Lumen surface quality is one characteristic used to characterize flow disturbances generated by small lesions of atherosclerosis. Mean curvature and Gaussian curvature are a set of local differential-geometric shape descriptors in classical differential geometry. Gaussian curvature represents intrinsic surface geometry whereas mean curvature is extrinsic at individual surface points. Here, we have chosen the Gaussian curvature to characterize the lumen surface quality of the carotid artery, referred to as roughness. An accurate roughness measurement method for carotid arteries, based on surface triangulation expression, is presented. This method is divided into the associated three sub-problems during processing: 1) representation of contours, 2) optimal surface tiling, and 3) calculation of roughness. The main advantages of this method are 1) the high curvature points are preserved; 2) roughness is calculated without explicit derivative estimates; 3) the accuracy of the roughness measurement is controlled using the area threshold, which determines the approximate error of surface. In theory, this technique is reasonable, but it will permit further studies to determine the association between roughness and the pathogenesis of carotid atherosclerosis.

Date Published: 3 July 2001
PDF: 11 pages
Proc. SPIE 4322, Medical Imaging 2001: Image Processing, (3 July 2001); doi: 10.1117/12.431072

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4322:
Medical Imaging 2001: Image Processing
Milan Sonka; Kenneth M. Hanson, Editor(s)