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. 2008 Jan;32(1):36-43.
doi: 10.1016/j.compmedimag.2007.08.013. Epub 2007 Oct 26.

Segmentation of arteries in MPRAGE images of the ventral medial prefrontal cortex

N Penumetcha  1 , B Jedynak, M Hosakere, E Ceyhan, K N Botteron, J T Ratnanather
Affiliations

Segmentation of arteries in MPRAGE images of the ventral medial prefrontal cortex

N Penumetcha et al. Comput Med Imaging Graph. 2008 Jan.

Abstract

A method for removing arteries that appear bright with intensities similar to white matter in Magnetized Prepared Rapid Gradient Echo images of the ventral medial prefrontal cortex is described. The Fast Marching method is used to generate a curve within the artery. Then, the largest connected component is selected to segment the artery which is used to mask the image. The surface reconstructed from the masked image yielded cortical thickness maps similar to those generated by manually pruning the arteries from surfaces reconstructed from the original image. The method may be useful in masking vasculature in other cortical regions.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Left: Location of the ventral medial prefrontal cortex with colored gyri. Right: Sagittal MR slice of the VMPFC with callosomarginal and pericallosal arteries.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The steps of tracing a curve: a 2D slice with a vessel (left), the distance map calculated from the slice with lower values represented by darker intensities (center), and the path traced within the blood vessel (right); end points are marked in red. Lines thickened for emphasis.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The steps of segmenting a vessel in a 2D slice: a tube is generated around the vessel (left), the tube is thresholded (center), and finally the largest connected component is selected (right).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Histogram of the distance of each automatically segmented voxel from the closest manually segmented one.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Top shows a VMPFC gray/white surface reconstructed with the automated method (green) with the blood vessels reconstructed from the original volume (blue). Bottom row shows the axial, coronal and sagittal views of the original and reconstructed surfaces indicating the presence of the blood vessels. The red ball on the surfaces (top row) corresponds to the cross-hair in the images (bottom row).
Figure 6
Figure 6
LCDMs comparing manual (black) and automatic removal (red) of blood vessels for subjects 1 to 10 (top-to-bottom, left-to-right).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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