Computer-aided detection for CT colonography

CT colonography (CTC) is a non-invasive screening technique for the detection of colorectal polyps, as an alternative to optical colonoscopy in clinical practice. Computer-aided detection (CAD) for CTC refers to a scheme which automatically detects colorectal polyps and masses in CT images of the colon. It has the potential to increase radiologists’ detection performance and greatly shorten the detection time. Over the years, technical developments have advanced CAD for CTC substantially. In this paper, key techniques used in CAD for polyp detection are reviewed. Illustrations about the performance of existing CAD schemes show their relatively high sensitivity and low false positive rate. However, these CAD schemes are still suffering from technical or clinical problems. Some existing challenges faced by CAD are also pointed out at the end of this paper.