Vessel tree tracking in angiography videos

A method for tracking vessels in image data, the method comprising:

• selecting a plurality of landmark hypothesis points corresponding to a target vessel included in an image frame included in a Cine video;
• constructing a graph comprising a plurality of nodes, each node corresponding to one or more of the plurality of landmark hypothesis points;
• solving the graph to identify a plurality of optimal landmarks corresponding to the target vessel;
• generating a graphical indication of the target vessel based on the plurality of optimal landmarks;
• and
• presenting the image frame on display with the graphical indication of the target vessel overlaying the image frame;
• determining a unary score for each of the plurality of nodes based on the comparison of the image frame and the immediately preceding imaging frame in the Cine video, wherein the graph is solved based on the unary score determined for each of the plurality of nodes.

A system for tracking vessels in image data, the system comprising:

• an imaging computer configured to execute a plurality of components comprising:
• an annotation component configured to annotate a target vessel in a plurality of image frames,
• a landmark selection component configured to select a plurality of tracking targets associated with the target vessel based on a first frame included in the plurality of image frames,
• a hypothesis generation component configured to select a plurality of landmark hypothesis points for each tracking target in the each of the plurality of image frames,
• a graph construction component configured to construct a directed acyclic graph from the plurality of landmark hypothesis points, and
• a graph solving component configured to solve the directed acyclic graph to yield a plurality of optimal landmarks for each respective image frame in the plurality of image frames;
• a display configured to:
• present each respective image frame included in the plurality of image frames, and
• overlay a visual indication of the target vessel on each respective image frame in the plurality of image frames based on the plurality of optimal landmarks associated with the respective image frame;
• and
• a guidewire tracking component configured to track a location of a guidewire, wherein the plurality of landmark hypothesis points is selected based on the location of the guidewire related to the target vessel.