Systems and methods for determine a centerline of a tubular structure fromvolumetric data of vessels where a contrast agent was injected into the bloodstream toenhance the imagery for centerline. An active contour model may be applied todetermine contours of the vessel defined within image data by normalizing theimage dataabout a starting point. A snake may be initialized a first time, where thesnake defines aset of points that represent a spline within the vessel. Image forces that acton the snaketo pull the snake toward a contour of the vessel may be calculated anditeratively appliedin a minimization process to determine the contour of the vessel. Optionally,a Gaussiansmoothing operation may be performed.
