Patent ID: 7574024
Filing Date: 2009-08-11
Classification: G06T

Abstract:
1. A computer-based method for determining a centerline through a region of interest in a 3D image dataset comprising: identifying the boundaries of the region of interest in the 3D image dataset; identifying the endpoints of the region of interest; determining a gradient field for each point in the region of interest; identifying regions of points in the region of interest where the gradient field exhibits a non-uniform gradient; and connecting the regions having a non-uniform gradient to identify a plurality of points proximate to the centerline of the region of interest; for those plurality of points proximate to the centerline, determining a penalty value which is a function of proximity of the point to a boundary; and determining a path connecting the endpoints which has the minimum penalized distance wherein the penalized distance reflects the actual accumulated pathlength and the penalty values associated with the points along the path.