Multiscale approach for the extraction of vessels
Résumé
In this communication we propose a new and automatic strategy for the multi-scale centerlines detection of vessels. So we wish to obtain a good representation of the vessels, that is to say a precise characterization of their centerlines and their diameters. The adopted solution requires the generation of an image scale-space in which the various levels of details allow to treat arteries of any diameter. The method proposed here is implemented using the Partial Differential Equations (PDE) formalism and those of differential geometry. The differential geometry permits, by the computation of a new measure of valley, to characterize locally the centerlines of vessels as the image surface bottom-lines of valleys. The informations given by the centerlines and the valley scale-spaces are used to obtain the two-dimensional multi-scale centerlines of the coronary arteries. In that purpose we construct a multi-scale adjacency graph which permits to keep the K strongest (according to the valley measure) detections. Then the obtained detection is coded as an attributed graph. So the medical practitioner can act and choose the most interesting arteries for the future three-dimensional reconstruction. Finally, we test our process on several digital coronary arteriograms, and some retinal angiograms.