Quantification of spinal cord atrophy from magnetic resonance images via a B‐spline active surface model

A method is presented that aims at segmenting and measuring the surface of the spinal cord from MR images in order to detect and quantify atrophy. A semiautomatic segmentation with very little intervention from an operator is proposed. It is based on the optimization of a B‐spline active surface. The method allows for the computation of orthogonal cross‐sections at any level along the cord, from which measurements are derived, such as cross‐sectional area or curvature. An evaluation of the accuracy and reproducibility of the method is presented. Magn Reson Med 47:1176–1185, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

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