Prostate Boundary Detection in Ultrasound Images

描述（由申请人提供）：本提案的目的是提高经直肠超声（TRUS）诊断和治疗前列腺疾病的有效性。TRUS图像中的前列腺边界提供了诊断、治疗计划和随访所需的解剖描述。我们提出的研究使计算机辅助前列腺描绘使用“刚刚够的互动”与专家。 在第一阶段，我们已经在软件环境中嵌入了几种分割算法，允许与医生进行交互。与手动描绘相比，（半）自动前列腺描绘的可变性减少了一半。此外，与手工勾画轮廓相比，勾画时间减少了2倍。 根据对我们的技术感兴趣的几家公司和最终用户的反馈，我们发现，在过去的一年中，新兴的术中临床程序和治疗后监测技术需要进一步自动化，并产生了对前列腺特异性多模态图像配准算法的需求。在第二阶段，我们的目标是通过开发和验证更先进的分割算法，在不影响算法性能的情况下，进一步减少前列腺描绘中的人类交互。我们将通过开发先进的分割和配准算法，从植入后TRUS图像中分割前列腺，从而实现植入后监测的自动化。我们将在大型临床数据集上验证算法。 拟议的商业应用： 我们的技术引起了前列腺癌治疗计划系统供应商的极大兴趣，无论是在前列腺近距离治疗领域还是在前列腺冷冻治疗领域。放射治疗计划系统向手术间环境的移动使得自动描绘技术对这些供应商更有价值。该技术也是超声波机器制造商感兴趣的。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this proposal is to improve the effectiveness of transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) in diagnosing and treating prostate diseases. Prostate boundaries in TRUS images provide the anatomical description needed for diagnosis, for treatment planning, and for follow-up. Our proposed research enables computer aided prostate delineation using "just-enough interaction" with the expert. In phase I, we have embedded several segmentation algorithms within a software environment allowing interaction with the physicians. The variability in (semi-)automated prostate delineation compared to manual delineation was reduced by half. Also, the delineation time compared to manual outlining was reduced by a factor of 2. Based on the feedback from several companies and end-users, who have shown interest in our technology, we find that in the past year, emerging intraoperative clinical procedures and post-treatment monitoring techniques have necessitated further automation and generated the need for prostate specific multimodality image registration algorithms. In phase II, we aim to further reduce human interaction in prostate delineation without compromising on algorithm performance by developing and validating more advanced segmentation algorithms. We will automate post-implant monitoring by segmenting the prostate from post-implant TRUS images by developing advanced segmentation and registration algorithms. We will validate the algorithms on large clinical dataset. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: Our technology is of great interest to vendors of prostate cancer treatment planning systems, be it in the area of prostate brachyltherapy or in prostate cryotherapy. The movement of radiation treatment planning systems to inter-operative settings make automated delineation technology even more valuable to these vendors. This technology is also of interest to manufacturers of ultrasound machines.