Method, apparatus and system for automated spine labeling

摘要

A method, an apparatus, and a system label one or more parts of a spine in an image, in particular a computed tomography (CT) image, of a human or animal body, and in order to achieve a reliable spine labeling and a high throughput of images, match a model of a spine segment with segments of the spine in the image by starting matching the model of a spine segment with an initial segment of the spine in the image, wherein the initial segment of the spine in the image is located at an initial position along the spine in the image, and continue to match the model of a spine segment with one or more further segments of the spine in the image, wherein the further segments of the spine in the image are located at positions farther along the spine in the image.

主权项

1. A method for labeling one or more portions of a spine in an image of a human or animal body, the method comprising the steps of:
a) matching a model of a spine segment with segments of the spine in the image by:
starting matching the model of the spine segment with an initial segment of the spine in the image, wherein the initial segment of the spine in the image is located at an initial position along the spine in the image; andcontinuing matching the model of the spine segment with one or more further segments of the spine in the image, wherein the one or more further segments of the spine in the image are located at farther positions along the spine in the image, and the model of the spine segment relates to anatomical properties of one or more portions of the spine; and b) labeling the one or more portions of the spine in the image in response to step a); wherein an initial position of an initialization disk of the spine in the image is established by a disk profile corresponding to a string of region classes to which a set of disk candidates is mapped by classifying each disk candidate of the set of disk candidates to a region class or a region transition uncertainty; and the disk profile is matched to a full spine profile and multiple initialization disk candidates, which result from the region class or the region transition uncertainty in the disk profile, are resolved by repeating the labeling step.