Methods and apparatus for model-based detection of structure in view data

Abstract

In one aspect, a method and apparatus for determining a value for at least one parameter of a configuration of a model associated with structure of which view data has been obtained including detecting at least one feature in the view data, and determining the value for the at least one parameter of the configuration of the model based at least in part on the at least one feature. In another aspect, a method and apparatus for detecting at least one blood vessel from object view data obtained from a scan of the at least one blood vessel including generating a model of the at least one blood vessel, the model having a plurality of parameters describing a model configuration, determining a hypothesis for the model configuration based, at least in part, on at least one feature detected in the object view data, and updating the model configuration according to a comparison with the object view data to arrive at a final model configuration, so that the final model configuration represents the at least one blood vessel.

1 . A method for determining a value for at least one parameter of a configuration of a model, the model associated with structure of which view data has been obtained, the method comprising acts of:
 detecting at least one feature in the view data; and   determining the value for the at least one parameter of the configuration of the model based, at least in part, on the at least one feature.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the act of determining the value of the at least one parameter includes an act of determining a value for at least one location parameter based, at least in part, on the at least one feature. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the model includes a plurality of primitives, and wherein the act of determining the value of the at least one parameter includes an act of determining a location for at least one of the plurality of primitives in the configuration of the model based, at least in part, on the at least one feature. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the model includes a plurality of primitives, and wherein the act of determining the value of the at least one parameter includes an act of determining a number of primitives in the configuration of the model based, at least in part, on the at least one feature. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the act of determining the value of the at least one parameter includes an act of determining a location for each of the number of primitives in the configuration of the model based, at least in part, on the at least one feature. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the value of the at least one parameter is an initial value, and further comprising acts of:
 transforming the configuration of the model into view space to obtain model view data;   comparing the model view data to the view data of the structure to obtain a difference measure; and   updating the value of at least one of the at least one parameters based on the difference measure to obtain an updated configuration of the model.   
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the model configuration includes a plurality of parameters, and wherein the act of determining the value for the at least one parameter includes an act of determining a value for each of the plurality of parameters based, at least in part, on the at least one feature. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the view data includes at least one sinogram, and wherein the act of detecting the at least one feature includes an act of detecting at least one feature in the at least one sinogram. 
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the structure includes at least one blood vessel. 
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the model includes a plurality of cylindrical segments, and wherein the act of determining the at least one value includes an of determining a location for at least one of the plurality of cylindrical segments based, at least in part, on the at least one feature. 
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the act of determining the at least one location includes an act of determining the location of a longitudinal axis of each cylindrical segment at an intersection with a plane associated with the at least one sinogram. 
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the act of determining the at least one value for the at least one parameter further includes an act of determining a number of the plurality of cylindrical segments in the configuration of the model based, at least in part, on the at least one feature. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the act of determining the value of the at least one parameter further includes an act of determining a radius of at least one of the plurality of cylindrical segments based, at least in part, on the at least one feature. 
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the act of determining the value of the at least one parameter further includes an act of determining an orientation of at least one of the plurality of cylindrical segments based, at least in part, on the at least one feature. 
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the act of detecting the at least one feature includes an act of detecting at least one ridge in the at least one sinogram. 
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the structure includes a blood vessel network, the model includes a plurality of cylindrical segments, and the at least one parameter comprises a number of the plurality of cylindrical segments, a location of each of the plurality of cylindrical segments, a radius for each of the plurality of cylindrical segments, and an orientation of each of the plurality of cylindrical segments, and wherein the act of determining the value of the at least one parameter includes an act of determining the number of the plurality of cylindrical segments, the location, the radius, and the orientation of each of the plurality of cylindrical segments based, at least in part, on the at least one feature. 
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the act of determining the value of the at least one parameter includes an act of determining a value of at least one parameter based, at least in part, on information detected in a plurality of portions of the view data, each of the plurality of portions obtained from a respective different slice of the structure. 
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the act of determining the value of the at least one parameter includes an act of determining a value of at least one parameter, at least in part, by determining at least one relationship between first information detected in a first portion of the view data obtained from a first slice of the structure and second information detected in a second portion of the view data obtained from a second slice of the structure. 
   
   
       19 . A computer readable medium encoded with a program for execution on at least one processor, the program, when executed on the at least one processor, performing a method of determining a value for at least one parameter of a configuration of a model, the model associated with structure of which view data has been obtained, the method comprising acts of:
 detecting at least one feature in the view data; and   determining the value for the at least one parameter of the configuration of the model based, at least in part, on the at least one feature.   
   
   
       20 . The computer readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the act of determining the value of the at least one parameter includes an act of determining a value for at least one location parameter based, at least in part, on the at least one feature. 
   
   
       21 . The computer readable medium of  claim 20 , wherein the model includes a plurality of primitives, and wherein the act of determining the value of the at least one parameter includes an act of determining a location for at least one of the plurality of primitives in the configuration of the model based, at least in part, on the at least one feature. 
   
   
       22 . The computer readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the model includes a plurality of primitives, and wherein the act of determining the value of the at least one parameter includes an act of determining a number of primitives in the configuration of the model based, at least in part, on the at least one feature. 
   
