Evaluation of Segmentation for Bone Structures in 3D Rendering of Ultrasound Residual Limb Images

Prosthetists today widely practice manual socket fitting, which produces subjective, inconsistent results. To address this problem, the Computerized Anthropometry Research and Design (CARD) Laboratory is developing a computer-aided socket design system that acquires ultrasound datasets of an amputee\u27s residual limb, creates a 3D model, and helps identify load- bearing and pressure-relief areas. This research project focuses on providing 3D visualization of a residual limb to support the CARD Laboratory\u27s efforts. Creating the 3D model of the skin and two bone contours requires two major steps: segmentation to identify the objects of interest and a surface tracking algorithm to generate the polygonal database of the surface contours. and a surface tracking algorithm to generate the polygonal database of the surface contours. Low-level noise, incomplete boundaries, and widely varying intensities within the images present a difficult challenge to segmentation as well as to the construction of a 3D model. Therefore, different techniques have been explored to achieve accurate segmentation and realistic 3D rendering of unique ultrasound images. Among various segmentation techniques tested, the enhanced 2D multiresolution Bayesian efficiently produces accurate segmentation of outer skin contour and bone locations of the lower limb. The basic technique applies a filter-and-decimate approach coupled with an adaptive clustering algorithm and is modified to use anatomical characteristics to detect and eliminate artifacts