Registration Methods for Thermal Images of Diabetic Foot Monitoring: A Comparative Study

This paper presents a comparative study of image registration techniques for Diabetic Foot (DF) thermal images. Four registration methods (Intensity-based algorithm, Iterative closest point (ICP), subpixel registration algorithm, which is mainly based on Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), and the pyramid approach for subpixel registration) have been implemented and analyzed. The performances of the four algorithms were evaluated using several overlap and symmetry metrics such as the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR). The methods were analyzed in a first step on the images of contralateral feet (right and left) of the same subject, which is called in this paper "contralateral registration" and in a second step on a pair of images of the same subject but acquired in two different times T0 and T10 after applying a cold stress test, which is called "multi-temporal registration". Results showed that the intensity-based approach and the pyramid approach for subpixel registration algorithm give the best results in both types of registration (contralateral / multitemporal) and can be used efficiently for the registration of these types of images even under changing conditions.

@article{Bouallal2022,
  title     = {Registration Methods for Thermal Images of Diabetic Foot Monitoring: A Comparative Study},
  journal   = {International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications},
  volume    = {13},
  number    = {6},
  year      = {2022},
  publisher = {The Science and Information Organization},
  author    = {Doha Bouallal and Hassan Douzi and Rachid Harba},
  doi       = {10.14569/IJACSA.2022.0130670},
  url       = {https://doi.org/10.14569/IJACSA.2022.0130670}
}