Semiautomatic segmentation and stenosis quantification of 3D contrast-enhanced MR angiograms of the internal carotid artery

Magn Reson Med. 2004 Apr;51(4):753-60. doi: 10.1002/mrm.20020.

Abstract

A technique is presented for the segmentation and quantification of stenosed internal carotid arteries (ICAs) in 3D contrast-enhanced MR angiography (CE-MRA). Segmentation with sub-pixel accuracy of the ICA is achieved via level-set techniques in which the central axis serves as the initialization. The central axis is determined between two user-defined points, and minimal user interaction is required. For quantification, the cross-sectional area is measured in the stenosis and at a reference segment in planes perpendicular to the central axis. The technique was applied to 20 ICAs. The variation in measurements obtained by this method in comparison with manual observations was 8.7%, which is smaller than the interobserver variability among three experts (11.0%).

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Anatomy, Cross-Sectional
  • Carotid Artery, Internal / pathology*
  • Carotid Stenosis / diagnosis*
  • Contrast Media*
  • Gadolinium DTPA
  • Humans
  • Image Enhancement / methods*
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / methods*
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional*
  • Magnetic Resonance Angiography / methods*
  • Models, Biological
  • Observer Variation

Substances

  • Contrast Media
  • Gadolinium DTPA