Apparatuses and methods for navigation in and local segmentation extension of anatomical treelike structures

A method of extending a segmentation of an image using navigated image data from a navigation system, the method comprising:

• tracking, with the navigation system, at least one of a traveled path and a position of an imaging device relative to an initial segmentation of 3D image data including an initial treelike structure;
• capturing, with the navigated imaging device, navigated image data comprising image data including at least one 2D or 3D image, and navigation data comprising a point associated with a position and orientation (POSE) of the navigated imaging device when the at least one 2D or 3D image is captured;
• obtaining, by the navigation system, a point from the navigated image data corresponding to a potential airway structure;
• and
• extending, by the navigation system, the initial segmentation of 3D image data using the point obtained from the navigated image data by,
• extracting a region of interest from the 3D image data to create a sub-image;
• extracting connected components based on spillage-constrained region growing using seed points from the sub-image;
• pruning the extracted components to discard components not likely to be connected to the initial treelike structure and keep only candidate components likely to be a valid sub-tree of the initial treelike structure;
• and
• connecting the candidate components to the initial treelike structure by,
• determining whether the candidate component has boundary voxels that are 4-connected to the initial segmentation and if so filling in voxels to fully connect the candidate component to the initial segmentation;
• determining whether the radius of a candidate component is compatible with a terminal segment of the initial segmentation, and filling in voxels to connect the candidate component to the terminal segment if they are compatible;
• determining if the candidate component includes a path of seed points to the initial segmentation, and if so, identifying potential new growth based on a gradient ball method.

A method of extending a segmentation of an image using navigation data from a navigation system, the method comprising:

• tracking, with the navigation system, at least one of a traveled path, a position, and a trajectory of a navigated instrument relative to an initial segmentation of 3D image data including an initial treelike structure to create navigation data;
• and
• extending the initial segmentation of the 3D image data using the navigation data, wherein extending the initial segmentation comprises:
• extracting a region of interest from the 3D image data to create a sub-image;
• extracting connected components based on spillage-constrained region growing using seed points from the sub-image;
• pruning the extracted components to discard components not likely to be connected to the initial treelike structure and keep only candidate components likely to be a valid sub-tree of the initial treelike structure;
• and
• connecting the candidate components to the initial treelike structure by,
• determining whether the candidate component has boundary voxels that are 4-connected to the initial segmentation and if so filling in voxels to fully connect the candidate component to the initial segmentation;
• determining whether the radius of a candidate component is compatible with a terminal segment of the initial segmentation, and filling in voxels to connect the candidate component to the terminal segment if they are compatible;
• and
• determining if the candidate component includes a path of seed points to the initial segmentation, and if so, identifying potential new growth based on a gradient ball method.