New Vessel Extraction Method by Using Skew Normal Distribution for MRA Images

Tohid Bahrami, Hossein Jabbari Khamnei (), Mehrdad Lakestani and B. M. Golam Kibria ()
Additional contact information
Tohid Bahrami: Department of Statistics, Faculty of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, University of Tabriz, Tabriz 33193, Iran
Hossein Jabbari Khamnei: Department of Statistics, Faculty of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, University of Tabriz, Tabriz 33193, Iran
Mehrdad Lakestani: Department of Applied Mathematics, Faculty of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, University of Tabriz, Tabriz 33193, Iran
B. M. Golam Kibria: Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA

Stats, 2024, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: Vascular-related diseases pose significant public health challenges and are a leading cause of mortality and disability. Understanding the complex structure of the vascular system and its processes is crucial for addressing these issues. Recent advancements in medical imaging technology have enabled the generation of high-resolution 3D images of vascular structures, leading to a diverse array of methods for vascular extraction. While previous research has often assumed a normal distribution of image data, this paper introduces a novel vessel extraction method that utilizes the skew normal distribution for more accurate probability distribution modeling. The proposed method begins with a preprocessing step to enhance vessel structures and reduce noise in Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA) images. The skew normal distribution, known for its ability to model skewed data, is then employed to characterize the intensity distribution of vessels. By estimating the parameters of the skew normal distribution using the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm, the method effectively separates vessel pixels from the background and non-vessel regions. To extract vessels, a thresholding technique is applied based on the estimated skew normal distribution parameters. This segmentation process enables accurate vessel extraction, particularly in detecting thin vessels and enhancing the delineation of vascular edges with low contrast. Experimental evaluations on a diverse set of MRA images demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed method compared to previous approaches in terms of accuracy and computational efficiency. The presented vessel extraction method holds promise for improving the diagnosis and treatment of vascular-related diseases. By leveraging the skew normal distribution, it provides accurate and efficient vessel segmentation, contributing to the advancement of vascular imaging in the field of medical image analysis.

Keywords: vessel extraction; EM algorithm; skew normal distribution; EM algorithm; MRA images (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C1 C10 C11 C14 C15 C16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2571-905X/7/1/13/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2571-905X/7/1/13/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jstats:v:7:y:2024:i:1:p:13-219:d:1344430

Access Statistics for this article

Stats is currently edited by Mrs. Minnie Li

More articles in Stats from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().