Shape data modelling and analysis as a support in the diagnosis of vascular diseases
Michela Mortara, Marco Attene, Giuseppe Patanč (IMATI-CNR, Genova, Italy)
Understanding shapes has been a challenging issue for many years. In the last decade, thanks to the advances in technology, the ease of producing and/or collecting data in digital form has caused a gradual shift of paradigm in various applied and scientific fields: from physical prototypes and experience to virtual prototypes and simulation. This shift has an enormous impact on a number of industrial and scientific sectors, such as Design and Manufacturing, Serious Gaming and Simulation, Cultural Heritage and Archaeology, Medical Applications, Bioinformatics and Pharmaceutical Science, where 3D data are essential knowledge carriers.
Therefore, the problem of characterizing a digital shape in terms of its relevant parts, or features, is becoming key to support analysis and processing tasks in diverse fields, and especially in medical imaging where shape analysis can provide an automated support to the screening of 3D imaging data.
During the talk, we will present an overview of the research done in the field of shape understanding with focus on methods developed at IMATI-CNR. In particular, techniques suitable to the analysis of structures with tubular shapes will be described and methods to model and measure their key features will be discussed.