DefinePK

Abstract

This paper presents a new approach for boundary detection of kidney from three-dimensional ultrasound images. The technique proposed here is based on vector graphic image formation. Before converting the ultrasound image into vector graphic image, the region of interest (ROI) of the kidney for each slice was generated automatically. Some images also needed to be rotated to zero degree depending on the position of the kidney in the images. After the vector graphic formation, the boundary points of the kidney were identified. The error points were removed and the interpolation was then performed for contouring the kidney from its background. Experiments had been carried out step by step for validation purposes. Test result based on 30 kidney ultrasound image slices showed that the developed algorithms were able to detect 86.67% true ROIs. When compared to manual contouring, the sensitivity of this boundary detection technique was in between 94.95% to 97.75% and the specificity was in between 99.26% to 99.92%. Based on the results, it can be concluded that this new semi-automatic technique is reliable to be used for contouring the kidney from three-dimensional ultrasound images.