Systems and methods for modeling a human respiratory tract

A system for modeling a human respiratory tract, comprising:

• a processing circuit comprising a processor and memory, the memory having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor, cause the processing circuit to:
• receive a plurality of images, wherein each of the plurality of images comprise at least a portion of the human respiratory tract;
• generate, based on the plurality of images, a 3D model of at least the portion of the human respiratory tract;
• automatically identify, using a computer-implemented algorithm, an uncapped endpoint of the human respiratory tract within the 3D model of at least the portion of the human respiratory tract;
• and
• automatically cap the uncapped endpoint within the 3D model of at least the portion of the human respiratory tract by (i) positioning a center of an object at a centroid corresponding to the uncapped endpoint and (ii) merging the object with the 3D model of at least the portion of the human respiratory tract.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

• receive a plurality of images comprising a computed tomography (CT) scan or a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) image, wherein each of the plurality of images comprise at least a portion of a human respiratory tract;
• generating, based on the plurality of images, a 3D model of at least the portion of the human respiratory tract, wherein the 3D model of at least the portion of the human respiratory tract comprises an uncapped endpoint of the human respiratory tract;
• and
• automatically capping the uncapped endpoint within the 3D model of at least the portion of the human respiratory tract by:
• identifying, using a computer-implemented algorithm, the uncapped endpoint of the human respiratory tract within the 3D model of at least the portion of the human respiratory tract by:
• identifying, based on the 3D model of at least the portion of the human respiratory tract, a centerline associated with a structure of the human respiratory tract using at least one of a Voronoi Diagram or a Fast Marching Method (FMM);
• and
• identifying an endpoint of the centerline as the uncapped endpoint of the human respiratory tract;
• generating a 3D model of a shape;
• aligning the 3D model of the shape with the uncapped endpoint of the human respiratory tract by positioning a center of the 3D model of the shape at a centroid corresponding to the uncapped endpoint of the human respiratory tract;
• and
• merging the 3D model of the shape with the 3D model of at least the portion of the human respiratory tract to produce a sealed 3D volume representing at least the portion of the human respiratory tract.