Evaluation of the tool "Reg Refine" for user-guided deformable image registration.

"Reg Refine" is a tool available in the MIM Maestro v6.4.5 platform (www.mim-software.com) that allows the user to actively participate in the deformable image registration process. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the efficacy of this tool and investigate strategies for how to apply it effectively. This was done by performing DIR on two publicly available ground-truth models, the Pixel-based Breathing Thorax Model (POPI) for lung, and the Deformable Image Registration Evaluation Project (DIREP) for head and neck. Image noise matched in both magnitude and texture to clinical CBCT scans was also added to each model to simulate the use case of CBCT-CT alignment. For lung, the results showed Reg Refine effective at improving registration accuracy when controlled by an expert user within the context of large lung deformation. CBCT noise was also shown to have no effect on DIR performance while using the MIM algorithm for this site. For head and neck, the results showed CBCT noise to have a large effect on the accuracy of registration, specifically for low-contrast structures such as the brain-stem and parotid glands. In these cases, the Reg Refine tool was able to improve the registration accuracy when controlled by an expert user. Several strategies for how to achieve these results have been outlined to assist other users and provide feedback for developers of similar tools.