Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Automatic segmentation of carotid B-mode images using fuzzy classification

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper presents a new method for the automatic segmentation of the common carotid artery in B-mode images. This method uses the instantaneous coefficient of variation edge detector, fuzzy classification of edges and dynamic programming. Several discriminating features of the intima and adventitia boundaries are considered, like the edge strength, the intensity gradient orientation, the valley shaped intensity profile and contextual information of the region delimited by those boundaries. The adopted fuzzy classification of edges helps avoiding low-pass filtering. The method is suited to real-time processing and user interaction is not required. Both the near and far wall boundaries can be detected in arteries with plaques of different types and sizes. Both expert manual and automatic tracings are significantly better for the far wall, due to the better visibility of the intima and adventitia boundaries. The automatic detection of the far wall shows an accuracy similar to the manual detections. For this wall, the error coefficient of variation for the mean intima-media thickness is in the range [5.6, 6.6 %] for automatic detections and in [6.7, 7.1 %] for manual ones. In the case of the near wall, the same coefficient of variation is in [11.2, 13.0 %] for automatic detections and in [5.9, 9.0 %] for manual detections. The mean intima-media thickness measurement errors observed for the far wall \(([0.15,0.17]\,\hbox{mm},\;[1.7,1.9]\,\hbox {pixel})\) are among the best values reported for other fully automatic approaches. The application of this approach in clinical practice is encouraged by the results for the far wall and the short processing time (mean of 2.1 s per image).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.

Notes

  1. The edge scale is a measure of the magnitude of the intensity gradient observed at edge pixels in a given image.

References

  1. Baldassarre D, Amato M, Bondioli A, Sirtori CR, Tremoli E (2000) Carotid artery intima-media thickness measured by ultrasonography in normal clinical practice correlates well with atherosclerosis risk factors. Stroke 31:2426–2430

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Bland JM, Altman DG (1986) Statistical methods for assessing agreement between two methods of clinical measurement. Lancet 1(8476):307–310

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Bots ML, Hoes AW, Koudstaal PJ, Hofman A, Grobbee DE (1997) Common carotid intima-media thickness and risk of stroke and myocardial infarction: the Rotterdam Study. Circulation 96(5):1432–1437

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Burke GL, Evans GW, Riley WA, Sharrett AR, Howard G, Barnes RW, Rosamond W, Crow RS, Rautaharju PM, Heiss G (1995) Arterial wall thickness is associated with prevalent cardiovascular disease in middle-aged adults. The atherosclerosis risk in communities (ARIC) Study. Stroke 26(3):386–391

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Cheng D, Schmidt-Trucksass A, Cheng K, Burkhardt H (2002) Using snakes to detect the intimal and adventitial layers of the common carotid artery wall in sonographic images. Comput Methods Prog Biomed 67(1):27–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Cinthio M, Jansson T, Eriksson A, Ahlgren AR, Persson HW, Lindstrom K (2010) Evaluation of an algorithm for arterial lumen diameter measurements by means of ultrasound. Med Biol Eng Comput 48:1133–1140. doi:10.1007/s11517-010-0660-8

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Delsanto S, Molinari F, Giustetto P, Liboni W, Badalamenti S, Suri J (2007) Characterization of a completely user-independent algorithm for carotid artery segmentation in 2D ultrasound images. IEEE Trans Instrum Meas 56(4):1265–1274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Delsanto S, Molinari F, Liboni W, Giustetto P, Badalamenti S, Suri J (2006) User-independent plaque characterization and accurate IMT measurement of carotid artery wall using ultrasound. In: Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc, vol 1, pp 2404–2407

  9. Destrempes F, Meunier J, Giroux M, Soulez G, Cloutier G (2009) Segmentation in ultrasonic B-mode images of healthy carotid arteries using mixtures of nakagami distributions and stochastic optimization. IEEE Trans Med Imag 28(2):215–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Faita F, Gemignani V, Bianchini E, Giannarelli C, Ghiadoni L, Demi M (2008) Real-time measurement system for evaluation of the carotid intima-media thickness with a robust edge operator. J Ultrasound Med 27(9):1353–1361

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Gariepy J, Massonneau M, Levenson J, Heudes D, Simon D, the Groupe de Prevention Cardio-vasculaire en Medecine du Travail: (1993) Evidence for in vivo carotid and femoral wall thickness in human hypertension. J Hypertension 22(1):111–118

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Golemati S, Stoitsis J, Sifakis E, Balkizas T, Nikita K (2007) Using the Hough transform to segment ultrasound images of longitudinal and transverse sections of the carotid artery. Ultrasound Med Biol 33(12):1918–1932

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Gustavsson T, Liang Q, Wendelhag I, Wikstrand J (1994) A dynamic programming procedure for automated ultrasonic measurement of the carotid artery. In: Computers in cardiology, pp 297–300

