Fast and robust extraction of centerlines in 3D tubular structures using a scattered-snakelet approach

Christoph Spuhler; Matthias Harders; Gábor Székely

doi:10.1117/12.653169

15 March 2006 Fast and robust extraction of centerlines in 3D tubular structures using a scattered-snakelet approach

Christoph Spuhler, Matthias Harders, Gábor Székely

Proceedings Volume 6144, Medical Imaging 2006: Image Processing; 614442 (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.653169
Event: Medical Imaging, 2006, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

We present a fast and robust approach for automatic centerline extraction of tubular structures. The underlying idea is to cut traditional snakes into a set of shorter, independent segments - so-called snakelets. Following the same variational principles, each snakelet acts locally and extracts a subpart of the overall structure. After a parallel optimization step, outliers are detected and the remaining segments then form an implicit centerline. No manual initialization of the snakelets is necessary, which represents one advantage of the method. Moreover, computational complexity does not directly depend on dataset size, but on the number of snake segments necessary to cover the structure of interest, resulting in short computation times. Lastly, the approach is robust even for very complex datasets such as the small intestine. Our approach was tested on several medical datasets (CT datasets of colon, small bowel, and blood vessels) and yielded smooth, connected centerlines with few or no branches. The computation time needed is less than a minute using standard computing hardware.

Citation Download Citation

Christoph Spuhler, Matthias Harders, and Gábor Székely "Fast and robust extraction of centerlines in 3D tubular structures using a scattered-snakelet approach", Proc. SPIE 6144, Medical Imaging 2006: Image Processing, 614442 (15 March 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.653169

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available