Method for segmenting arteries and veins

1. A computer-implemented method of processing a series of computed tomography (CT) sections of a pulmonary region to separate pulmonary arteries from pulmonary veins comprising:

receiving a first identification of vessels of the pulmonary region from a user interface device, the first identification identifying each of the vessels as one of the pulmonary arteries and pulmonary veins visible in each of the CT sections and including a tracing of each of the vessels of the pulmonary region through one or more of the CT sections, by:

displaying each of the series of CT sections of the pulmonary region using the user interface device,

receiving a tracing of the vessels of the pulmonary region through each of the series of CT sections using the user interface, and

receiving an identification of each of the vessels of the pulmonary region as one of the pulmonary arteries and pulmonary veins using the user interface;

performing a computer-aided identification of vessels of the pulmonary region to provide a second identification of vessels of the pulmonary region using a region growing algorithm, the second identification identifying each of the vessels as one of the pulmonary arteries and pulmonary veins in each of the CT sections and the computer-aided identification being implemented without using the first identification;

combining the first identification with the second identification to produce a combined identification of the pulmonary arteries and pulmonary veins and detect differences between the first and second identification;

using the combined identification of the pulmonary arteries and pulmonary veins to segment the pulmonary arteries from the pulmonary veins; and

displaying the differences between the first and second identification using the user interface device.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of scanning the pulmonary arteries for an embolism.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising the step of comparing a location of a pulmonary embolism identified by a radiologist with a location of a pulmonary embolism identified by the scanning step.

4. A computer-implemented method of processing a series of computed tomography (CT) sections of a pulmonary region to separate pulmonary arteries from pulmonary veins comprising:

receiving a first identification of vessels of the pulmonary region from a user interface device, the first identification identifying each of the vessels as one of the pulmonary arteries and pulmonary veins visible in the CT sections, by:

displaying each of the series of CT sections of the pulmonary region using the user interface device,

receiving a tracing of the vessels of the pulmonary region through each of the series of CT sections using the user interface, and

receiving an identification of each of the vessels of the pulmonary region as one of the pulmonary arteries and pulmonary veins using the user interface;

performing a computer-aided identification of vessels of the pulmonary region to provide a second identification of vessels of the pulmonary region, the second identification identifying each of the vessels as one of the pulmonary arteries and pulmonary veins in the CT sections;

combining the first and second identification to produce a combined identification of the pulmonary arteries and pulmonary veins; and

using the combined identification of the pulmonary arteries and pulmonary veins to segment the pulmonary arteries from the pulmonary veins.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising the step of scanning the pulmonary arteries for an embolism.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising the step of comparing a location of a pulmonary embolism identified by a radiologist with a location of a pulmonary embolism identified by the scanning step.

7. A method of computer processing a series of computed tomography (CT) sections of a pulmonary region to separate pulmonary arteries from pulmonary veins comprising:

receiving a first tracing of vessels of the pulmonary region through the series of CT sections, the first tracing identifying each vessel as either a pulmonary artery or a pulmonary vein visible in the CT sections from a user interface;

using the first tracing to identify the pulmonary arteries and pulmonary veins in a computer-generated representation of the pulmonary arteries and veins;

using the identification of the pulmonary arteries and pulmonary veins from the first tracing to segment the pulmonary arteries from the pulmonary veins; and

scanning the pulmonary arteries for an embolism.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising the step of comparing a location of a pulmonary embolism identified by a radiologist with a location of a pulmonary embolism identified by the scanning step.

9. A method for interactive computer-aided detection in a lung volume, comprising:

a. automatically segmenting pulmonary artery tissue and pulmonary vein tissue from the lung volume;

b. displaying a three-dimensional representation of the lung volume including the segmented pulmonary artery and pulmonary vein tissue;

c. facilitating interactive tracing of a pulmonary artery tree of interest in the three dimensional representation;

d. storing a set of points selected during the interactive tracing corresponding to points in the traced pulmonary artery tree; and

e. performing automated abnormality detection only on vessels of the traced pulmonary artery tree, whereby the abnormality detection results are free of false positive detections that may be associated with pulmonary vein tissue.