Method for the automatic detection and segmentation of the spinal canal in computed tomographic images

Rangaraj Mandayam Rangayyan; Hanford J. Deglint; Graham Stewart Boag M.D.

doi:10.1117/1.2234770

1 July 2006 Method for the automatic detection and segmentation of the spinal canal in computed tomographic images

Rangaraj Mandayam Rangayyan, Hanford J. Deglint, Graham Stewart Boag M.D.

Author Affiliations +

Journal of Electronic Imaging, Vol. 15, Issue 3, 033007 (July 2006). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.2234770

Abstract

A method for the automatic 3-D segmentation of the spinal canal in computed tomographic (CT) images is presented. The method uses a priori radiological and anatomical information, mathematical morphology, and region-growing methods. The skin and peripheral fat structures are determined by delineating the air and other materials external to the body. Using the fat layer as a reference, the bone structure is segmented. The Hough transform for the detection of circles is applied to a cropped bone edge map that includes the thoracic vertebral structure. The centers of the detected circles are used to derive the information required for the fuzzy connectivity algorithm that is employed to segment the spinal canal. In a preliminary study, the method successfully segmented the spinal canal in eight CT volumes of four patients, with Hausdorff distances with reference to contours drawn independently by a radiologist in the range 1.7±0.8 mm.

©(2006) Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

Citation Download Citation

Rangaraj Mandayam Rangayyan, Hanford J. Deglint, and Graham Stewart Boag M.D. "Method for the automatic detection and segmentation of the spinal canal in computed tomographic images," Journal of Electronic Imaging 15(3), 033007 (1 July 2006). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.2234770

Published: 1 July 2006

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