Interactive 3D Tubular Structure Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current single-point and two-point tracking algorithms for tubular structures in medical imaging are cumbersome and lack user control, often resulting in incomplete or incorrect vessel tracking paths, requiring extensive user interaction and reiteration for accurate results.
Innovation Solution
A method that employs a user-interactive intermediate three-dimensional rendering to select and adjust tracking points, allowing successful path tracking through tubular structures without prior segmentation, using a computing device with instructions to facilitate path correction and extension, enabling multi-point uni-directional and bi-directional tracking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If single-point tracking algorithm is used, then the operation is simplified, but the tracking accuracy and user control deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The tracking process is segmented into multiple discrete steps: selecting a start point, selecting an end point, and optionally extending the path through additional points. This segmentation allows users to control each step individually, maintaining simplicity while improving accuracy through deliberate point selection rather than relying on the algorithm to automatically determine the entire path.
Solution Approach 2:
The tracking path is made dynamic and adjustable after initial creation. Users can extend the path by selecting additional points, modify existing paths, and adjust the tracking length. This dynamic capability allows the system to adapt to user needs while maintaining operational simplicity through a consistent point-selection interface.
2Adaptability or versatility
If two-point tracking algorithm is used, then the user control over path length is improved, but the device complexity and user effort increase
Solution Approach 1:
The path definition is segmented into a primary start-end point pair that defines the main tracking path, with optional intermediate or extension points that can be added later. This segmentation simplifies the core algorithm to handle only two essential points while providing flexibility for additional points, reducing overall complexity while maintaining adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary tracking based on the initial two points selected by the user, providing an immediate result that can be reviewed and adjusted. This preliminary action allows users to see the effect of their point selection before committing to the full path, reducing the need for complex real-time adjustments and simplifying the overall interaction.
3Measurement precision
If user provides initial segmentation before tracking, then the tracking accuracy is improved, but the productivity and time efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs automatic vessel segmentation and centerline extraction without requiring users to manually segment vessels beforehand. The algorithm automatically identifies vessel structures and computes centerlines based on the user-selected start and end points, allowing the system to serve itself by performing the segmentation task that would otherwise require user input, thereby improving productivity while maintaining accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary automatic segmentation and path planning in the background before presenting results to the user. This preliminary action prepares the data structures and candidate paths in advance, allowing users to simply select start and end points without needing to perform time-consuming manual segmentation, thus improving time efficiency while maintaining tracking accuracy.
4Measurement precision
If re-tracking with different start points is performed to correct wrong results, then the tracking accuracy is improved, but the time consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides visual feedback of the tracked path immediately after the user selects start and end points, allowing users to verify the accuracy of the tracking result before finalizing it. This feedback mechanism enables users to identify incorrect tracking and trigger a simple re-tracking operation by selecting new points, reducing the time needed for correction compared to iterative adjustments in traditional systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary validation of the tracking path and provides suggestions for optimal start and end point selection before the user commits to the tracking. This preliminary action helps users avoid selecting points that would lead to incorrect tracking, reducing the need for time-consuming re-tracking operations while maintaining high accuracy.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method includes segmenting a tubular structure of interest in volumetric image data, thereby creating a tracking segmentation, visually presenting a user interactive three dimensional rending of the tracking segmentation, receiving a signal indicative of a user identified tracking path endpoint of interest in the tracking segmentation through the user interactive three dimensional rending, tracking the tubular structure in the tracking segmentation based on the signal, and visually presenting at least the tracked path through the tubular structure.