Systems and methods for determine a centerline of a tubular structure from volumetric data of vessels where a contrast agent was injected into the blood stream to enhance the imagery for centerline. An active contour model may be applied to determine contours of the vessel defined within image data by normalizing the image data about a starting point. A snake may be initialized a first time, where the snake defines a set of points that represent a spline within the vessel. Image forces that act on the snake to pull the snake toward a contour of the vessel may be calculated and iteratively applied in a minimization process to determine the contour of the vessel. Optionally, a Gaussian smoothing operation may be performed.
