Morphological Lesion Detection in CT Colonography

描述(由申请人提供)：该项目的具体目标是开发一套新的方法，以促进使用CT结肠癌筛查。结直肠癌是癌症相关死亡的第二大原因，通过早期识别和切除前驱病变可以在很大程度上预防结直肠癌。不幸的是，结直肠癌筛查的依从性仍然很差。CT结肠造影术是一种快速、非侵入性和安全的检查方法，有可能显著提高筛查依从性。然而，为了使CT结肠造影术成为一种主要的筛查方式，目前必须克服几个局限性。该项目试图通过开发以下技术来克服这些限制：自动息肉检测算法，以帮助放射科医生准确评估来自疾病患病率较低的筛查人群的大量研究；数字移除标记粪便的方法，以允许在不需要完全排空的情况下执行测试；增强的工作流程工具和改进的可视化方法，以允许快速和准确地审查每次检查产生的大量数据，并提供更详细的病变量化，以帮助放射科医生识别具有最大恶性潜力的特定病变。 第二阶段的工作将包括通过与放射科医生的报告和光学内窥镜检查结果的比较来评估我们的方法。我们还将与领先的放射科医生和胃肠科医生合作，优化我们工作的临床效用。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The specific aim of this project is development of a suite of novel methods to facilitate the use of CT colonography for colorectal cancer screening. Colorectal cancer, the second leading cause of cancer-related death, can be largely prevented by early identification and removal of precursor lesions. Unfortunately, compliance with colorectal cancer screening remains poor. CT colonography is a fast, non-invasive, and safe test that has the potential to significantly increase screening compliance. However, in order for CT colonography to become a primary screening modality, several current limitations must be overcome. This project attempts to overcome those limitations by developing: algorithms for automated polyp detection to assist radiologists in accurately evaluating large numbers of studies from a screening population with low disease prevalence, methods for digital removal of tagged stool to permit testing to be performed without the need for complete evacuation, enhanced workflow tools and improved visualization methods to permit fast and accurate review of the large volumes of data produced by each examination, and provide more detailed quantification of lesions to assist radiologists in identifying specific lesions with the greatest malignant potential. The Phase II effort will include evaluation of our methods by comparison to radiologist reports and the results of optical endoscopic examinations. We will also work with leading radiologists and a gasteroenterologist to optimize the clinical utility of our work.