Generating an anatomical model using a rule-based segmentation and classification process

摘要

A system for computer-aided detection uses a computer-implemented network structure to analyze patterns present in digital image slices of a human body and to generate a three-dimensional anatomical model of a patient. The anatomical model is generated by detecting easily identifiable organs first and then using those organs as context objects to detect other organs. A user specifies membership functions that define which objects of the network structure belong to the various classes of human organs specified in a class hierarchy. A membership function of a potentially matching class determines whether a candidate object of the network structure belongs to the potential class based on the relation between a property of the voxels linked to the candidate object and a property of the context object. Some voxel properties used to classify an object are location, brightness and volume. The human organs are then measured to assist in the patient's diagnosis.

主权项

1. A method comprising: specifying a first class of a class network, wherein the first class is associated with a first anatomical object;
specifying a second class of the class network, wherein the second class is associated with a second anatomical object, and wherein the second class is specified according to a relation between objects in the second class and objects in the first class; specifying a process hierarchy, wherein the process hierarchy includes a first process step and a second process step; performing the first process step to detect the first anatomical object using the first class, wherein the first process step is implemented on a computer of an image detection system; performing the second process step to detect the second anatomical object using the second class, wherein the second process step detects the second anatomical object using the detection of the first anatomical object; and measuring the second anatomical object, wherein the measuring the second anatomical object measures a shape of the sub-object, and wherein the shape is measured using a bounding box having x, y, and z dimensions; performing the third process step to detect a sub-object within the second anatomical object; and measuring the sub-object.