Automatic spinal canal segmentation using cascaded random walks
US9317926B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 28, 2014 |
| Grant date | Apr 19, 2016 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 23, 2034 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T2207/30012
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus for automatic spinal canal segmentation in medical image data, such as computed tomography (CT) image data, is disclosed. An initial set of spinal canal voxels is detected in the 3D medical image using a trained classifier. A spinal canal topology defined by a current set of spinal canal voxels is refined based on an estimated medial line of the spinal canal. Seed points are sampled based on the refined spinal canal topology. An updated set of spinal canal voxels is detected in the 3D medical image using random walks segmentation based on the sampled seed points. The spinal canal topology refinement, seed points sampling, and random walks segmentation are repeated in order to provide cascaded random walks segmentation to generate a final spinal canal segmentation result.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.