title: Dynamic programming in parallel boundary detection with application to ultrasound intima-media segmentation.
abstract: Segmentation of carotid artery intima-media in longitudinal ultrasound images for measuring its thickness to predict cardiovascular diseases can be simplified as detecting two nearly parallel boundaries within a certain distance range, when plaque with irregular shapes is not considered. In this paper, we improve the implementation of two dynamic programming (DP) based approaches to parallel boundary detection, dual dynamic programming (DDP) and piecewise linear dual dynamic programming (PL-DDP). Then, a novel DP based approach, dual line detection (DLD), which translates the original 2-D curve position to a 4-D parameter space representing two line segments in a local image segment, is proposed to solve the problem while maintaining efficiency and rotation invariance. To apply the DLD to ultrasound intima-media segmentation, it is imbedded in a framework that employs an edge map obtained from multiplication of the responses of two edge detectors with different scales and a coupled snake model that simultaneously deforms the two contours for maintaining parallelism. The experimental results on synthetic images and carotid arteries of clinical ultrasound images indicate improved performance of the proposed DLD compared to DDP and PL-DDP, with respect to accuracy and efficiency.
authors.affiliation: School of Computer Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, PR China. Electronic address: zhouyuanzxcv@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Xinyao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Xiangyang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Enmin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; 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; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods
keywords: Active contour model; CDLD; DDP; DLD; DP; Dual line detection; Dynamic programming; IMC; IMT; Intima-media thickness; LDLD; LI; Lumen-intima; MA; MAD; Optimization; PL-DDP; Parallel boundary detection; SDP; UDLD; constrained dual line detection; dual dynamic programming; dual line detection; dynamic programming; intima-media complex; intima-media thickness; linked dual line detection; mean absolute difference; media-adventitia; piecewise linear dual dynamic programming; single dynamic programming; unconstrained dual line detection