| Affiliation: | (1) Center for Computer-Aided Design, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA;(2) Department of Radiology, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA;(3) Department of Civil Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA;(4) Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Tohoku University, Sendai, 9808574, JAPAN;(5) Department of Radiology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, TAIWAN ROC;(6) Department of Radiology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA |
| Abstract: | BackgroundThe finite element method (FEM) is a powerful mathematical tool to simulate and visualize the mechanical deformation of tissues and organs during medical examinations or interventions. It is yet a challenge to build up an FEM mesh directly from a volumetric image partially because the regions (or structures) of interest (ROIs) may be irregular and fuzzy.MethodsA software package, ImageParser, is developed to generate an FEM mesh from 3-D tomographic medical images. This software uses a semi-automatic method to detect ROIs from the context of image including neighboring tissues and organs, completes segmentation of different tissues, and meshes the organ into elements.ResultsThe ImageParser is shown to build up an FEM model for simulating the mechanical responses of the breast based on 3-D CT images. The breast is compressed by two plate paddles under an overall displacement as large as 20% of the initial distance between the paddles. The strain and tangential Young's modulus distributions are specified for the biomechanical analysis of breast tissues.ConclusionThe ImageParser can successfully exact the geometry of ROIs from a complex medical image and generate the FEM mesh with customer-defined segmentation information. |
