Software for Determining Features of an Anatomical Boundary within a Digital Representation of Tissue
Description of Invention:
Available for licensing and commercial use and/or distribution is software for analyzing virtual anatomical structures and computing the enclosing three-dimensional boundaries. Various techniques can be used to determine tissue types in the virtual anatomical structure. For example, tissue types can be determined via an iso-boundary between lumen and air in the virtual anatomical structure and a fuzzy clustering approach. Based on the tissue type determination, a deformable model approach can be used to determine an enclosing three-dimensional boundary of a feature in the virtual anatomical structure (e.g., a colonic polyp). The software can be applied in a two-dimensional scenario, in which an enclosing two-dimensional boundary is first determined in a two-dimensional digital representation (for example, a slice of a three-dimensional representation) and then propagated to neighboring slices to result in an enclosing three-dimensional boundary of a feature. The software can also be applied in a three-dimensional scenario, in which an enclosing three-dimensional boundary of a feature is determined using three-dimensional techniques for tissue classification and converging via a deformable surface to avoid propagation.
Inventors:
Jianhua Yao and Ronald Summers (NIHCC)
Patent Status:
DHHS Reference No. E-351-2003/0-US-01 filed 13 Feb 2004 (U.S. Patent Application No. 10/779,210), claiming priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/510,640 filed 10 Oct 2003 (DHHS Reference No. E-174-2003/0-US-01)
For Additional Information Please Contact: Michael Shmilovich J.D.
NIH Office of Technology Transfer
6011 Executive Blvd, Suite 325
Rockville, MD 20852-3804
Phone: (301) 435-5019
Email: shmilovm@mail.nih.gov
Fax: (301) 402-0220
