Segmentation of breast tumor in three-dimensional ultrasound images using three-dimensional discrete active contour model
Journal
Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology
Journal Volume
29
Journal Issue
11
Pages
1571--1581
Date Issued
2003-11
Author(s)
Abstract
In this paper, we apply the three-dimensional (3-D) active contour model to a 3-D ultrasonic data file for segmenting of the breast tumor. The 3-D ultrasonic file is composed of a series of two-dimensional (2-D) images. Most of traditional techniques of 2-D image segmentation will not use the information between adjacent images. To suit the property of the 3-D data, we introduce the concept of the 3-D stick, the 3-D morphologic process and the 3-D active contour model. The 3-D stick can get over the problem that the ultrasonic image is full of speckle noise and highlight the edge information in images. The 3-D morphologic process helps to determine the contour of the tumor and the resulting contour can be regarded as the initial contour of the active contour model. Finally, the 3-D active contour model will make the initial contour approach to the real contour of the tumor. However, there is emphasis on these 3-D techniques that they do not consist of a series of 2-D techniques. When they work, they will consider the horizontal, vertical and depth directions at the same time. The use of these 3-D techniques not only segments the 3-D shape but also obtains the volume of the tumor. The volume of the tumor calculated by the proposed method will be compared with the volume calculated by the VOCAL™ software with the physician's manually drawn shape and it shows that the performance of our method is satisfactory. © 2003 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology.
Subjects
Segmentation; Three-dimensional active contour model; Three-dimensional stick; Three-dimensional ultrasound image
Other Subjects
Computer software; Data reduction; Image segmentation; Speckle; Tumors; Speckle noise; Three-dimensional ultrasound images; Ultrasonics; article; breast tumor; calculation; controlled study; human; medical information; model; physician; priority journal; three dimensional imaging; ultrasound
Type
journal article
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