Shape Decomposition Approach for Ultrasound Color Doppler Image Segmentation

We present a novel technique for segmenting blood vessels in ultrasound color Doppler images based on shape decomposition. Ultrasound color Doppler images frequently suffer from a vessel linking artifact called ‘color bleeding’. The proposed technique decomposes a complex binary object representing either two or more vessels artificially linked together or a main vessel with its branches. The resulting simple parts represent distinct vessels that can be used in further object recognition and quantification applications.