Patent · US Active

System and method for robust segmentation of tubular structures in 2D and 3D images

US7912266B2 · kind B2 · utility

2Cited by

3References

21Claims

0Family size

Assignee

Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. · US

Inventors

Rachid Fahmi · Knoxville, US
Matthias Wolf · Coatesville, US
Anna Jerebko · Eschborn, DE

Key dates

Filing date	Jul 31, 2008
Grant date	Mar 22, 2011
Priority date	—
Expiry date	Oct 30, 2029

Classification

Technology area (CPC G)Physics
CPC primaryG06T2207/30101
WIPO fieldComputer technology
WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method for segmenting tubular structures in medical images includes providing at least a start point and an end point in a digital image volume, minimizing an action surface U0(p) which, at each image point p, corresponds to a minimal energy integrated along a path that starts at start point p0 and ends at p, sliding back on the minimal action surface from an end point to the start point to find a minimal path connecting the terminal points, initializing a level set function with points on the minimal path, and evolving the level set function to find a surface of a structure about the minimal path, wherein the level set function is constrained to be close to a signed distance function and wherein the level set function is prevented from growing wider than a predetermined diameter R, wherein the surface about the minimal path defines a tubular structure.

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