Semi-automatic detection of calcified plaque in coronary CT angiograms with 320-MSCT

摘要

Coronary CT angiography (Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography) by MSCT (Multi-Slice Computed Tomography) offers not only a diagnostic capability matching that of CAG (Coronary Angiography) that is the gold standard of the cardiovascular diagnosis, but also a much less invasive examination. However, if calcified plaque adheres to a vessel wall, high brightness shading due to calcium in the calcified plaque, called the blooming artefacts, causes to make it difficult to diagnose the region around the plaque. In this study, we propose a method to semi-automatically detect and remove calcified plaques, which hinder diagnosing a stenosed coronary artery, from a CCTA image. In addition, an analyzing method to accurately and objectively measure angiostenosis rate is provided.