Innovative Tool for Automatic Detection of Arterial Stenosis on Cone Beam Computed Tomography

Arterial stenosis is one of the main vascular diseases that are treated with minimally invasive surgery approaches. The aim of this study was to provide a tool to support the medical doctor in planning endovascular surgery, allowing the rapid detection of stenotic vessels and the quantification of the stenosis. Skeletonization was used to improve vessels' visualization. The distance transform was used to obtain a linear representation of the diameter of critical vessels selected by the user. The system also provides an estimate of the exact distance between landmarks on the vascular tree and the occlusion, important information that can be used in the planning of the surgery. The advantage of the proposed tool is to lead the examination on the linear representation of the chosen vessels that are free from tortuous vascular courses and from vessel crossings.

Automated summary

The aim of this study was to provide a tool to aid medical doctors in planning endovascular surgery by quickly detecting stenotic vessels and quantifying the degree of stenosis. The use of skeletonization improved the visualization of vessels and the distance transform provided a linear representation of the diameter of critical vessels selected by the user. The system also estimated the exact distance between landmarks and the occlusion, which is crucial information for surgery planning. The proposed tool offers the advantage of examining chosen vessels in a linear representation free from tortuous vascular courses and vessel crossings.