A novel level set based echocardiographic contour extraction method with prior knowledge

Abstract

This paper presents a novel level set method with shape priors. The method keeps the level set deformations and the integration of the prior information as separate processes and hence it can be used with any level set formulation without complicating the level set functional. The method does not need any explicit training phase and by the addition of an appropriate deformable contour matching method, it can be used for any specific application. The system is tested and verified by the task of extraction of the inner and outer heart walls (endocardium and epicardium) from the echocardio-graphic images of the left ventricle. © 2014 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.