Image understanding methods in biomedical informatics and digital imaging

This paper will present new possibilities for the application of image recognition methods and At application in biomedical informatics as well as semantically oriented analysis of 2D images of coronary arteries originating from coronography examinations. In particular this paper presents the possibilities for computer analysis and recognition of local stenoses of the lumen of coronary arteries via the application of syntactic methods of pattern recognition. Such stenoses are the result of the appearance of arteriosclerosis plaques, which in consequence lead to different forms of ischemic cardiovascular diseases. Such diseases may be seen in the form of stable or unstable disturbances of heart rhythm or infarction. Analysis of the correct morphology of these artery lumina is made possible with the application of syntactic analysis and pattern recognition methods, in particular with the attribute, context-free grammar of look-ahead LR(1) type. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science (USA).