  14. Gutierrez M, Pilon P, Lage S, Kopel L, Carvalho R, Furuie S (2002) Automatic measurement of carotid diameter and wall thickness in ultrasound images. Comput Cardiol 29:359–362

    Google Scholar 

  15. Halenka M (1999) Noninvasive measurement of early atherosclerosis by high-resolution B-mode ultrasonography. Acta-Universitatis Palackianae Olomucensis Facultatis Medicae 142:7–12

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Kastelein JJ, de Groot E, Sankatsing R (2004) Atherosclerosis measured by B-mode ultrasonography: effect of statin therapy on disease progression. Am J Med 116:31S–36S

    Google Scholar 

  17. Kastelein JJ, Wiegman A, de Groot E (2003) Surrogate markers of atherosclerosis: impact of statins. Atheroscler Suppl 4(1):31–36

    Google Scholar 

  18. Kyriacou E, Pattichis C, Pattichis M, Loizou C, Christodoulou C, Kakkos S, Nicolaides A (2010) A review of non-invasive ultrasound image processing methods in the analysis of carotid plaque morphology for the assessment of stroke. IEEE Trans Info Tech Biomed 14(4):1027–1038

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Liang Q, Wendelhag I, Wikstrand J, Gustavsson T (2000) A multiscale dynamic programming procedure for boundary detection in ultrasound artery images. IEEE Trans Med Imag 19(2):127–142

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Liguori C, Paolillo A, Pietrosanto A (2001) An automatic measurement system for the evaluation of carotid intima-media thickness. IEEE Trans Instrum Meas 50(6):1684–1691

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Loizou CP, Pattichis CS, Nicolaides A, Pantziaris M (2009) Manual and automated media and intima thickness measurements of the common carotid artery. IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control 56(5):983–994

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Loizou CP, Pattichis CS, Pantziaris M, Nicolaides A (2007) An integrated system for the segmentation of atherosclerotic carotid plaque. IEEE Trans Info Tech Biomed 11(6):661–667

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Loizou CP, Pattichis CS, Pantziaris M, Tyllis T, Nicolaides A (2007) Snakes based segmentation of the common carotid artery intima media. Med Biol Eng Comput 45(1):35–49

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. van der Meer IM, Bots ML, Hofman A, del Sol AI, van der Kuip DAM, Witteman JCM (2004) Predictive value of noninvasive measures of atherosclerosis for incident myocardial infarction: the Rotterdam Study. Circulation 109(9):1089–1094

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Molinari F, Acharya UR, Zeng G, Meiburger KM, Suri J (2011) Completely automated robust edge snapper for carotid ultrasound IMT measurement on a multi-institutional database of 300 images. Med Biol Eng Comput (2011). doi:10.1007/s11517-011-0781-8

  26. Molinari F, Delsanto S, Giustetto P, Liboni W, Badalamenti S, Suri J (2008) User-independent plaque segmentation and accurate intima-media thickness measurement of carotid artery wall using ultrasound. Artech House, Norwood, pp 111–140

  27. Molinari F, Liboni W, Giustetto P, Badalamenti S, Suri J (2009) Automatic computer-based tracings (ACT) in longitudinal 2D ultrasound images using different scanners. J Mech Med Biol 9:481–505

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Molinari F, Zeng G, Suri J (2010) Greedy technique and its validation for fusion of two segmentation paradigms leads to an accurate intima-media thickness measure in plaque carotid arterial ultrasound. J Vasc Ultrasound 34(2):63–73

    Google Scholar 

  29. Molinari F, Zeng G, Suri J (2010) An integrated approach to computer-based automated tracing and its validation for 200 common carotid arterial wall ultrasound images: a new technique. J Ultrasound Med 29:399–418

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Molinari F, Zeng G, Suri J (2010) Inter-Greedy technique for fusion of different segmentation strategies leading to high-performance carotid IMT measurement in ultrasound images. Atherosc Dis Man

  31. Molinari F, Zeng G, Suri J (2010) Intima-media thickness: setting a standard for completely automated method of ultrasound measurement. IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control 57(5):1112–1124

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Molinari F, Zeng G, Suri J (2010) A state of the art review on intima-media thickness (IMT) measurement and wall segmentation techniques for carotid ultrasound. Comput Methods Prog Biomed 100:201–221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Molinari F, Zeng G, Suri JS (2010) Carotid wall segmentation and IMT measurement in longitudinal ultrasound images using morphological approach. In: Int Symposium on Biom Imag, Rotterdam

  34. Molinari F, Zeng G, Suri JS (2010) Inter-Greedy technique for fusion of different carotid segmentation boundaries leading to high performance IMT measurement. In: Conf. IEEE EMBS, Buenos Aires, Argentina

