Patent ID: 6052477
Filing Date: 2000-04-18
Classification: A61B,G01R,G06K,G06T

Abstract:
A method for automatically localizing a predetermined number M of fiducial markers in at least one image volume, comprising steps of:determining an intensity threshold value based on said at least one image volume;modifying said at least one image volume by separating voxels of said image volume into foreground and background voxels based on said intensity threshold value;searching the modified at least one image volume for foreground voxels which may lie within candidate markers by grouping foreground voxels having similar intensities proximate to each other;determining candidate voxels which may be included in voxels corresponding to candidate markers of said at least one image volume corresponding to fiducial markers; andexamining a region in the at least one image volume around each of the candidate voxels and determining which of said candidate voxels most likely correspond to a portion of said fiducial markers in said at least one image volume.