Patent ID: 7634124
Filing Date: 2009-12-15
Classification: G06K,G06T,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A method for automatic centerline extraction for a virtual endoscopy image of an organ having a boundary surface and a lumen shape, comprising: deriving an initial path through said image between initial and final voxels of an endoscopy dataset; centering on selected points of said initial path respective spheres exhibiting respective maximal diameters short of contacting said boundary surface; and forming a centered path thought the lumen shape of the organ consecutively joining centers of said spheres, wherein said step of centering said respective spheres comprises: (a) utilizing modeled spheres represented by respective polyhedra; (b) centering a modeled first sphere that is relatively small compared with space available within said boundary surface; (c) checking for collision between vertices of said modeled first sphere and said boundary surface; (d) in the event of a collision being detected at a point of said boundary, deriving a calculated force to move said modeled sphere away from said point of said boundary surface for ending said collision; (e) in the event of at least one of (A) no collision and (B) a collision having been ended, said modeled first sphere is enlarged until a collision is detected, whereupon step (d) is repeated unit no further enlargement of movement of said modeled first sphere is possible without a collision being detected, and wherein the above steps are computed by a digital computer.