Hybrid segmentation and exploration of the human lungs

Segmentation of the tracheo-bronchial tree of the lungs is notoriously difficult. This is due to the fact that the small size of some of the anatomical structures is subject to partial volume effects. Furthermore, the limited intensity contrast between the participating materials (air, blood, and tissue) increases the segmentation of difficulties. In this paper, we propose a hybrid segmentation method which is based on a pipeline of three segmentation stages to extract the lower airways down to the seventh generation of the bronchi. User interaction is limited to the specification of a seed point inside the easily detectable trachea at the upper end of the lower airways. Similarly, the comp…