Automatic anatomy recognition of sparse objects

A general body-wide automatic anatomy recognition (AAR) methodology was proposed in our previous work based on hierarchical fuzzy models of multitudes of objects which was not tied to any specific organ system, body region, or image modality. That work revealed the challenges encountered in modeling, recognizing, and delineating sparse objects throughout the body (compared to their non-sparse counterparts) if the models are based on the object's exact geometric representations. The challenges stem mainly from the variation in sparse objects in their shape, topology, geographic layout, and relationship to other objects. That led to the idea of modeling sparse objects not from the precise geometric representations of their samples but by using a properly designed optimal super form. This paper presents the underlying improved methodology which includes 5 steps: (a) Collecting image data from a specific population group G and body region. and delineating in these images the objects in. to be modeled; (b) Building a super form, S-form, for each object O in.; (c) Refining the S-form of O to construct an optimal (minimal) super form, S*-form, which constitutes the (fuzzy) model of O; (d) Recognizing objects in. using the S*-form; (e) Defining confounding and background objects in each S*-form for each object and performing optimal delineation. Our evaluations based on 50 3D computed tomography (CT) image sets in the thorax on four sparse objects indicate that substantially improved performance (FPVF similar to 2%, FNVF similar to 10%, and success where the previous approach failed) can be achieved using the new approach.