Determining hazard of an aneurysm by change determination

1. A method of determining changes of an anatomical structure in a patient over time, the method comprising:

accessing an image in a memory;

segmenting a portion of the image containing an aneurysm;

detecting the aneurysm in the segmented portion of the image; segmenting the detected aneurysm in the image;

quantifying the segmented detected aneurysm in the image; visually presenting the segmented detected aneurysm;

storing a location of the segmented detected aneurysm image data to the memory; accessing a second image in the memory;

propagating the location of the segmented detected aneurysm onto the second image using bookmarking or registration;

segmenting a second detected aneurysm in the second image;

quantifying the second segmented detected aneurysm in the second image;

determining temporal differences between the first segmented detected aneurysm and the second segmented detected aneurism; and

visually presenting the temporal differences between the first segmented detected aneurysm and the second segmented detected aneurism.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the segmenting further comprises:

eliminating unwanted data in the image.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the segmenting further comprises:

generating a mask that excludes unwanted data in the image.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detecting further comprises:

detecting an aneurysm in the image while excluding unwanted data in the image.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detecting further comprises:

detecting an aneurysm in the image in reference to a mask that excludes unwanted data in the image.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detecting, the segmenting and the quantifying further comprise:

being performed at one point in time.

7. A non-transitory computer readable medium having executable instructions to determine an aneurysm in a patient over time, the executable instructions capable of directing a processor to perform:

segmenting a first aneurysm in a first image;

segmenting a second aneurysm in the second image;

determining temporal differences between the two segmented aneurysms; and

visually presenting the temporal differences.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the executable instructions further comprise executable instructions capable of directing the processor to perform:

accessing an image;

quantifying the segmented aneurysms in the first and second images;

visually presenting the segmented aneurism; and

storing a location of the segmented aneurysm image data.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the executable instructions capable of directing the processor to perform segmenting further comprise executable instructions capable of directing the processor to perform:

eliminating unwanted data in the image.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the executable instructions capable of directing the processor to perform segmenting further comprise executable instructions capable of directing the processor to perform:

generating a mask that excludes unwanted data in the image.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the executable instructions capable of directing the processor to perform detecting further comprise executable instructions capable of directing the processor to perform:

detecting an aneurysm in the image while excluding unwanted data in the image.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the executable instructions capable of directing the processor to perform detecting further comprise executable instructions capable of directing the processor to perform:

detecting an aneurysm in the image in reference to a mask that excludes unwanted data in the image.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the executable instructions capable of directing the processor to perform detecting, the segmenting and the quantifying further comprise executable instructions capable of directing the processor to perform:

the detecting, the segmenting and the quantifying at one point.

14. A non-transitory computer readable medium having executable instructions to determine an aneurysm in a patient over time, the executable instructions capable of directing a processor to perform:

accessing at least two longitudinal exams, each longitudinal exam having an image, wherein the first longitudinal exam has a representation of a segmented aneurysm at a location in the image;

propagating the location of the segmented aneurysm of the first longitudinal exam onto an image of a subsequent longitudinal exam;

detecting a second aneurysm in the vicinity of the propagated location in the subsequent longitudinal exam;

segmenting the second detected aneurysm in the image of the second longitudinal exam;

quantifying the second segmented detected aneurysm in the second image;

determining differences between the first segmented detected aneurysm and the second segmented detected aneurism; and

visually presenting the differences between the first segmented detected aneurysm and the second segmented detected aneurism.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the executable instructions further comprise executable instructions capable of directing the processor to perform:

bookmarking the results of the detection; and

registering the bookmarked results before determining the differences.

16. A system comprising:

a processor;

a storage device coupled to the processor and operable to store a plurality of images;

software apparatus operable on the processor comprising:

a registration module operable to propagate a location of an aneurysm from a first image of the plurality of images onto a second image of the plurality of images;

a VCAR detector operable to receive each of the plurality of images; and a temporal comparator to identify changes in the detected aneurism.

17. The system of claim 16 , further comprising:

a segmenter of a second detected aneurysm in the second image;

a quantifier of the second segmented detected in the second image.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the VCAR is further operable to:

process the plurality of images with a 3D filter;

generate shape primitives from the processed data; and display a response from the shape primitives.

19. The system of claim 16 , wherein the VCAR is further operable to:

generate an original spherical response;

generate an original cylindrical response;

generate a clean spherical response using culling; and

generate a complete cylindrical response using morphological closing.

20. The system of claim 16 , wherein the VCAR is further operable to:

process registration information associated with each of the plurality of images.

21. The system of claim 16 , wherein the registration module is further operable to:

register results from the VCAR associated with each of the plurality of images.