title: Arterial radius estimation from microscopic data using a new algorithm for circle parameter estimation.
abstract: We develop and test a new method for automatic determination of vessel wall diameters from image stacks obtained using two-photon laser scanning microscopy (TPLSM) on viable arteries in perfusion flow chambers. To this extent, a new method is proposed for estimating the parameters of a circle describing the inner diameter of the blood vessels. The new method is based on the Hough transform and the observation that three points that are not colinear uniquely define a circle. By only storing the estimated center location, the computational and memory costs of the Hough transform can be greatly reduced. We test the algorithm on 20 images and compare the result with a ground-truth established by human volunteers and a standard least-squares technique. With errors of 3 to 5%, the algorithm enables accurate estimation of the vessel diameters from image stacks containing only small parts of the vessel cross section. Combined with TPLSM imaging of anatomical vessel wall properties, potentially, the algorithm enables the correlation of structural and functional properties of large intact arteries simultaneously, without requirements for additional experiments.
authors.affiliation: Northeastern University, Sino-Dutch Biomedical and Information Engineering School, P.O. Box 129, 11-3 Lane, He Ping District, Shenyang, 110004 China. han@bmie.neu.edu.cn
authors.forename: Han J W
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: van Triest
authors.forename: Remco T A
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Megens
authors.forename: Hans C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: van Assen
authors.forename: Bart M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: ter Haar Romeny
authors.forename: Marc A M J
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: van Zandvoort
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D019412:Anatomy, Cross-Sectional / Q000379:methods*; D001158:Arteries / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000379:methods*; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity