Segmenting degenerated lumbar intervertebral discs from MR images

Magnetic Resonance Imaging is the modality of reference for diagnosing intervertebral disc degeneration, a condition related to chronic back pain. Segmentation of intervertebral discs is a prerequisite for computer aided diagnosis, while it could also serve in computer based surgery planning. A small number of studies report on disc segmentation methods applied on normal discs, while segmentation of degenerated discs remains an open issue.