrated