Visualization of Volumetric Structures from MR Images of the Brain
Bahram Parvin
William Johnston
David Robertson
Imaging and Distributed Computing Group
Information and Computing Sciences Division
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
Berkeley, CA 94720
Publication number: LBL-35325
click here to see the long version of this paper in postscript format.
PINTA is a system for segmentation and visualization of anatomical structures
obtained from serial sections reconstructed from magnetic resonance imaging. The
system approaches the segmentation problem by assigning each volumetric region to
an anatomical structure. This is accomplished by satisfying constraints at the
pixel level, slice level, and volumetric level. Each slice is represented by an
attributed graph, where nodes correspond to regions and links correspond to the
relations between regions. These regions are obtained by grouping pixels based on
similarity and proximity. The slice level attributed graphs are then coerced
to form a volumetric attributed graph, where volumetric
consistency can be verified. The main novelty of our approach is in the use of
the volumetric graph to ensure consistency from symbolic representations obtained
from individual slices. In this fashion, the system allows errors to be made at
the slice level, yet removes them when the volumetric consistency cannot be
verified. Once the segmentation is completed, the 3D surfaces of the brain can
be constructed and visualized.
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