Method and System for Whole Body Bone Removal and Vascular Visualization in Medical Image Data

摘要

A method and apparatus for whole body bone removal and vasculature visualization in medical image data, such as computed tomography angiography (CTA) scans, is disclosed. Bone structures are segmented in the a 3D medical image, resulting in a bone mask of the 3D medical image. Vessel structures are segmented in the 3D medical image, resulting in a vessel mask of the 3D medical image. The bone mask and the vessel mask are refined by fusing information from the bone mask and the vessel mask. Bone voxels are removed from the 3D medical image using the refined bone mask, in order to generate a visualization of the vessel structures in the 3D medical image.

主权项

1. A method for bone removal and vessel visualization in a 3D medical image of a patient, comprising:
segmenting bone structures in the 3D medical image, resulting in a bone mask of the 3D medical image; segmenting vessel structures in the 3D medical image, resulting in a vessel mask of the 3D medical image, wherein segmenting bone structures in the 3D medical image and segmenting vessel structures in the 3D medical image are performed independently with respect to each other; refining the bone mask and the vessel mask by fusing information from the bone mask and the vessel mask; and removing bone voxels from the 3D medical image using the refined bone mask to generate a visualization of the vessel structures in the 3D medical image.