Using Bipartite Graphs for 3D Cardiac Model Retrieval

Three-dimensional models have been used to aid medical diagnoses, using images generated by modalities like Magnetic Resonance Imaging. They can provide a more complete vision of objects since their depth is taken into account. Content-based Image Retrieval (CBIR) has also been used to aid the diagnosis. One important step in Three-dimensional CBIR (Model Retrieva) systems is the comparison between two models by using a set of features extracted and stored in a database. In this paper we present a novel method to compare two models, using the Bipartite graphs technique, with the aim to improve the retrieval precision. This technique retrieves 3D medical models of the left ventricle in order to aid the diagnosis of Congestive Heart Failure. Results showed that the novel method improved the precision by 10% when compared to the Similarity Function of Euclidean and Manhattan distance. These results confirmed that bipartite graph techniques can be used to improve the accuracy of Model Retrieval systems.