Method for determining a bounding surface for segmentation of an anatomical object of interest

A method of bounding an anatomical object of interest in a 3-dimensional volume image, the method executed at least in part on a computer, comprising:

• displaying an image of at least a portion of the anatomical object of interest;
• selecting a first pair of points and second pair of points in the displayed image, both the first pair of points and the second pair of points spanning the anatomical object of interest;
• forming an ellipsoid bounding the first pair of points and the second pair of points;
• identifying a seed point within the anatomical object of interest and evaluating image voxels disposed proximate the seed point and obtaining one or more statistical values from the evaluated proximate voxels;
• and
• classifying image voxels within the ellipsoid into a first class and a second class based on the one or more statistical values.

A method of bounding an anatomical object of interest in a 3-dimensional volume image, the method executed at least in part on a computer, comprising:

• displaying an image of at least a portion of the object;
• selecting a first pair of points and a second pair of points in the displayed image, each of the first pair and the second pair spanning the object;
• forming a minimum area ellipse bounding the first pair and the second pair in response to the selection of the first pair and the second pair;
• identifying a seed point within the ellipse based on one pair of points and evaluating voxels disposed proximate the seed point and obtaining a plurality of statistical values from the evaluated proximate voxels;
• and
• classifying voxels within the ellipse into a first class and a second class based on the plurality of statistical values.