A multiscale approach for the extraction of vessels

In this communication we propose a new and automatic strategy for the multiscale centerlines detection of vessels. So we wish to obtain a good representation of the vessels, that is a precise characterization of their centerlines and their diameters. The adopted solution requires the generation of an image scale-space in which the various levels of details allow to treat arteries of any diameter. The method proposed here is implemented using the Partial Differential Equations (PDE) formalism and those of differential geometry. The differential geometry permits by the computation of a new measure of valley to characterize locally the centerlines of vessels as the image surface bottom lines of valleys. The informations given by the centerlines and valley measure scale spaces are used to obtain the 2D multiscale centerlines of the coronary arteries. In that purpose we construct a multiscale adjacency graph which permits to keep the K strongest (according to the valley measure) detections. Then the obtained detection is coded as an attributed graph. So the medical practitioner can act and choose the most interesting arteries for the future 3D reconstruction. Finally, we test our process on several digital coronary arteriograms, and some retinal angiographies.

[1]  S. Eiho,et al.  Detection of coronary artery tree using morphological operator , 1997, Computers in Cardiology 1997.

[2]  Atam P. Dhawan,et al.  3-D reconstruction of coronary arteries , 1994, Proceedings of 16th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[3]  Ying Sun,et al.  Recursive tracking of vascular networks in angiograms based on the detection-deletion scheme , 1993, IEEE Trans. Medical Imaging.

[4]  R Collorec,et al.  Computer vision approaches for the three-dimensional reconstruction of coronary arteries: review and prospects. , 1994, Critical reviews in biomedical engineering.

[5]  F. Ledru.  Coronary atherosclerosis: from pathophysiology to imaging in clinical practice , 2002 .

[6]  Tony Lindeberg Kth.  Scale-space: A framework for handling image structures at multiple scales , 1996 .

[7]  Nicholas Ayache,et al.  Automatic trinocular 3D reconstruction of coronary artery centerlines from rotational X-ray angiography , 2002 .

[8]  J. Koenderink.  The structure of images , 2004, Biological Cybernetics.

[9]  Yannis A. Tolias,et al.  A fuzzy vessel tracking algorithm for retinal images based on fuzzy clustering , 1998, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.

[10]  R Collorec,et al.  Vascular network segmentation in subtraction angiograms: a comparative study. , 1990, Medical informatics = Medecine et informatique.

[11]  T. Lindeberg.  Scale-Space Theory : A Basic Tool for Analysing Structures at Different Scales , 1994 .

[12]  José M. N. Leitão,et al.  A nonsmoothing approach to the estimation of vessel contours in angiograms , 1995, IEEE Trans. Medical Imaging.

[13]  Yoshinobu Sato,et al.  A viewpoint determination system for stenosis diagnosis and quantification in coronary angiographic image acquisition , 1998, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.

[14]  Karl Krissian,et al.  Traitement multi-echelle : applications a l'imagerie medicale et a la detection tridimensionnelle de vaisseaux , 2000 .

[15]  Benoit Tremblais,et al.  PDE-based approach for medial axis detection in x-ray angiographies , 2001, SPIE Medical Imaging.

[16]  John D. Carroll,et al.  3-D reconstruction of coronary arterial tree to optimize angiographic visualization , 2000, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.

[17]  Jürgen Weese,et al.  Multi-scale line segmentation with automatic estimation of width, contrast and tangential direction in 2D and 3D medical images , 1997, CVRMed.

[18]  Amir A. Amini,et al.  Quantitative coronary angiography with deformable spline models , 1997, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.

[19]  Alejandro F. Frangi,et al.  Muliscale Vessel Enhancement Filtering , 1998, MICCAI.

[20]  Armelle Basset-Merle.  Reconstruction 3D filaire de l'arbre coronaire en angiographie par rayons X , 1999 .