« Forschungslandschaft: Projekte

This projects aims at the
> automatic detection of stent and flow diverter markers,
> integration of stent deformation, as well as
> visualisation of the device s landing zone

to support the treatment of neurovascular diseases.

Stents and flow diverters are common devices for endovascular X-ray-guided treatment of neurovascular diseases such as aneurysms or artherosclerosis. Their visibility may, however, be hampered in clinical practice.
To improve visibility especially during interventions, they are equipped with radiopaque markers. Given the limits of marker size, stents may, nevertheless, be almost invisible in fluoroscopy. Poor visibility of markers prompts physicians to spend more time on identifying the stent in fluoroscopy images, in turn leading to more time-consuming interventions and patients exposed to higher radiation doses.

This sub-project therefore addresses the detection of those markers in X-Ray images as well as the computer-based enhancement of their visibility. Furthermore, the 3D marker coordinates in space will be calculated using a second X-ray image shot from a different perspective and may provide additional information for the physician, e.g. revealing the stent deformation or landing zone of flow diverters.