Real-time interactive three-dimensional segmentation.

Abstract

The authors developed a real-time, interactive three-dimensional (3D) segmentation pipeline that uses relatively low-level segmentation operations and provides two-dimensional and 3D visualization through a user-friendly graphical interface. The low-level segmentation processes were implemented on a massively parallel computer; the graphical user interface was written with a public domain software toolkit. Since their implementation 2 years ago, these segmentation tools have been applied to approximately 300 computed tomographic and magnetic resonance imaging data sets. Two typical clinical cases are presented to demonstrate their applications. The entire processing pipeline can be executed in a few seconds. The tools are simple to learn because they involve the use of low-level procedures and a user-friendly graphical interface with a short interactive response time. Segmentation of the bones, aorta, kidneys, and kidney cysts in case 1 could be performed in about 16 minutes. The time needed to segment each organ in case 2 ranged from about 15 minutes for the skin and brain to about 1 minute for the tumor. Satisfactory results can be obtained in a relatively short time with the real-time interactive 3D segmentation system. Operation of the system can be easily learned by a wide variety of nonspecialized users with some medical background.