Application of Cardinal Points Symmetry Landmarks Distribution Model to B-Mode Ultrasound Images of Transverse Cross-section of Thin-walled Phantom Carotid Arteries

Abstract

We had earlier developed a technique based on cardinal point symmetry landmark distribution model (CPS-LDM) to completely characterize the Region of Interest (ROI) of the geometric shape of thick-walled simulated B-mode ultrasound images of carotid artery imaged in the transverse plane. In this paper, this developed technique was applied to completely characterize the region of interest of the geometric shape of B-mode ultrasound images of thin-walled phantom carotid artery imaged in the transverse plane. The developed model employs a combination of fixed landmarks (FLs) and movable landmarks (MLs) to obtain the total landmarks (TLs) that can sufficiently segment the shape of the ROI of the carotid artery. For the phantom carotid arteries, three FLs are fixed on each of the four ROIs determined by the cardinal points North (N), South (S), East (E) and West (W) drawn on the ROIs of the phantom carotid artery. The MLs are determined by the inter-cardinal directions such as North-East (NE), North-West (NW) and so on. The obtained CPS-LDM equation developed allows graphical visualization the optimum number of points that can sufficiently segment the ROIs. ImageJ2 software was used to generate the Cartesian coordinates for each landmark which were then used to generate the Shape Space Pattern (SSP) of the phantom carotid artery ready for further statistical analysis. The results showed that the CPS-LD model is generic and adaptable to a variety of transverse cross-sectional B-mode ultrasound images of thin-walled phantom carotid artery

Development of Segmentation and Classification Algorithms for Computed Tomography Images of Human Kidney Stone

“…In the context of adapting expert system in clinical decision and patients' management imagery [7] , four key segmentation-related challenges were identified: (i) the objects of interest are often diffuse and lack strong edges; (ii) there are often many objects, both of interest and not of interest, within a small volume; (iii) many objects have fairly similar intensity profiles, but this effect cannot be removed by simple pre-processing such as histogram equalization; and (iv) many of the objects are of roughly the same shape [7,8] .…”

Adaptation of Cardinal Points Symmetry Landmarks Distribution Model to in-vivo B-Mode Ultrasound Images of Transverse Cross-section of Carotid Arteries

“…Due to limitations of in-vivo ultrasound discussed in [13], clearly imaged arterial wall shape in these kind of ultrasound images are not always symmetrical, and this makes it challenging to apply the CPS-LD Model on them. One way this problem was overcome was to 'force' the CPS-LD model developed in [12] on the in-vivo carotid artery images i.e., adapting the in-vivo carotid artery images to possess symmetry such that when the CPS-LD model developed in [12] was used for the segmentation of the ROI on these images, they were found to perform satisfactorily.…”

“…The cardinal and inter-cardinal points used to develop the CPS-LDM for the in-vivo image are discussed in [13]. The cardinal points concept was then used to describe and label strategic points on the in-vivo image which subsequently led to the full description of the image.…”

“…We had earlier developed the cardinal point symmetry landmark distribution model (CPS-LDM) to completely characterize the ROI of the geometric shape of a transverse cross-section of simulated B-mode ultrasound images of carotid arteries in [12]. We proceeded to apply this developed model on the geometric shape of transverse cross-section of thin-walled phantom carotid arteries in B-mode ultrasound images [13]. In this paper, we model the unsymmetrical invivo arterial wall as a thick-wall and then applied the technique developed in [12], [13]…”

Adaptation of Cardinal Points Symmetry Landmarks Distribution Model to in-vivo B-Mode Ultrasound Images of Transverse Cross-section of Carotid Arteries

“…We proceeded to apply this developed model on the geometric shape of transverse cross-section of thin-walled phantom carotid arteries in B-mode ultrasound images [13]. In this paper, we model the unsymmetrical invivo arterial wall as a thick-wall and then applied the technique developed in [12], [13]…”