Algorithm-based method for detection of blood vessels in breast MRI for development of computer-aided diagnosis

• Published in: Journal of magnetic resonance imaging Vol. 30; no. 4; pp. 817 - 824
• Main Authors: Lin, Muqing, Chen, Jeon-Hor, Nie, Ke, Chang, Daniel, Nalcioglu, Orhan, Su, Min-Ying
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.10.2009
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Algorithms; blood vessels detection; Breast - blood supply; breast MRI; Breast Neoplasms - blood supply; Breast Neoplasms - diagnosis; Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast - blood supply; Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast - diagnosis; computer-aided diagnosis; Contrast Media; Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted - methods; dynamic contrast enhancement; Female; Hessian matrix; Humans; Image Enhancement - methods; Magnetic Resonance Angiography - methods; Middle Aged; wavelet transform
• ISSN: 1053-1807; 1522-2586; 1522-2586
• DOI: 10.1002/jmri.21915

Purpose To develop a computer‐based algorithm for detecting blood vessels that appear in breast dynamic contrast‐enhanced (DCE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and to evaluate the improvement in reducing the number of vascular pixels that are labeled by computer‐aided diagnosis (CAD) systems as being suspicious of malignancy. Materials and Methods The analysis was performed in 34 cases. The algorithm applied a filter bank based on wavelet transform and the Hessian matrix to detect linear structures as blood vessels on a two‐dimensional maximum intensity projection (MIP). The vessels running perpendicular to the MIP plane were then detected based on the connectivity of enhanced pixels above a threshold. The nonvessel enhancements were determined and excluded based on their morphological properties, including those showing scattered small segment enhancements or nodular or planar clusters. The detected vessels were first converted to a vasculature skeleton by thinning and subsequently compared to the vascular track manually drawn by a radiologist. Results When evaluating the performance of the algorithm in identifying vascular tissue, the correct‐detection rate refers to pixels identified by both the algorithm and radiologist, while the incorrect‐detection rate refers to pixels identified by only the algorithm, and the missed‐detection rate refers to pixels identified only by the radiologist. From 34 analyzed cases the median correct‐detection rate was 85.6% (mean 84.9% ± 7.8%), the incorrect‐detection rate was 13.1% (mean 15.1% ± 7.8%), and the missed‐detection rate was 19.2% (mean 21.3% ± 12.8%). When detected vessels were excluded in the hot‐spot color‐coding of the CAD system, they could reduce the labeling of vascular vessels in 2.6%–68.6% of hot‐spot pixels (mean 16.6% ± 15.9%). Conclusion The computer algorithm‐based method can detect most large vessels and provide an effective means in reducing the labeling of vascular pixels as suspicious on a DCE‐MRI CAD system. This algorithm may improve the workflow of radiologists using CAD for image display, but will be particularly useful for development of automated CAD that gives diagnostic impression. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2009;30:817–824. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.