BIB-VERSION:: CS-TR-v2.0
          ID:: STAN//CS-TR-97-1586
       ENTRY:: February 24, 1997
ORGANIZATION:: Stanford University, Department of Computer Science
       TITLE:: Construction of a Three-dimensional Geometric Model for
               Segmentation and Visualization of Cervical Spine Images
        TYPE:: Technical Report
        TYPE:: Thesis
      AUTHOR:: Pichumani, Ramani
        DATE:: February 1997
       PAGES:: 224
    ABSTRACT:: This report introduces a new technique for automatically
               extracting vertebral segments from three-dimensional
               computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR)
               images of the human cervical spine. An important motivation
               for this work is to provide accurate information for
               registration and for fusion of CT and MR images into a
               composite three-dimensional image. One of the major hurdles
               in performing image fusion is the difficulty of extracting
               and matching corresponding anatomical regions in an accurate,
               robust, and timely manner. The complementary properties of
               soft and bony tissues revealed in CT and MR imaging
               modalities makes it challenging to extract corresponding
               regions that can be correlated in an accurate and robust
               manner. Ambiguities in the images due to noise, distortion,
               limited resolution, and patient-specific structural
               variations also create additional challenges. Whereas fusion
               of CT and MR images of the cranium have already been
               performed, no one has yet developed an automated technique
               for fusing multimodality images of the spine. Unlike the
               head, which is relatively rigid, the spine is a complex,
               articulating object and is subject to structural deformation
               throughout the multimodal scanning process.
       NOTES:: [Adminitrivia V1/Prg/19970224]
         END:: STAN//CS-TR-97-1586