Segmentation of acute pyelonephritis area on kidney SPECT images using binary shape analysis

Acute pyelonephritis is a serious disease in children that may result in irreversible renal scarring. The ability to localize the site of urinary tract infection and the extent of acute pyelonephritis has considerable clinical importance. In this paper, we are devoted to segment the acute pyelonephritis area from kidney SPECT images. A two-step algorithm is proposed. First, the original images are translated into binary versions by automatic thresholding. Then the acute pyelonephritis areas are located by finding convex deficiencies in the obtained binary images. This work gives important diagnosis information for physicians and improves the quality of medical care for children acute pyelonephritis disease.