Method and device for automatic determination of the change of a hollow organ

A device for automatic determination of a change of an organ, the device comprising:

• a segmentation unit to compute a first representation of the organ in a first medical image and a second representation of the organ in a second medical image, the first medical image being recorded at a first time, and the second medical image being recorded at a second time;
• a reference unit to compute a first centerline of the organ based on the first representation of the organ and to compute a second centerline of the organ based on the second representation of the organ, computation of the first centerline including performing a first iterative calculation of a next point d of the first centerline based on a first known or defined point dprev on the first centerline, and computation of the second centerline including performing a second iterative calculation of a next point d of the second centerline based on a second known or defined point dprev on the second centerline;
• a registration unit to register the first centerline and the second centerline to obtain at least one of
• matched representations of the organ, or
• features derived from the matched representations;
• and
• a comparison unit to compare the at least one of the matched representations or the features.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium, storing program elements that, when executed by a computer unit, cause the computer unit to perform a method for automatic determination of a change of an organ, the method comprising:

• computing a first representation of the organ in a first medical image, the first medical image being recorded at a first time;
• computing a first centerline of the organ based on the first representation of the organ, the computing the first centerline including performing a first iterative calculation of a next point d of the first centerline based on a first known or defined point dprev on the first centerline;
• computing a second representation of the organ in a second medical image, the second medical image being recorded at a second time;
• computing a second centerline of the organ based on the second representation of the organ, the computing the second centerline including performing a second iterative calculation of a next point d of the second centerline based on a second known or defined point dprev on the second centerline;
• registering the first centerline and the second centerline to obtain at least one of matched representations of the organ, or
• features derived from the matched representations of the organs;
• and
• comparing the at least one of the matched representations or the features.