Abstract: A method, an apparatus, and a system label one or more parts of a spine in an image, in particular a computed tomography (CT) image, of a human or animal body, and in order to achieve a reliable spine labeling and a high throughput of images, match a model of a spine segment with segments of the spine in the image by starting matching the model of a spine segment with an initial segment of the spine in the image, wherein the initial segment of the spine in the image is located at an initial position along the spine in the image, and continue to match the model of a spine segment with one or more further segments of the spine in the image, wherein the further segments of the spine in the image are located at positions farther along the spine in the image.

Abstract: A method and a corresponding apparatus and system localizes a spine in an image, in particular a computed tomography (CT) image, of a human or animal body, allowing for a reduced need for computational power and/or memory on the one hand and assuring a reliable localization of the spine on the other hand. The method includes a) acquiring a plurality of slice images of at least a part of a human or animal body, and b) automatically selecting slice images and/or parts of slice images from the acquired plurality of slice images by considering at least one parameter (?z, ?z, ?z, ?z) characterizing a distribution of bones in the acquired slice images, wherein the selected slice images and/or parts of the slice images includes image information about the spine.