A method of tracing the likely contour of an anatomical element in a sectional image of an anatomical site, the image being composed of pixels having different intensities, the method including the steps of: a) forming columns of pixels passing through the anatomical element b) assigning each pixel a pixel score representing the probability of the pixel being situated on the contour of the anatomical element c) constituting a matrix of pixel scores from a plurality of columns of pixels and defining numerous continuous paths of pixels, each passing through a single pixel of each column d) assigning each continuous path a path score that is a function of the scores of the pixels constituting the continuous path e) selecting from a set of continuous paths the path that has the best path score, that path representing the likely contour of the anatomical element.
