A tool for lung nodules analysis based on segmentation and morphological operation

Abstract

Lung cancer has become the foremost cause of high mortality rate in the western world. Subsequently, many image databases are being developed to enhance the investigation of nodules detection techniques in the early stages of lung cancer. Notably, Lung Image Database Consortium (LIDC) is widely recognized as one of the truthful databases but the efficient assessment of nodules on LIDC based Computed Tomography (CT) slices remains challenging. A novel, simple to use and efficient computer based application is proposed for the visualization, marking and segmentation of nodules on lung CT images. Greyscale thresholding and morphological operation (erosion) are applied to achieve adequate nodules segmentation on CT images. Furthermore, an extension enabling 3D visualization is also introduced. This application provides a solution to the challenges related to the segmentation and analysis of nodules in the CT images.