A probabilistic model for automatic segmentation of the esophagus in 3-D CT scans

Feulner J, Zhou SK, Hammon M, Seifert S, Huber M, Comaniciu D, Hornegger J, Cavallaro AJ (2011)

Publication Type: Journal article, Original article

Publication year: 2011

Journal

Original Authors: Feulner J., Zhou S., Hammon M., Seifert S., Huber M., Comaniciu D., Hornegger J., Cavallaro A.

Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Book Volume: 30

Pages Range: 1252-1264

Journal Issue: 6

DOI: 10.1109/TMI.2011.2112372

Abstract

Being able to segment the esophagus without user interaction from 3-D CT data is of high value to radiologists during oncological examinations of the mediastinum. The segmentation can serve as a guideline and prevent confusion with pathological tissue. However, limited contrast to surrounding structures and versatile shape and appearance make segmentation a challenging problem. This paper presents a multistep method. First, a detector that is trained to learn a discriminative model of the appearance is combined with an explicit model of the distribution of respiratory and esophageal air. In the next step, prior shape knowledge is incorporated using a Markov chain model. We follow a detect and connect approach to obtain the maximum a posteriori estimate of the approximate esophagus shape from hypothesis about the esophagus contour in axial image slices. Finally, the surface of this approximation is nonrigidly deformed to better fit the boundary of the organ. The method is compared to an alternative approach that uses a particle filter instead of a Markov chain to infer the approximate esophagus shape, to the performance of a human observer and also to state of the art methods, which are all semiautomatic. Cross-validation on 144 CT scans showed that the Markov chain based approach clearly outperforms the particle filter. It segments the esophagus with a mean error of 1.80 mm in less than 16 s on a standard PC. This is only 1 mm above the interobserver variability and can compete with the results of previously published semiautomatic methods. © 2011 IEEE.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

Siemens Corporate Research United States (USA) (US) Siemens AG, Sector Corporate Technology Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Feulner, J., Zhou, S.K., Hammon, M., Seifert, S., Huber, M., Comaniciu, D.,... Cavallaro, A.J. (2011). A probabilistic model for automatic segmentation of the esophagus in 3-D CT scans. IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 30(6), 1252-1264. https://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TMI.2011.2112372

MLA:

Feulner, Johannes, et al. "A probabilistic model for automatic segmentation of the esophagus in 3-D CT scans." IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging 30.6 (2011): 1252-1264.

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