Method and apparatus for quantitative analysis of a tree of recursively splitting tubular organs

Method for quantitative analysis of a tree or part of a tree formed by recursively splitting tubular organs, the method comprising:

• providing a 3D model of said tree or part of said tree, said 3D model giving a representation of a surface of a lumen wall of the tubular organs forming the tree or part of the tree;
• defining 3D centerlines of said tree or part of the tree;
• identifying branches of the tree or part of the tree;
• dividing each branch into one or more regions, said regions being of two different types including a single vessel region type and a splitting region type, wherein said splitting regions exist at a part of a branch selected from the group consisting of the proximal side of said branch and the distal side of said branch, and wherein different cross-section surfaces are defined in said regions;
• determining the cross-sectional area at a number of positions of a given centerline by computing the area of the cross-section surfaces as defined for single vessel regions and for splitting regions;
• and
• identifying N-furcations of the tree or part of the tree, each N-furcation being a part of the tree where a proximal tubular organ branches into N distal tubular organs with N≧2, wherein each N-furcation comprises the distal splitting region of a branch and the proximal splitting regions of the N branches directly distal to said branch;
• wherein the cross-section surfaces of the splitting regions are curved surfaces, and the cross-section surfaces of the single vessel regions are planar surfaces.