Automatic detection of rib borders in chest radiographs

An algorithm for detection of posterior rib borders in chest radiographs is presented. The algorithm first determines the thoracic cage boundary to restrict the area of search for the ribs. It then finds approximate rib borders using a knowledge-based Hough transform. Finally, the algorithm localizes the rib borders using an active contour model. Results of the proposed rib finding algorithm on 10 chest radiographs are presented.