   
       23 . The computer readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the view data includes at least one sinogram, and wherein the act of detecting the at least one feature includes an act of detecting at least one feature in the at least one sinogram. 
   
   
       24 . The computer readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the view data includes at least one sinogram, and wherein the act of detecting the at least one feature includes an act of detecting at least one feature in the at least one sinogram. 
   
   
       25 . The computer readable medium of  claim 24 , wherein the structure includes at least one blood vessel. 
   
   
       26 . The computer readable medium of  claim 25 , wherein the model includes a plurality of cylindrical segments, and wherein the act of determining the at least one value includes an of determining a location for at least one of the plurality of cylindrical segments based, at least in part, on the at least one feature. 
   
   
       27 . The computer readable medium of  claim 26 , wherein the act of determining the at least one location includes an act of determining the location of a longitudinal axis of each cylindrical segment at an intersection with a plane associated with the at least one sinogram. 
   
   
       28 . The computer readable medium of  claim 27 , wherein the act of determining the at least one value for the at least one parameter further includes an act of determining a number of the plurality of cylindrical segments in the configuration of the model based, at least in part, on the at least one feature. 
   
   
       29 . The computer readable medium of  claim 27 , wherein the act of determining the value of the at least one parameter further includes an act of determining a radius of at least one of the plurality of cylindrical segments based, at least in part, on the at least one feature. 
   
   
       30 . The computer readable medium of  claim 28 , wherein the act of determining the value of the at least one parameter further includes an act of determining an orientation of at least one of the plurality of cylindrical segments based, at least in part, on the at least one feature. 
   
   
       31 . The computer readable medium of  claim 24 , wherein the act of detecting the at least one feature includes an act of detecting at least one ridge in the at least one sinogram. 
   
   
       32 . The computer readable medium of  claim 24 , wherein the structure includes a blood vessel network, the model includes a plurality of cylindrical segments, and the at least one parameter comprises a number of the plurality of cylindrical segments, a location of each of the plurality of cylindrical segments, a radius for each of the plurality of cylindrical segments, and an orientation of each of the plurality of cylindrical segments, and wherein the act of determining the value of the at least one parameter includes an act of determining the number of the plurality of cylindrical segments, the location, the radius, and the orientation of each of the plurality of cylindrical segments based, at least in part, on the at least one feature. 
   
   
       33 . The computer readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the act of determining the value of the at least one parameter includes an act of determining a value of at least one parameter based, at least in part, on information detected in a plurality of portions of the view data, each of the plurality of portions obtained from a respective different slice of the structure. 
   
   
       34 . The computer readable medium of  claim 33 , wherein the act of determining the value of the at least one parameter includes an act of determining a value of at least one parameter, at least in part, by determining at least one relationship between first information detected in a first portion of the view data obtained from a first slice of the structure and second information detected in a second portion of the view data obtained from a second slice of the structure. 
   
   
       35 . The computer readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the structure includes at least one blood vessel and the view data comprises object view data obtained from a scan of the at least one blood vessel, further comprising an act of updating the model configuration according to a comparison with the object view data to arrive at a final model configuration, so that the final model configuration represents the at least one blood vessel. 
   
   
       36 . The computer readable medium of  claim 35 , wherein the at least one feature includes one or more derivative properties and the model includes a plurality of primitives, and wherein the act of determining the value of at least one parameter includes an act of determining a number of primitives in the model configuration and a location for at least one of the plurality of primitives based, at least in part, on a set of characteristic points in the view data exhibiting the one or more derivative properties. 
   
   
       37 . The computer readable medium of  claim 35 , wherein the act of updating the model configuration includes acts of:
 obtaining model view data from the model configuration;   comparing the object view data and the model view data to obtain an error value; and   modifying at least one of the plurality of parameters describing the model configuration to reduce the error value.   
   
   
       38 . The computer readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the structure includes a plurality of blood vessels, the view data comprises object view data obtained from scanning the plurality of blood vessels, and the model includes a plurality of model components, and wherein the act of determining a value for the at least one parameter includes acts of:
 determining a configuration of at least one first model component based, at least in part, on the at least one feature, the at least one first model component representing at least one of the plurality of blood vessels;   removing information in the object view data corresponding to the at least one blood vessel as represented by the at least one first model component; and   determining a configuration of at least one second model component, based at least in part, on at least one feature detected in the object view data after the act of removing information.   
   
   
       39 . An apparatus adapted to determine a value for at least one parameter of a configuration of a model, the model associated with structure of which view data has been obtained, the apparatus comprising:
 at least one input adapted to receive the view data; and   at least one controller, coupled to the at least one input, the at least one controller adapted to detect at least one feature in the view data and to determine the value for the at least one parameter of the configuration of the model based, at least in part, on the at least feature.   
   
   
       40 . The apparatus of  claim 39 , wherein the at least one controller comprises means for detecting the at least one feature in the view data and means for determining the value for the at least one parameter of the configuration of the model based, at least in part, on the at least feature.