Detection of anatomical structures on ultrasound liver images using Gabor filters

In this paper we present a novel method of detecting anatomical structures from liver ultrasound images. Local texture anisotropy is evaluated using a specially designed bank of Gabor filters. We show that the proposed method is well suited for processing liver ultrasound images and it is robust with respect to its parameters. A practical application of this method is then presented. Image features are computed on detected structures. These features are then used in conjunction with a classifier (Support Vector Machines) to discriminate between left and right lobe liver images. This classifier is used to label ultrasound images. The labeling algorithm obtained a very low error rate (<1%). It can successfully replace the human expert in image labeling.