Automated measurement of brain dimensions

This paper describes a technique for automating the measurement of brain width and length at the level of the bi-parietal diameter, by processing an axial computed tomography (CT) brain scan image. The development of this algorithm derives from the wish to normalise patient data according to skull size and shape, for the purpose of comparing new patient data with that from past cases. This algorithm uses image processing techniques to find the inner edge of the cavity of the skull. The width and length of the brain are measured as inner dimensions of this bone periphery. The main challenges facing this work are the structural asymmetry of the brain and the angle of rotation commonly encountered when working with axial CT images. Both of these must be taken into account prior to measuring the brain width and length. The algorithm was designed and tested to operate on a database containing CT brain scans from 530 patients. The results indicate that the algorithm has a 90.56% success rate

Quantifying skull shape

This paper describes a technique for automatically quantifying the shape of the skull cavity seen on an axial slice in a CT brain scan. The development of this algorithm derives from the need to normalise CT scan data according to skull size and shape for the purpose of comparing new patient data with that from past cases. This algorithm uses image processing techniques to find the inner edge of the bones of the skull on an axial slice, so that its shape can be represented by a radius function. A simple measure of shape asymmetry is defined. It is also shown that this shape can be quantified more precisely by harmonic analysis using the Fourier Transform of the radius function. This paper describes the design of the algorithm and its performance on axial slices taken from a database of CT brain scans from 528 patients