A class of spline functions for landmark‐based image registration

A class of spline functions, called Lobachevsky splines, is proposed for landmark‐based image registration. Analytic expressions of Lobachevsky splines and some of their properties are given, reasoning in the context of probability theory. Because these functions have simple analytic expressions and compact support, landmark‐based transformations can be advantageously defined using them. Numerical results point out accuracy and stability of Lobachevsky splines, comparing them with Gaussians and thin plate splines. Moreover, an application to a real‐life case (cervical X‐ray images) shows the effectiveness of the proposed method. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.