A method of identifying a patient from digital medical images includes providing a first digital image volume of an organ of a patient and a second digital image volume of the same organ, segmenting each slice of the first image volume and calculating a cross-sectional area of the organ in each slice to form a first area profile, segmenting each slice of the second image volume and calculating a cross-sectional area of the organ in each slice to form a second area profile, and comparing the first area profile with the second area profile to determine a correlation value for the two profiles. Based on the correlation value between the first area profile and the second area profile, it is determined whether the first digital image volume of the organ and the second digital image volume of the same organ came from the same patient.