Centerline optimization using vessel quantification model
Wenli Cai, Frank Dachille, Michael Meißner · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 2005
An accurate and reproducible centerline is needed in many vascular applications, such as virtual angioscopy, vessel quantification, and surgery planning. This paper presents a progressive optimization algorithm to refine a centerline after it is extracted. A new centerline model definition is proposed that allows quantifiable minimum cross-sectional area. A centerline is divided into a number of segments. Each segment corresponds to a local generalized cylinder. A reference frame (cross-section) is set up at the center point of each cylinder. The position and the orientation of the cross-section are optimized within each cylinder by finding the minimum cross-sectional area. All local-optimized center points are approximated by a NURBS curve globally, and the curve is re-sampled to the refined set of center points. This refinement iteration, local optimization plus global approximation, converges to the optimal centerline, yielding a smooth and accurate central axis curve. The application discussed in this paper is vessel quantification and virtual angioscopy. However, the algorithm is a general centerline refinement method that can be applied to other applications that need accurate and reproducible centerlines.