Model-based vessel segmentation using an elliptic cylinder

For viewing vascular structures in 3D MRA with bloodpool contrast agent via maximum intensity projection, it is necessary to suppress other occluding vessels which are also contrasted. These can be located very close to the vessels of interest. In this paper, an automated selection method based on the use of an elliptically cross-sectioned cylinder model is proposed. This model of local shape is used to define the speed function for a front propagation algorithm, which extracts a vessel axis between two selected points. The boundary is then reconstructed using local shape parameters from the fitted cylinder model. A comparison of automated and manual segmentations showed a mean selection accuracy of 94% using elliptical model, and a mean surface deviation of 1.1mm.