Estimation of Coronary Artery Boundaries in Angiograms

摘要

An algorithm for the detection of the boundaries of coronary arteries in coronary angiograms is presented. The algorithm constructs a parametric model of the film density along the lines perpendicular to the vessel image and estimates the parameters at each perpendicular line along the vessel, based on the observed density values. The parameters of the model include the vessel diameter and centerpoint, and account for the structure of the background as well as the distortions introduced by the imaging system. The spatial continuity of the vessel is also incorporated into the model and significantly improves the accuracy of the estimation procedure. The algorithm has been tested on synthetic data, on x-rays of contrast-medium-filled cylindrical phantoms obtained over a wide ranged of radiographic conditions, and on real coronary angiograms. This algorithm has better performance than methods which find the points of maximum slope of the film density at each perpendicular line.