Kidney stone volume estimation from computerized tomography images using a model based method of correcting for the point spread function

Purpose: We propose a method to improve the accuracy of volume estimation of kidney stones from computerized tomography images.Materials and Methods: The proposed method consisted of 2 steps. A threshold equal to the average of the computerized tomography number of the object and the background was first applied to determine full width at half maximum volume. Correction factors were then applied, which were precalculated based on a model of a sphere and a 3-dimensional Gaussian point spread function. The point spread function was measured in a computerized tomography scanner to represent the response of the scanner to a point-like object. Method accuracy was validated using 6 small cylindrical phantoms with 2 volumes of 21.87 and 99.9 mm3, and 3 attenuations, respectively, and 76 kidney stones with a volume range of 6.3 to 317.4 mm3. Volumes estimated by the proposed method were compared with full width at half maximum volumes.Results: The proposed method was significantly more accurate than full width at...