Patent · US Active

Method for extracting airways and pulmonary lobes and apparatus therefor

US9996919B2 · kind B2 · utility

1Cited by
6References
11Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJun 5, 2014
Grant dateJun 12, 2018
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 14, 2034

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06T2207/30064
  • WIPO fieldMedical technology
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

Provided is a method and apparatus for segmenting airways and pulmonary lobes. An image processing apparatus obtains a first candidate region of an airway from a three-dimensional (3D) human body image by using a region growing method, obtains a second candidate region of the airway based on a directionality of a change in signal intensity of voxels belonging to a lung region segmented from the 3D human body image, segments an airway region by removing noise based on similarity of a directionality of a change in signal intensity of voxels belonging to a third candidate region acquired by combining together the first and second candidate regions. Furthermore, the image processing apparatus segments a lung region from a 3D human body image by using a region growing method, obtains a fissure candidate group between pulmonary lobes based on a directionality of a change in signal intensity of voxels belonging to the lung region, reconstructs an image of the lung region including the fissure candidate group into an image viewed from a front side of a human body and generates a virtual fissure based on a fissure candidate group shown in the reconstructed image, and segments the pulmonary …

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