Towards a computer aided diagnosis system for colon motility dysfunctions

Colon motility disorders are a very common problem. A precise diagnosis with current methods is almost unachievable. This makes it extremely difficult for the clinical experts to decide for the right intervention such as colon resection. The use of cine MRI for visualizing the colon motility is a very promising technique. In addition, if image segmentation and qualitative motion analysis provide the necessary tools, it could provide the appropriate diagnostic solution, In this work we defined necessary steps in the image processing workflow to gain valuable measurements for a computer aided diagnosis of colon motility disorders. For each step, we developed methods to deal with the dynamic image data. There is need for compensating the breathing motion since no respiratory gating could be used. We segment the colon using a graph cuts approach in 2D and 3D for further analysis and visualization. The analysis of the large bowel motility is done by tracking the extension of the colon during a propagating peristaltic wave. The main objective of this work is to extract a motion model to define a clinical index that can be used in diagnosis of large bowel motility dysfunction. We aim at the classification and localization of such pathologies.