CT to ultrasound registration for non-invasive kinematic analysis of knee joints

Accurate measurement of the motion of individual bones in the knee joint is extremely important for the recovery of patients with motor dysfunction. The most recognized clinical method for measuring is inserting tantalum beads into the bone act as landmark prior to imaging using X-ray equipment at present. Nevertheless, the approach is invasive and the exposure to ionizing radiation is inevitable. This paper puts forward a new non-invasive, precise 3D kinematic analysis system based on registration of CT-scans and B-mode ultrasonic images which is able to capture the flexion of the bones in the knee joint accurately. The experimental results in this paper indicate that the system is capable of measuring the motion of the bones in the knee joint with high precision which is able to meet the need of 3D kinematic analysis for the knee joint.