Patent · US Expired

Method of segmenting a three-dimensional structure contained in an object, notably for medical image analysis

US7167172B2 · kind B2 · utility

14Cited by
4References
9Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 5, 2002
Grant dateJan 23, 2007
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 20, 2023

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06T2207/30004
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The invention relates to a method of segmenting a three-dimensional structure, contained in an object, from one or more two-dimensional images which represent a slice of the object. The method utilizes a deformable model whose surface is formed by a network of meshes which connect network points on the surface of the model to one another. First there are determined the meshes which intersect at least one image and a point on the surface of the structure to be segmented is searched along a search line which traverses the mesh and extends in the image. Subsequently, the position of the network points of the model is calculated anew. These steps are repeated a number of times and the model ultimately obtained, that is, after several deformations, is considered to be the segmentation of the three-dimensional structure from the two-dimensional images.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.