Patent ID: 9280822
Filing Date: 2016-03-08
CPC Classification: G06T

Claim Text:
1. A procedure for image segmentation on three-dimensional (3D) medical images, comprising: generating a two-dimensional (2D) projection image of a tubular anatomic structure from a 3D image with adaptive slab thickness; tracing on the display of a 2D projection image, via a user input at a user interface, at least one open curve corresponding to the tubular anatomic structure; extracting a curved volume of interest based on the at least one traced open curve, the slab thickness, and the 3D image by projecting pixels along the traced open curve within the 3D image along a specific direction and expanding the projected curve along a plurality of directions that are perpendicular to an axis of the projected curve; applying a filter algorithm, having a selectable threshold, to the curved volume of interest; and extracting a 3D segmentation of the tubular anatomic structure in the curved volume of interest by performing segmentation based on a result of the filter algorithm and connecting broken segments based on an orientation of the curve.