Error when running sct_register_multimodal

Hello,

When I try to run sct_register_multimodal (slide 89 on Julien’s SCT5.4 Course from Nov 16, 2021), I get the error below. What might be the problem? I am trying to register template -> t2s (using warping field generated from template <-> t2 registration.

Spinal Cord Toolbox (5.3.0)

sct_register_multimodal -i /Users/msresearch/sct_5.3.0/data/PAM50/template/PAM50_t2s.nii.gz -iseg /Users/msresearch/sct_5.3.0/data/PAM50/template/PAM50_wm.nii.gz -d t2s.nii.gz -dseg t2s_wmseg.nii.gz -initwarp …/t2/warp_template2anat.nii.gz -initwarpinv …/t2/warp_anat2template.nii.gz -owarp warp_template2t2s.nii.gz -owarpinv warp_t2s2template.nii.gz -param step=1,type=seg,algo=rigid:step=2,type=seg,algo=bsplinesyn,slicewise=1,iter=3 -qc /Users/msresearch/Documents/Lisa/SCT/qc_SCT

sct_register_multimodal: error: unrecognized arguments: warp_t2s2template.nii.gz

usage: sct_register_multimodal -i -d [-h] [-iseg ] [-dseg ]
[-ilabel ] [-dlabel ] [-initwarp ]
[-initwarpinv ] [-m ] [-o ]
[-owarp ] [-param ] [-identity ]
[-z ] [-x {nn,linear,spline}] [-ofolder ]
[-qc ] [-qc-dataset ] [-qc-subject ]
[-r ] [-v ]

This program co-registers two 3D volumes. The deformation is non-rigid and is constrained along Z direction (i.e., axial plane). Hence, this function assumes that orientation of the destination image is axial (RPI). If you need to register two volumes with large deformations and/or different contrasts, it is recommended to input spinal cord segmentations (binary mask) in order to achieve maximum robustness. The program outputs a warping field that can be used to register other images to the destination image. To apply the warping field to another image, use ‘sct_apply_transfo’

Tips:

  • For a registration step using segmentations, use the MeanSquares metric. Also, simple algorithm will be very efficient, for example centermass as a ‘preregistration’.
  • For a registration step using images of different contrast, use the Mutual Information (MI) metric.
  • Combine the steps by increasing the complexity of the transformation performed in each step, for example: -param step=1,type=seg,algo=slicereg,metric=MeanSquares:step=2,type=seg,algo=affine,metric=MeanSquares,gradStep=0.2:step=3,type=im,algo=syn,metric=MI,iter=5,shrink=2
  • When image contrast is low, a good option is to perform registration only based on the image segmentation, i.e. using type=seg
  • Columnwise algorithm needs to be applied after a translation and rotation such as centermassrot algorithm. For example: -param step=1,type=seg,algo=centermassrot,metric=MeanSquares:step=2,type=seg,algo=columnwise,metric=MeanSquares

MANDATORY ARGUMENTS:
-i Image source. Example: src.nii.gz
-d Image destination. Example: dest.nii.gz

