A computational framework for approximating boundary surfaces in 3-D biomedical images

IEEE Trans Inf Technol Biomed. 2007 Nov;11(6):668-82. doi: 10.1109/titb.2006.889675.

Abstract

We propose a new method for detecting and approximating the boundary surfaces in three-dimensional (3-D) biomedical images. Using this method, each boundary surface in the original 3-D image is normalized as a zero-value isosurface of a new 3-D image transformed from the original 3-D image. A novel computational framework is proposed to perform such an image transformation. According to this framework, we first detect boundary surfaces from the original 3-D image and compute discrete samplings of the boundary surfaces. Based on these discrete samplings, a new 3-D image is constructed for each boundary surface such that the boundary surface can be well approximated by a zero-value isosurface in the new 3-D image. In this way, the complex problem of reconstructing boundary surfaces in the original 3-D image is converted into a task to extract a zero-value isosurface from the new 3-D image. The proposed technique is not only capable of adequately reconstructing complex boundary surfaces in 3-D biomedical images, but it also overcomes vital limitations encountered by the isosurface-extracting method when the method is used to reconstruct boundary surfaces from 3-D images. The performances and advantages of the proposed computational framework are illustrated by many examples from different 3-D biomedical images.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms*
  • Artificial Intelligence*
  • Diagnostic Imaging / methods*
  • Image Enhancement / methods*
  • Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / methods*
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional / methods*
  • Pattern Recognition, Automated / methods*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity