title: 3-D quantification of the aortic arch morphology in 3-D CTA data for endovascular aortic repair.
abstract: We introduce a new model-based approach for the segmentation and quantification of the aortic arch morphology in 3-D computed tomography angiography (CTA) data for thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR). The approach is based on a model-fitting scheme using a 3-D analytic intensity model for thick vessels in conjunction with a two-step refinement procedure, and allows us to accurately quantify the morphology of the aortic arch. Based on the fitting results, we additionally compute the (local) 3-D vessel curvature and torsion as well as the relevant lengths not only along the 3-D centerline, but particularly also along the inner and outer contour. These measurements are important for preoperative planning in TEVAR applications. We have validated our approach based on 3-D synthetic as well as 3-D MR phantom images. Moreover, we have successfully applied our approach using 3-D CTA datasets of the human thorax and have compared the results with ground truth obtained by a radiologist. We have also performed a quantitative comparison with a commercial vascular analysis software.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioinformatics and Functional Genomics, Biomedical Computer Vision Group, University of Heidelberg, BIOQUANT, IPMB, and DKFZ Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. s.woerz@dkfz.de
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wörz
authors.forename: Hendrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: von Tengg-Kobligk
authors.forename: Verena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Henninger
authors.forename: Fabian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rengier
authors.forename: Hardy
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schumacher
authors.forename: Dittmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Böckler
authors.forename: Hans-Ulrich
authors.initials: HU
authors.lastname: Kauczor
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rohr
mesh_terms: D000792:Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D013909:Thorax / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*