Quantifying calcification in the lumbar aorta on X-ray images.
In this paper we propose to use inpainting to estimate the severity of atherosclerotic plaques from X-ray projections. Inpainting allows to "remove" the plaque and estimate what the background image for an uncalcified aorta would have looked like. A measure of plaque severity can then be derived by subtracting the inpainting from the original image. In contrast to the current standard of categorical calcification scoring from X-rays, our method estimates both the size and the density of calcified areas and provides a continuous severity score, thus allowing for measurement of more subtle differences. We discuss a class of smooth inpainting methods, compare their ability to reconstruct the original images, and compare the inpainting based calcification score to the conventional categorical score in a longitudinal study on 49 patients addressing correlations of the calcification scores with hypertension, a known cardiovascular risk factor.
Department of Computer Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Lars A
LA
Conrad-Hansen
Marleen
M
de Bruijne
François
F
Lauze
László B
LB
Tankó
Paola C
PC
Pettersen
Qing
Q
He
Jianghong
J
Chen
Claus
C
Christiansen
Mads
M
Nielsen
D000465:Algorithms; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D001027:Aortography / Q000379:methods*; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated / Q000379:methods*; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D011857:Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*