Abstract: An open MRI or other diagnostic imaging system (A) generates a three-dimensional diagnostic image representation, which is stored in an MRI image memory (26). A laser scanner or other surface imaging system (B) generates a volumetric surface image representation that is stored in a surface image memory (34). Typically, the volume and surface images are misaligned and the magnetic resonance image may have predictable distortions. An image correlating system (C) determines offset, scaling, rotational, and non-linear corrections to the magnetic resonance image representation, which are implemented by an image correction processor (48). The corrected magnetic resonance image representation and the surface image representation are combined (50) and stored in a superimposed image memory (52). A video processor (54) generates image representations from selected portions of the superimposed image representation for display on a human-readable monitor (56).