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.