Automatic Detection of Rib Contours in Chest Radiographs : Birkhauser : 9783764308872 : 3764308877 : 01 Jan 1977 : 1.1 Statement of the Problem This work describes a new and effective computer algorithm for detecting the contours of ribs in ehest radiographs. The problem, which is common to both the research areas of Machine Vision and Biomedical Computing, is to extract graphical information, such as that represented in Figure 1-lb, from a picture such as Figure 1-la. Figure 1-la shows a typical posterior-anterior (PA) ehest radiograph while Figure 1-lb shows a drawing of the ventral aspect of the thorax. lt is hoped that this researchwill contribute significantly toward developing an automated system for interpreting ehest radio­ graphs. 1.2 Why Have We Carried Out This Research? Since about one-third of the 650,000,000 medical radiographs (X-ray photographs) taken annually in the United States areehest radiographs, there is a growing awareness of the need for a computer­ aided syste