  35. Noble JA (2010) Ultrasound image segmentation and tissue characterization. Proc Inst Mech Eng Part H: J Eng Med 224(2):307–316

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Otsu N (1979) A threshold selection method from gray-level histograms. IEEE Trans Syst Man Cybern 9(1):62–66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Pignoli P, Longo T (1988) Evaluation of atherosclerosis with B-mode ultrasound imaging. J Nucl Med Allied Sci 32(3):166–173

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Riccioni G, Bazzano LA, Bucciarelli T, Mancini B, di Ilio E, D’Orazio N (2008) Rosuvastatin reduces intima-media thickness in hypercholesterolemic subjects with asymptomatic carotid artery disease: the asymptomatic carotid atherosclerotic disease in Manfredonia (ACADIM) study. Expert Opin Pharmacother 9(14):2403–2408

    Google Scholar 

  39. Rocha R, Campilho A, Silva J, Azevedo E, Santos R (2010) Segmentation of the carotid intima media region in B-mode images. Image Vis Comput 28:614–625

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Rocha R, Campilho A, Silva J, Azevedo E, Santos R (2011) Segmentation of ultrasound images of the carotid using RANSAC and cubic splines. Comput Methods Prog Biomed 101:94–106. doi:10.1016/j.cmpb.2010.04.015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Rocha R, Silva J, Campilho A (2011) Dynamic programming and fuzzy classification for the automatic segmentation of the carotid in ultrasound images. In: 12th IAPR conference on machine vision and applications (MVA 2011), pp 552–556

  42. Rossi AC, Brands PJ, Hoeks AP (2008) Automatic recognition of the common carotid artery in longitudinal ultrasound B-mode scans. Med Image Anal 12(6):653–665

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Rossi AC, Brands PJ, Hoeks AP (2009) Nonlinear processing in B-mode ultrasound affects carotid diameter assessment. Ultras Med Biol 35(5):736–747

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Santhiyakumari N, Rajendran P, Madheswaran M, Suresh S (2011) Detection of the intima and media layer thickness of ultrasound common carotid artery image using efficient active contour segmentation technique. Med Biol Eng Comput. doi:10.1007/s11517-011-0800-9

  45. Schmidt-Trucksass A, Cheng D, Sandrock M, Schulte-Monting J, Rauramaa R, Huonker M, Burkhardt H (2001) Computerized analysing system using the active contour in ultrasound measurement of carotid artery intima-media thickness. Clin Physiol 5:561–569

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Selzer RH, Mack WJ, Lee PL, Kwong-Fu H, Hodis HN (2001) Improved common carotid elasticity and intima-media thickness measurements from computer analysis of sequential ultrasound frames. Atherosclerosis 154(1):185–193

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Stein JH, Korcarz CE, Mays ME, Douglas PS, Palta M, Zhang H, LeCaire T, Paine D, Gustafson D, Fan L (2005) A semiautomated ultrasound border detection program that facilitates clinical measurement of ultrasound carotid intima-media thickness. J Am Soc Echocardiogr 18(3):244–251

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Stoitsis J, Golemati S, Kendros S, Nikita K (2008) Automated detection of the carotid artery wall in B-mode ultrasound images using active contours initialized by the Hough transform. In: Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc, pp 3146–3149

  49. Touboul PJ, Prati P, Scarabin P, Adrai V, Thibout E, Ducimetiere P (1992) Use of monitoring software to improve the measurement of carotid wall thickness by B-mode imaging. J Hypertension 10(5):37–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Wendelhag I, Liang Q, Gustavsson T, Wikstrand J (1997) A new automated computerized analyzing system simplifies readings and reduces the variability in ultrasound measurement of intima-media thickness. Stroke 28(11):2195–2200

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  51. Yu Y, Acton S (2002) Speckle reducing anisotropic diffusion. IEEE Trans Image Process 11(11):1260–1270

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  52. Yu Y, Acton S (2004) Edge detection in ultrasound imagery using the instantaneous coefficient of variation. IEEE Trans Image Process 13(12):1640–1655

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Zack GW, Rogers WE, Latt SA (1977) Automatic measurement of sister chromatid exchange frequency. J Histochem Cytochem 25(7):741–753

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. INEB - Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, s/n, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal

    Rui Rocha, Jorge Silva & Aurélio Campilho

  2. ISEP-Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto, Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 431, 4200-072, Porto, Portugal

    Rui Rocha

  3. Departamento de Engenharia Informática, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, s/n, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal

    Jorge Silva

  4. Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, s/n, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal

    Aurélio Campilho

Authors
  1. Rui Rocha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jorge Silva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Aurélio Campilho
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rui Rocha.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rocha, R., Silva, J. & Campilho, A. Automatic segmentation of carotid B-mode images using fuzzy classification. Med Biol Eng Comput 50, 533–545 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-012-0883-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-012-0883-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation