Pulmonary organs analysis for differential diagnosis based on thoracic thin-section CT images

The pulmonary organs have a very complicated structure which consists of the bronchus, the pulmonary artery, and the pulmonary vein. So it can be difficult for a even medical doctor to understand the spatial relationships among the tumor and the pulmonary organs. Here, the authors present a 3D image analysis method of the pulmonary organs using thin-section CT images, and they apply this system to determine the malignant or benign nature of the abnormal module. This system consists of two steps. The first step is the analysis of the pulmonary structure, and the second step is the quantitative analysis of the spatial relationship among the classified pulmonary organs and the abnormal nodule for the differential diagnosis of the lung cancer