Automatic detection of supraaortic branches and model-based segmentation of the aortic arch froM 3D CTA images

Automated quantification of the morphology of the aortic arch is crucial for diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. We introduce a new approach for fully automatic segmentation and characterization of the aortic arch morphology for endovascular aortic repair. Supraaortic branches are detected based on an analysis of the connected components within a spherical volume around the vessel. Segmentation and quantification is based on a 3D parametric intensity model that is iteratively fitted to the image intensities and includes a fast and robust scheme for initialization. The performance of the approach has been evaluated using synthetic and real 3D CTA images.