An expert system for the labeling and 3D reconstruction of the coronary arteries from two projections

In this paper we present a rule-based expert system for the automatic delineation and 3D reconstruction of the left coronary artery on standard RAO and LAO angiographic projections. The approach is based on the application of a general blood vessel model and on anatomical models which take into account the normal variations of the coronary artery structure. In a first step, the arteries are delineated by detecting the maximum intensity on the centerline of the vessels. Then, we label the blood vessel segments according to an anatomical model of the left coronary artery. In general, only 1-2 labels remain for each blood vessel segment. Finally, these results are used for an automatic 3D reconstruction of the left coronary artery from two projections. Results from clinical RAO and LAO angiograms will be presented.