SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING A SIZE OF AN AIRWAY LUMEN AND A THICKNESS OF AN AIRWAY WALL

A method for determining a size of an airway lumen and a thickness of an airway wall includes: computing a centerline of an airway; computing a three-dimensional (3D) gradient of a volume of the airway within a first threshold; positioning a tube along the centerline; iteratively expanding the tube by increasing its radius until the radius of the tube reaches the first threshold; determining inner and outer radii of the tube by checking the 3D gradient computed along an x-axis and a y-axis of the tube at a boundary of the tube at each iteration; and fitting the tube to the airway by using the determined inner and outer radii, wherein the inner radius of the fit tube is half a diameter of the airway lumen and the outer radius of the fit tube minus the inner radius of the fit tube is a thickness of the airway wall.