Patent ID: 7876936
Filing Date: 2011-01-25
Classification: G06T,G16H

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented method of processing a series of computed tomography (CT) sections of a pulmonary region to separate pulmonary arteries from pulmonary veins comprising: receiving a first identification of vessels of the pulmonary region from a user interface device, the first identification identifying each of the vessels as one of the pulmonary arteries and pulmonary veins visible in each of the CT sections and including a tracing of each of the vessels of the pulmonary region through one or more of the CT sections, by: performing a computer-aided identification of vessels of the pulmonary region to provide a second identification of vessels of the pulmonary region using a region growing algorithm, the second identification identifying each of the vessels as one of the pulmonary arteries and pulmonary veins in each of the CT sections and the computer-aided identification being implemented without using the first identification; combining the first identification with the second identification to produce a combined identification of the pulmonary arteries and pulmonary veins and detect differences between the first and second identification; using the combined identification of the pulmonary arteries and pulmonary veins to segment the pulmonary arteries from the pulmonary veins; and displaying the differences between the first and second identification using the user interface device.