Vessel Segmentation/Registration from Ultrasound Images

描述(由申请人提供)： 超声因其无创、实时、价格相对低廉而被广泛应用于血管成像。这项建议侧重于从超声图像中分割腹主动脉瘤(AAA)，并将其扩展到其他长期的血管成像应用。可靠的AAA定量评估在避免危及生命的破裂所需的诊断和频繁的随访研究中起着关键作用。这些研究需要血管分割(用于大小分析)和系列研究之间的配准(用于监测血管修复之前和/或之后的疾病进展)。对于高危患者和接受血管内修复治疗的患者，AAA评估都是常规的。目前，AAA管理主要基于CT扫描中二维(2-D)切片的测量。AAA监测和随访可以通过1)从3-D重建测量，以及2)使用超声成像来最小化辐射暴露和降低成本来改进。三维超声重建的准确性与CT相当。然而，观察者间的巨大变异性和较长的处理时间排除了3-D图像信息的常规临床应用。这项研究旨在为改进的基于超声的AAA监测和其他血管疾病(长期)开发软件解决方案。使用的工具将基于先进的图像分割和配准算法，涉及曲率驱动的图像处理技术和可变形模型。第一阶段研究的目标是通过证明改进测量的重复性和准确性以及减少划定时间来确定拟议方法的可行性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Ultrasound is widely used for imaging of blood vessels as it is non-invasive, real-time, and relatively inexpensive. This proposal focuses on segmentation of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) from ultrasound images with extension to other vascular imaging applications in the long term. Reliable quantitative evaluation of AAAs plays a pivotal role in diagnoses and frequent follow-up studies needed to avoid life-threatening rupture. These studies require vessel segmentation (for size analysis) and registration between serial studies (for monitoring the progression of the disease before and/or after vascular repair). AAA evaluation is routinely carried out for both high-risk patient populations and those treated with endovascular repair. Currently, AAA management is primarily based on measurements from two-dimensional (2-D) slices in CT scans. AAA monitoring and follow-up could be improved by 1) measurement from 3-D reconstructions, and 2) use of ultrasound imaging to minimize radiation exposure and reduce costs. 3-D ultrasound reconstructions provide accuracy comparable to that of CT. However, large inter-observer variability and long processing times preclude routine clinical use of 3-D image information. This research aims to develop software solutions for improved ultrasound-based AAA monitoring and other vascular diseases (in the long term). The tools used will be based on advanced image segmentation and registration algorithms involving curvature-driven image processing techniques and deformable models. The goal of the Phase I study is to establish feasibility of the proposed methods by demonstrating an improvement in the repeatability and accuracy of measurements and reduction in delineation time.