OPTIONAL ARGUMENTS:
-h, --help Show this help message and exit.
-iseg Segmentation source. Example: src_seg.nii.gz
-dseg Segmentation destination. Example: dest_seg.nii.gz
-ilabel Labels source.
-dlabel Labels destination.
-initwarp Initial warping field to apply to the source image.
-initwarpinv Initial inverse warping field to apply to the destination image
(only use if you wish to generate the dest->src warping field)
-m Mask that can be created with sct_create_mask to improve accuracy
over region of interest. This mask will be used on the destination
image. Example: mask.nii.gz
-o Name of output file. Example: src_reg.nii.gz
-owarp Name of output forward warping field.
-param Parameters for registration. Separate arguments with “,”. Separate
steps with “:”.
Example: step=1,type=seg,algo=slicereg,metric=MeanSquares:step=2,t
ype=im,algo=syn,metric=MI,iter=5,shrink=2
- step: Step number (starts at 1, except for type=label).
- type: {im, seg, imseg, label} type of data used for
registration. Use type=label only at step=0.
- algo: The algorithm used to compute the transformation.
Default=syn
* translation: translation in X-Y plane (2dof)
* rigid: translation + rotation in X-Y plane (4dof)
* affine: translation + rotation + scaling in X-Y plane (6dof)
* syn: non-linear symmetric normalization
* bsplinesyn: syn regularized with b-splines
* slicereg: regularized translations (see: goo.gl/Sj3ZeU)
* centermass: slicewise center of mass alignment (seg only).
* centermassrot: slicewise center of mass and rotation
alignment using method specified in ‘rot_method’
* columnwise: R-L scaling followed by A-P columnwise alignment
(seg only).
- slicewise: Slice-by-slice 2d transformation. Default=0.
- metric: {CC, MI, MeanSquares}. Default=MeanSquares.
* CC: The cross correlation metric compares the images based
on their intensities but with a small normalization. It can be
used with images with the same contrast (for ex. T2-w with
T2-w). In this case it is very efficient but the computation
time can be very long.
* MI: the mutual information metric compares the images based
on their entropy, therefore the images need to be big enough
to have enough information. It works well for images with
different contrasts (for example T2-w with T1-w) but not on
segmentations.
* MeanSquares: The mean squares metric compares the images
based on their intensities. It can be used only with images
that have exactly the same contrast (with the same intensity
range) or with segmentations.
- iter: Number of iterations. Default=10.
- shrink: Shrink factor. A shrink factor of 2 will down
sample the images by a factor of 2 to do the registration, and
thus allow bigger deformations (and be faster to compute). It is
usually combined with a smoothing. (only for syn/bsplinesyn).
Default=1.
- smooth: Smooth factor (in mm). Note: if
algo={centermassrot,columnwise} the smoothing kernel is: SxSx0.
Otherwise it is SxSxS. Default=0.
- laplacian: Laplace filter using Gaussian second
derivatives, applied before registration. The input number
correspond to the standard deviation of the Gaussian filter.
Default=0.
- gradStep: The gradient step used by the function
opitmizer. A small gradient step can lead to a more accurate
registration but will take longer to compute, with the risk to
not reach convergence. A bigger gradient step will make the
registration faster but the result can be far from an optimum.
Default=0.5.
- deformation: ?x?x?: Restrict deformation (for ANTs algo).
Replace ? by 0 (no deformation) or 1 (deformation).
Default=1x1x0.
- init: Initial translation alignment based on:
* geometric: Geometric center of images
* centermass: Center of mass of images
* origin: Physical origin of images
- poly: Polynomial degree of regularization (only for
algo=slicereg). Default=5.
- filter_size: Filter size for regularization (only for
algo=centermassrot). Default=5.
- smoothWarpXY: Smooth XY warping field (only for
algo=columnwize). Default=2.
- pca_eigenratio_th: Min ratio between the two eigenvalues
for PCA-based angular adjustment (only for algo=centermassrot
and rot_method=pca). Default=1.6.
- dof: Degree of freedom for type=label. Separate with
‘_’. T stands for translation and R stands for rotation, x, y,
and z indicating the direction. For example, Tx_Ty_Tz_Rx_Ry_Rz
would allow translation on x, y and z axes and rotation on x, y
and z axes. Default=Tx_Ty_Tz_Rx_Ry_Rz.
- rot_method {pca, hog, pcahog}: rotation method to be used with
algo=centermassrot. If using hog or pcahog, type should be set
to imseg. Default=pca
* pca: approximate cord segmentation by an ellipse and finds
it orientation using PCA’s eigenvectors
* hog: finds the orientation using the symmetry of the image
* pcahog: tries method pca and if it fails, uses method hog.
-identity Just put source into destination (no optimization). (default: 0)
-z Size of z-padding to enable deformation at edges when using SyN.
(default: 5)
-x {nn,linear,spline}
Final interpolation. (default: linear)
-ofolder Output folder. Example: reg_results/
-qc The path where the quality control generated content will be
saved.
-qc-dataset If provided, this string will be mentioned in the QC report as the
dataset the process was run on.
-qc-subject If provided, this string will be mentioned in the QC report as the
subject the process was run on.
-r Whether to remove temporary files. 0 = no, 1 = yes (default: 1)
-v Verbosity. 0: Display only errors/warnings, 1: Errors/warnings +
info messages, 2: Debug mode (default: 1)
(base) msresearch@MSs-MacBook-Pro mt %

This error is because the command relies on the -owarpinv flag, which was only introduced in v5.4.

Adapting this command to v5.3 is quite simple though! You just need to remove the -owarpinv argument.

# Same command, just without `-owarpinv warp_t2s2template.nii.gz`
sct_register_multimodal -i /Users/msresearch/sct_5.3.0/data/PAM50/template/PAM50_t2s.nii.gz -iseg /Users/msresearch/sct_5.3.0/data/PAM50/template/PAM50_wm.nii.gz -d t2s.nii.gz -dseg t2s_wmseg.nii.gz -initwarp …/t2/warp_template2anat.nii.gz -initwarpinv …/t2/warp_anat2template.nii.gz -owarp warp_template2t2s.nii.gz -param step=1,type=seg,algo=rigid:step=2,type=seg,algo=bsplinesyn,slicewise=1,iter=3 -qc /Users/msresearch/Documents/Lisa/SCT/qc_SCT

With the -owarpinv argument removed, the output file will be called “warp_t2s2PAM50_t2s.nii.gz” instead (which is an auto-generated name based on the input file names of the -i and -d images).

So, you would either want to work with that file name in subsequent steps, or just rename the file yourself:

# Rename the file to "warp_t2s2template.nii.gz" manually
mv warp_t2s2PAM50_t2s.nii.gz warp_t2s2template.nii.gz 
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Solved. Thank you very much!

Sincerely,
Lisa

1 Like