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Virtual Bronchoscopic Pathfinder (VBP): An Open-Source Web-Based System for Airway Segmentation, Cost-Field Path
Young Kim1, Sunggyu Choi2, Chulmin Park3
1Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea.
Tomography (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
|July 27, 2026
Summary
Virtual Bronchoscopic Pathfinder is an open-source system for airway segmentation and navigation path generation. It offers a reliable, accessible workflow for virtual bronchoscopy, overcoming limitations of proprietary software.
Area of Science:
- Medical Imaging Informatics
- Computational Pulmonary Imaging
Background:
- Virtual Bronchoscopic Navigation (VBN) aids in guiding bronchoscopes to peripheral pulmonary lesions.
- Clinical adoption of VBN is hindered by proprietary software costs and segmentation failures in small airways.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce Virtual Bronchoscopic Pathfinder (VBP), an open-source, web-based system for automated airway segmentation, path generation, and 3D visualization.
- To address limitations of current VBN systems by providing an accessible and robust alternative.
Main Methods:
- Developed a system integrating a deep learning model for airway segmentation, TotalSegmentator for tumor localization, and a C++ thinning algorithm for centerline extraction.
- Implemented a bidirectional Dijkstra algorithm with a multi-tier cost field for path planning.
- Created a zero-footprint, browser-based 3D visualization interface using vtk.js.
Main Results:
- VBP was validated on 306 CT series; 273 (89.2%) yielded successful end-to-end navigation paths.
- The system demonstrated robustness, generating paths for all anatomically valid cases.
- The web-based interface operated without client-side installation on various devices.
Conclusions:
- Virtual Bronchoscopic Pathfinder showcases the feasibility of an open-source VBN workflow.
- The system's components (connectivity-aware segmentation, cost-field path planning, browser visualization) offer a practical foundation for research.
- VBP facilitates future development of intra-procedural bronchoscopic guidance systems.