Purpose: Most applications in the field of medical image processing require precise estimation. To improve the accuracy of segmentation, this study aimed to propose a novel segmentation method for coronary arteries to allow for the automatic and accurate detection of coronary pathologies.
Methods: The proposed segmentation method included 2 parts. First, 3D region growing was applied to give the initial segmentation of coronary arteries. Next, the location of vessel information, HHH subband coefficients of the 3D DWT, was detected by the proposed vessel-texture discrimination algorithm. Based on the initial segmentation, 3D DWT integrated with the 3D neutrosophic transformation could accurately detect the coronary arteries.
Results: Each subbranch of the segmented coronary arteries was segmented correctly by the proposed method. The obtained results are compared with those ground truth values obtained from the commercial software from GE Healthcare and the level-set method proposed by Yang et al., 2007. Results indicate that the proposed method is better in terms of efficiency analyzed.
Conclusion: Based on the initial segmentation of coronary arteries obtained from 3D region growing, one-level 3D DWT and 3D neutrosophic transformation can be applied to detect coronary pathologies accurately.