title: Automated integer programming based separation of arteries and veins from thoracic CT images.
abstract: Automated computer-aided analysis of lung vessels has shown to yield promising results for non-invasive diagnosis of lung diseases. To detect vascular changes which affect pulmonary arteries and veins differently, both compartments need to be identified. We present a novel, fully automatic method that separates arteries and veins in thoracic computed tomography images, by combining local as well as global properties of pulmonary vessels. We split the problem into two parts: the extraction of multiple distinct vessel subtrees, and their subsequent labeling into arteries and veins. Subtree extraction is performed with an integer program (IP), based on local vessel geometry. As naively solving this IP is time-consuming, we show how to drastically reduce computational effort by reformulating it as a Markov Random Field. Afterwards, each subtree is labeled as either arterial or venous by a second IP, using two anatomical properties of pulmonary vessels: the uniform distribution of arteries and veins, and the parallel configuration and close proximity of arteries and bronchi. We evaluate algorithm performance by comparing the results with 25 voxel-based manual reference segmentations. On this dataset, we show good performance of the subtree extraction, consisting of very few non-vascular structures (median value: 0.9%) and merged subtrees (median value: 0.6%). The resulting separation of arteries and veins achieves a median voxel-based overlap of 96.3% with the manual reference segmentations, outperforming a state-of-the-art interactive method. In conclusion, our novel approach provides an opportunity to become an integral part of computer aided pulmonary diagnosis, where artery/vein separation is important.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Computer Graphics and Vision, Graz University of Technology, Austria; Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Lung Vascular Research, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Payer
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Lung Vascular Research, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pienn
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Lung Vascular Research, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Zoltán
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Bálint
authors.affiliation: Institute for Computer Graphics and Vision, Graz University of Technology, Austria.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shekhovtsov
authors.affiliation: Division of General Radiology, Department of Radiology, Medical University of Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Emina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Talakic
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Radiology, Department of Radiology, Medical University of Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Eszter
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nagy
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Lung Vascular Research, Graz, Austria; Experimental Anesthesiology, Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Olschewski
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Lung Vascular Research, Graz, Austria; Division of Pulmonology, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Horst
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Olschewski
authors.affiliation: Institute for Computer Graphics and Vision, Graz University of Technology, Austria; Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Clinical Forensic Imaging, Graz, Austria; BioTechMed Graz, Austria. Electronic address: martin.urschler@cfi.lbg.ac.at.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Urschler
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D006801:Humans; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011667:Pulmonary Veins / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013909:Thorax / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
keywords: Artery-vein separation; Computed tomography; Integer program; Lung; Vascular tree reconstruction