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US 2010/0166275 A1Published application
Model-based method and system for image segmentation and modelling
AssigneeAgency for Science Tecnology and Research
InventorJimin Liu
Life of this patent
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AssigneeAgency for Science Tecnology and Research
InventorJimin Liu
Estimating the term…
A method is proposed for segmenting a 2- or 3-D space, spanned by a set of medical data comprising intensity values at locations within the space, to estimate the position of an object of medical significance. The method using a level set function having a level set which provides a model of boundary of the object. The level set function is iteratively updated by a force defined based on the medical data. For computational efficiency, only the force in the narrowband of the model boundary needs to be calculated. Minimisation of an energy function, related to the force, provides a termination condition for the iteration. High level knowledge can be incorporated in several ways, such as by an explicit force term which takes over from the force based on the medical data when prior knowledge of the object is about to be violated by the model.
A method of image segmentation and modelling, within a space spanned by a set of medical data, the portion of the space occupied by an object, the method comprising:
A method according to any preceding claim in which the force at each point at the level set of the level set function is calculated, selectively according to whether a predefined criterion is met, as either:
A method according to any preceding claim in which iterative step (b) terminates when a minimum of an energy function is reached.
A method according to any preceding claim in which, in said step (ii) of modifying the level set function, the level set function is only modified if the topology of the level set is not thereby caused to disobey a geometrical criterion obtained based on prior knowledge of the object.
A system for modelling, within a space spanned by a set of medical data, the portion of the space occupied by an object, the system having a processor arranged to:
A computer program product having program instructions which, when implemented by a computer system, cause the computer system to generate a model, within a space spanned by a set of medical image data, of the portion of the space occupied by an object, by
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.