Use Case: Automated Extraction of Anatomical Structures from|Chicken Embryo CT Data

In ovo-experiments – pharmaceutical studies on avian embryos – are gaining importance as promising alternatives to expensive and ethically controversial animal models. Recent advances in anaesthesia, which are crucial for motion-artifact-free imaging, facilitate the use of radiological technologies for the analysis of chicken embryos. An automated routine for in ovo-CT scans segments decisive anatomical anchors as skeleton – functionally subdivided into dorsal spine, skull and other bones – as well as the airways and demonstrates prototypically the feasibility of a solution for the analysis of chicken embryos requiring no manual intervention.

This study was developed in collaboration with HKI Jena.
CT scan courtesy of Alexander Heidrich, HKI Jena.