Combined connectivity and a gray-level morphological filter in magnetic resonance coronary angiography.
A connectivity algorithm combined with a new gray-level morphological filter dramatically improves the segmentation of tortuous coronary arteries from 3D MRI. Small coronary arteries are segmented from the larger ventricles with a new filter. These blood vessels are segmented from the noise background with connectivity. Coronary angiograms were computed in nine datasets acquired on volunteers with 3D stack of spirals and contrast-enhanced navigator sequences by both a maximum intensity projection and surface rendering. Surface images provided depth information needed to distinguish branching arteries from crossing veins. Magn Reson Med 43:892-895, 2000.
Cline
H E
HE
GE Corporate Research and Development, Schenectady, New York 12309, USA. cline@crd.ge.com
Thedens
D R
DR
Meyer
C H
CH
Nishimura
D G
DG
Foo
T K
TK
Ludke
S
S
D000465:Algorithms; D003326:Coronary Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D012016:Reference Values; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity