Manual segmentation of structures for diagnosis and treatment of various diseases is a very time-consuming procedure. Therefore,\r\nsome level of automation during the segmentation is desired, as it often significantly reduces the segmentation time. A typical\r\nsolution is to allow manual interaction to steer the segmentation process, which is known as semiautomatic segmentation. In\r\n2D, such interaction is usually achieved with click-and-drag operations, but in 3D a more sophisticated interface is called for. In\r\nthis paper, we propose a semi-automatic Active Contour Modelling for the delineation of medical structures in 3D, tomographic\r\nimages. Interaction is implemented with the employment of a 3D haptic device, which is used to steer the contour deformation\r\ntowards the correct boundaries. In this way, valuable haptic feedback is provided about the 3D surface and its deformation.\r\nExperiments on simulated and real tracheal CT data showed that the proposed technique is an intuitive and effective segmentation\r\nmechanism.
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