title: Automatic axis generation for virtual bronchoscopic assessment of major airway obstructions.
abstract: Virtual bronchoscopy (VB) has emerged as a paradigm for more effective 3D CT image evaluation. Systematic evaluation of a 3D CT chest image using VB techniques, however, requires precomputed guidance data. This guidance data takes the form of central axes, or centerlines, through the major airways. We propose an axes-generation algorithm for VB assessment of 3D CT chest images. For a typical high-resolution 3D CT chest image, the algorithm produces a series of airway-tree axes, corresponding airway cross-sectional area measurements, and a segmented airway tree in a few minutes on a standard PC. Results for phantom and human airway-obstruction cases demonstrate the efficacy of the algorithm. Also, the algorithm is demonstrated in the context of VB-based 3D CT assessment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Penn State University, 121 Electrical Engineering East, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Swift
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Kiraly
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Sherbondy
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Austin
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Hoffman
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McLennan
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Higgins
mesh_terms: D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D000465:Algorithms; D001999:Bronchoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014481:United States; D014584:User-Computer Interface