Renal Stone Detection and Analysis by Contour Based Algorithm

Nephrolithiasis, is a type of kidney disease where a mass of tissue forms in the urinary tract. These are known as kidney stones and they usually leave the body through the urine stream. Some non-symptomatic cases occur where the stone may be too small and never causes a problem. As the size increases gradually, particularly when the stone goes unnoticed, it may pose health problems such as severe back pain and abdominal pain. Due to the increase in the amount of some minerals these stones are formed in one or both of the kidneys. Timely treatment of the kidney stones rarely cause any problems. These stones are of various sizes and shapes. The size ranges from as small as a sand particle to as big as a pea. Unusual cases have also been reported where the size could go up to the size of golf balls. Urine analysis and radiographic studies are helpful in the kidney stone diagnosis. Location and the severity of the pain aides in the clinical diagnosis. Thus, detection and analysis of kidney stone is an important aspect in the diagnosis of kidney stone diseases. The location and size of the kidney stone is done using GAC segmentation in addition to feature extraction and morphological operations.