Automatic extraction of bone boundaries from CT scans using an intelligence-based approach

Abstract

The objective of extracting bone structure boundaries from computed tomography (CT) data is to serve as input for three-dimensional model reconstruction. Various boundary detection algorithms 1 for CT images have been developed in the last few decades but very few of them are completely automatic. Also, most of them were not capable of dealing with critical locations such as narrow gaps. A novel intelligence-based approach is proposed for automatic extraction of bone boundaries. This approach involves three major steps - gap detection, fuzzy multilevel thresholding and boundary transform (thinning method). Results of applying the approach to CT images are presented, with a discussion of the potential for clinical application. © 2000 IEEE.