Use of morphologic information for the automated segmentation of MR images of the spine

Because the occurrence of a wide variety of tissue contrast relationships limits MR automated segmentation based on textural information, the authors have examined the use of morphologic information in automated MR segmentation. Algorithms were developed to automatically identify the spine on the basis of morphologic recognition of vertebrae and the spinal canal. In a prospective evaluation, the spine was automatically identified in 26 of 26 routine clinical studies. Comparable results were obtained in studies performed with a variety of different imaging pulse sequences. The authors conclude that morphologic information could facilitate automated MR segmentation