Prior-Embedded Three-Dimensional Cell Competition Algorithm for Atherosclerotic Coronary Segmentation and Analysis in Multislice Computed Tomography
Date Issued
2008
Date
2008
Author(s)
Lee, Chien-Hao
Abstract
Elaborate studies have reported that multislice computed tomography (MSCT) appeared to make tremendous contributions and may be a standard imaging modality for the diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases. However, clinical practice for dealing with MSCT coronary angiography placed major importance on experiences, subjectively extracting coronaries and quantifying atherosclerotic plaques in MSCT datasets, which is an extremely tedious task if done manually and may cause different diagnoses. Therefore, this study aims to propose a computer aided diagnosis system, which enables to detect the atherosclerotic coronary segments and plaques automatically without any operator dependent factors. hybrid approach, called prior-embedded three-dimensional (3D) cell competition algorithm, is proposed in this study. It first decomposes the region-of-interest (ROI) into small homogeneous areas which are called cells, with features extracted by the model-based vessel tracking algorithm in it. Each cell uniquely defines a region at the very beginning. Based on a statistical energy function, all adjacent regions will compete against each other, merge or split simultaneously in a cell-by-cell fashion until a steady state is reached. Meantime, each region defines a prominent component and our object of interest is characterized by at least one of them, so that the plaques and the lumens throughout the coronary can be auto-identified by the prior information. Furthermore, this algorithm is designed with several valuable tools and a friendly user interface. All beneficial information such as statistical analyses and quantitative measurements will be provided to improve diagnostic accuracy.he proposed method was validated by 12 patients who were scheduled for MSCT coronary angiography in National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH). One of them also underwent intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) as a part of research protocol. Totally 12 MSCT datasets were examined in this study and the promising results were achieved. To make a comparative study and to strictly verify the proposed algorithm, the IVUS datum is in the process of making quantitative measurements in the department of medical imaging, NTUH.
Subjects
Image Segmentation
Vessel Tracking
Watershed Transformation
Cell Competition
Coronary Artery Disease
Multislice Computed Tomography
SDGs
Type
thesis
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