KIPS Transactions on Software and Data Engineering (정보처리학회논문지:소프트웨어 및 데이터공학)

Korea Information Processing Society (한국정보처리학회)
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Automatic Segmentation of Trabecular Bone Based on Sphere Fitting for Micro-CT Bone Analysis

마이크로-CT 뼈 영상 분석을 위한 구 정합 기반 해면뼈의 자동 분할

  • 강선경 (원광대학교 LINC사업단) ;
  • 김영운 (원광보건대학교, (주)좋은정보기술) ;
  • 정성태 (원광대학교 컴퓨터공학과)
  • Received : 2014.03.11
  • Accepted : 2014.06.09
  • Published : 2014.08.31
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Abstract

In this study, a new method that automatically segments trabecular bone for its morphological analysis using micro-computed tomography imaging was proposed. In the proposed method, the bone region was extracted using a threshold value, and the outer boundary of the bone was detected. The sphere of maximum size with the corresponding voxel as the center was obtained by applying the sphere-fitting method to each voxel of the bone region. If this sphere includes the outer boundary of the bone, the voxels included in the sphere are classified as cortical bone; otherwise, they are classified as trabecular bone. The proposed method was applied to images of the distal femurs of 15 mice, and comparative experiments, with results manually divided by a person, were performed. Four morphological parameters-BV/TV, Tb.Th, Tb.Sp, and Tb.N-for the segmented trabecular bone were measured. The results were compared by regression analysis and the Bland-Altman method; BV/TV, Tb.Th, Tb.Sp, and Tb.N were all in the credible range. In addition, not only can the sphere-fitting method be simply implemented, but trabecular bone can also be divided precisely by using the three-dimensional information.

본 논문에서는 마이크로 CT 영상에서 해면뼈의 형태학적 분석을 위하여 해면뼈를 자동 분할하는 방법을 제안한다. 제안된 방법에서는 임계값을 이용하여 뼈 영역을 추출하고 뼈의 바깥쪽 경계선을 검출한다. 뼈 영역의 각 복셀에 대하여 구 정합을 적용하여 해당 복셀을 중심으로 하는 최대 크기의 구를 구한다. 이 구에 뼈의 바깥쪽 경계선이 포함되면 이 구에 포함된 복셀들은 치밀뼈로 분류되고 그렇지 않으면 해면뼈로 분류된다. 제안된 방법을 쥐의 15개 대퇴골 원위부 영상에 적용하였으며 사람이 수작업으로 분할한 결과와 비교 실험을 수행하였다. 분할된 해면뼈에 대하여 BV/TV, Tb.Th, Tb.Sp, Tb.N의 네 가지 형태학적 지표자를 측정하였다. 회귀분석과 Bland-Altman 방법으로 비교해본 결과 BV/TV, Tb.Th, Tb.Sp, Tb.N 모두 신뢰할 만한 수준의 범위 안에 있었다. 또한 구 정합 방법은 단순하게 구현할 수 있으면서도 3차원 정보를 이용함으로써 해면뼈를 정확하게 분할할 수 있음을 알 수 있었다.

Keywords

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