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ANTs Multi-Stage Image Registration

Library: ANTs | Docker Image: antsx/ants

Function

State-of-the-art image registration supporting multiple stages (rigid, affine, SyN) with configurable metrics and convergence.

Modality: Any 3D NIfTI volume pair (fixed and moving images).

Typical Use: High-quality multi-stage registration with full parameter control.

Key Parameters

-d (dimension), -f (fixed), -m (moving), -t (transform type), -c (convergence), -s (smoothing sigmas), -o (output)

Key Points

Multi-stage approach: rigid then affine then SyN. SyN is symmetric diffeomorphic. CC metric best for intra-modal, MI for inter-modal.

Inputs

Name Type Required Label Flag
dimensionality int Yes Image dimensionality (2 or 3) -d
output_prefix string Yes Output transform prefix -o
fixed_image File Yes Fixed/reference image
moving_image File Yes Moving image to register
metric string Yes Metric specification (e.g., MI[fixed,moving,1,32,Regular,0.25]) -m
transform string Yes Transform specification (e.g., Rigid[0.1]) -t
convergence string Yes Convergence specification (e.g., [1000x500x250x100,1e-6,10]) -c
shrink_factors string Yes Shrink factors per level (e.g., 8x4x2x1) -f
smoothing_sigmas string Yes Smoothing sigmas per level (e.g., 3x2x1x0vox) -s
initial_moving_transform File No Initial transform for moving image -r
masks string No Mask specification (fixedMask,movingMask or single mask) -x
use_histogram_matching boolean No Use histogram matching -u
winsorize_image_intensities string No Winsorize intensities (e.g., [0.005,0.995]) -w
use_float boolean No Use float precision instead of double --float
interpolation enum No Interpolation method -n
verbose boolean No Enable verbose output -v
write_composite_transform boolean No Write composite transform -z

Accepted Input Extensions

  • fixed_image: .nii, .nii.gz
  • moving_image: .nii, .nii.gz
  • initial_moving_transform: .mat, .h5, .nii.gz, .txt

Outputs

Name Type Glob Pattern
warped_image File $(inputs.output_prefix)Warped.nii.gz
inverse_warped_image File $(inputs.output_prefix)InverseWarped.nii.gz
forward_transforms File[] $(inputs.output_prefix)*GenericAffine.mat, $(inputs.output_prefix)*Warp.nii.gz
inverse_transforms File[] $(inputs.output_prefix)*InverseWarp.nii.gz
log File antsRegistration.log

Output Extensions

  • warped_image: .nii.gz
  • inverse_warped_image: .nii.gz
  • forward_transforms: .mat, .nii.gz
  • inverse_transforms: .nii.gz

Enum Options

interpolation: Linear, NearestNeighbor, BSpline, Gaussian

Docker Tags

Available versions: latest, master, v2.6.5, 2.6.5, v2.6.4, 2.6.4, v2.6.3, 2.6.3, v2.6.2, 2.6.2 and 5 more

Categories

  • Structural MRI > ANTs > Registration

Documentation

Official Documentation