Patent ID: 7015907

Claim:
A method for segmenting structures from three-dimensional (3D) images, the method comprising the steps of: receiving 3D image data; visualizing the 3D image data on a display device; selecting a structure in the 3D image data by placing a seed in the structure; initializing a plurality of rays from the seed to form a surface; determining a speed function of each of the plurality of rays; evolving the surface by propagating the plurality of rays based on the speed function of each of the plurality of rays, including performing a mean-shift analysis on each of the plurality of rays to identify image discontinuities, the image discontinuities defining the structure's boundary, said analysis including determining a joint spatial-intensity domain for each of the plurality of rays, the joint spatial-intensity domain including for each pixel along each of the plurality of rays at least one location value and at least one intensity value, partitioning the domain to identify the discontinuities based on a probability density, and determining a displacement vector for each of the plurality of rays, the displacement vector being a distance between a point on an individual ray and a convergence point on the individual ray; converging the plurality of rays on a boundary of the structure; and segmenting the structure when all of the plurality of rays have converged on the structure's boundary.