Method and system for automated detection of tissue interior to a mammalian ribcage from an in vivo image

Abstract

Described herein are systems and methods for efficient and accurate, automated detection of a region of interest interior to the ribcage from an in vivo mammalian image. It is found that efficient, automated identification of the region of interest interior to the ribcage can be achieved by the use of both a bone distance mask and a surface distance mask. The technique solves the problem of accurate and fast identification of the region of interest for a wide range of sizes and shapes of mammals, e.g., small mammals such as mice.

Description

Technical field [0001] The present invention generally relates to an image analysis method and system. More specifically, in certain embodiments, the present invention relates to automated detection of tissue inside the chest cavity of a mammal. Background technique [0002] There are a large number of technologies for in vivo imaging of mammals, for example, bioluminescence technology, fluorescence technology, tomographic imaging technology, and multi-modal imaging technology. In vivo imaging of small mammals is performed by a large group of research investigators in various fields (for example, oncology, infectious diseases, and drug development). [0003] In vivo imaging usually involves the use of reagents (such as fluorescent probes) for non-invasive spatiotemporal visualization of biological phenomena inside living animals. For example, fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) involves in vivo imaging of mammals for quantitative analysis of administered and / or endogenous pro...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Portions of the image that are outside those target organs may be insignificant to the analysis, and processing time spent on those portions is wasteful and results in reduced efficiency

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