A 3D MRI Skull Segmentation Method Based on Deformable Models

The aim of this work is to extract the outer skull surface from an MRI volume. Based on a 3D approach, the technique proposed takes into account the information of the skull contained in MRI volumes of the head. Our main interest in extracting the skull from MRI data is to create models of the head in order to create a database of models where the relationship between the skull and face can be studied. The analysis of this dependence will support forensic craniofacial reconstruction methods in producing more reliable face estimations. The segmentation technique proposed makes use of an explicit 3D deformable model of a skull evolving at each iteration considering two main aspects: volume features and skull shape restrictions modelled from statistical data.