Narrow-band level set and visualization technology for cochlea segmentation / 生物医学工程学杂志

ABSTRACT

Segmentation is a precondition step for modeling and analysis of the cochlea. In this paper, an interactive segmentation approach with a combination of 3D (three-dimensional) narrow-band level set algorithm and visualization technology was adopted to separate the cochlea. The 3D narrow-band level set algorithm was used to separate the objective of interest from volume data, and the visualization technology was used to display the segmented result. Users could modify intermediate parameters based on the direct 3D visual feedback until getting satisfying result. The basic principle and characteristics of level set and narrow-band level set algorithms were described in detail. The 3D narrow-band level set algorithm was successfully used to separate the cochlea from spiral CT images of the temporal bone. The experimental results show that the interactive method combining the narrow-band level set algorithm with visualization technique is capable of segmenting the cochlea from the medical volume data. Compared with the method of segmenting object from image volume slice by slice, our method can save much time.