title: Registration-based segmentation of three-dimensional ultrasound images for quantitative measurement of fetal craniofacial structure.
abstract: Segmentation of a fetal head from three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound images is a critical step in the quantitative measurement of fetal craniofacial structure. However, two main issues complicate segmentation, including fuzzy boundaries and large variations in pose and shape among different ultrasound images. In this article, we propose a new registration-based method for automatically segmenting the fetal head from 3-D ultrasound images. The proposed method first detects the eyes based on Gabor features to identify the pose of the fetus image. Then, a reference model, which is constructed from a fetal phantom and contains prior knowledge of head shape, is aligned to the image via feature-based registration. Finally, 3-D snake deformation is utilized to improve the boundary fitness between the model and image. Four clinically useful parameters including inter-orbital diameter (IOD), bilateral orbital diameter (BOD), occipital frontal diameter (OFD) and bilateral parietal diameter (BPD) are measured based on the results of the eye detection and head segmentation. Ultrasound volumes from 11 subjects were used for validation of the method accuracy. Experimental results showed that the proposed method was able to overcome the aforementioned difficulties and achieve good agreement between automatic and manual measurements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan ROC.
authors.forename: Hsin-Chen
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Pei-Yin
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Hsiao-Han
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Hui-Hsuan
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Shih
authors.forename: Yi-Ying
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Chiung-Hsin
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Yung-Nien
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D019465:Craniofacial Abnormalities / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013382:Subtraction Technique; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal / Q000379:methods*