Automatic Plaque Segmentation in Coronary Optical Coherence Tomography Images

Coronary optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a new high-resolution intravascular imaging technology that clearly depicts coronary artery stenosis and plaque information. Study of coronary OCT images is of significance in the diagnosis of coronary atherosclerotic heart disease (CAD). We introduce a new method based on the convolutional neural network (CNN) and an improved random walk (RW) algorithm for the recognition and segmentation of calcified, lipid and fibrotic plaque in coronary OCT images. First, we design CNN with three different depths (2, 4 or 6 convolutional layers) to perform the automatic recognition and select the optimal CNN model. Then, we device an improved RW algorithm. According to the gray-level distribution characteristics of coronary OCT images, the weights of intensity and texture term in the weight function of RW algorithm are adjusted by an adaptive weight. Finally, we apply mathematical morphology in combination with two RWs to accurately segment the plaque area. Compared with the ground truth of clinical segmentation results, the Jaccard similarity coefficient (JSC) of calcified and lipid plaque segmentation results is 0.864, the average symmetric contour distance (ASCD) is 0.375 mm, the JSC and ASCD reliabilities are 88.33% and 92.50% respectively. The JSC of fibrotic plaque is 0.876, the ASCD is 0.349 mm, the JSC and ASCD reliabilities are 90.83% and 95.83% respectively. In addition, the average segmentation time (AST) does not exceed 5 s. Reliable and significantly improved results have been achieved in this study. Compared with the CNN, traditional RW algorithm and other methods. The proposed method has the advantages of fast segmentation, high accuracy and reliability, and holds promise as an aid to doctors in the diagnosis of CAD.