Apparatus and method for analysis of tissue classes along tubular structures

An apparatus for acquiring tissue images and analyzing tissue classes along tubular structures, the apparatus comprising:

• a medical scanner for generating a volume of image data relating to a region of interest;
• a data acquisition system for acquiring the volume of image data;
• an image reconstructor for reconstructing a viewable image from the volume of image data;
• a database for storing information from the data acquisition system and the image reconstructor;
• an operator interface for managing the medical scanner, the data acquisition system, the image reconstructor, the database, or any combination comprising at least one of the foregoing;
• a computer for analyzing the reconstructed volume of image data and displaying the viewable image, the computer being responsive to said operator interface;
• and
• a storage medium, readable by a processing circuit, storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for:
• constructing a tubular shaped region of interest (ROI) along a predetermined centerline of the tubular structure according to the following:
• responding to at least one defined point along the centerline to define the extremities of the ROI;
• computing a diameter corresponding to the maximum of the diameters of the orthogonal sections of the ROI;
• applying a plurality of contiguous unit volumes along the centerline between the. extremities of the ROI, the unit volumes having an overall dimension equal to or less than the maximum of the diameters of the orthogonal sections of the ROI;
• computing a first volume by the union of the unit volumes;
• and
• computing a final volume of the ROI as the connex part of the first volume that contains the middle of the tubular structure;
• and
• analyzing the final volume with respect to tissue classes present therein.

A computer program product embodied in a tangible medium for analyzing tissue classes along tubular structures, the product comprising computer readable instructions for:

• constructing a tubular shaped region of interest (ROI) along a predetermined centerline of the tubular structure according to the following:
• responding to at least one defined point along the centerline to define the extremities of the ROI;
• computing a diameter corresponding to the maximum of the diameters of the orthogonal sections of the ROI;
• applying a plurality of contiguous unit volumes along the centerline between the extremities of the ROI, the unit volumes having an overall dimension equal to or less than the maximum of the diameters of the orthogonal sections of the ROI;
• computing a first volume by the union of the unit volumes;
• and
• computing a final volume of the ROI as the connex part of the first volume that contains the middle of the tubular structure;
• and
• analyzing the final volume with respect to tissue classes present therein.