Extracting and tracking Colon’s "Pattern" from Colonoscopic Images

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a new method for "pattern" extraction and tracking from endoscopic images. During colonoscopic intervention, the endoscope advance slowly. Therefore the displacement of the endoscope tool between two successive images is small. In this condition, it is possible to predict the set of possible positions of the target. We use this idea to develop two methods. The first method presented is based on the region growth. The information of continuity was used to extract and track colon "pattern" with resolving the traditional problem of this technique: the identification of the seed point. In the second method, we introduce a notion of distance between two successive images that the "pattern" cannot exceed. We also propose criteria of shape to identify diverticula. A set of endoscopic images is tested to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches. An interpretation of the results and the possible amelioration is presented.