Patent ID: 7804989

Claim:
A method for use in obtaining a boundary of a structure within a medical ultrasound image, through a segmentation algorithm stored in computer readable program, comprising: obtaining an ultrasound image including a structure of interest; providing an initial estimate of said boundary, wherein said initial estimate is based on a predetermined model; based on said initial estimate boundary, generating a narrow band region including an actual boundary of said structure; processing said narrow band region to generate an estimation of said actual boundary of said structure; fitting a curve to said initial estimate boundary, wherein said curve defines an initial level set function; minimizing a cost functional defined in the narrow band region with the initial level set function; wherein the steps for minimizing the cost functional with regard to the level set function comprise: calculating an internal length speed in the narrow band region; calculating two regional speeds in the narrow band region; calculating a shape constraints speed in the narrow band region; calculating a penalized re-initialization constraints speed in the narrow band region; updating the level set function.