Automatic reconstruction of the arterial and venous trees on volumetric chest CT

This paper introduces a novel approach to classify pulmonary arteries and veins from volumetric chest computed tomography (CT) images using AVIEW software. The authors construct a tree structure from vascular points while minimizing the construction cost using the vascular geometries and features of CT images. Their approach can handle non-contrast CT images as well as vascular contrast-enhanced images. The suggested approach shows clinically acceptable results in terms of classification capability, making it potentially useful in assessing many pulmonary diseases, such as pulmonary hypertension, interstitial lung disease, and COPD. The study used mathematical virtual phantoms and ten COPD noncontrast volumetric chest CT scans with submillimeter thickness for validation.