A method for automatic construction of 2D statistical shape models for the lung regions in chest radiographic images comprising: providing a radiographic image of the chest region of an individual; by performing a manual contour tracing, extracting the lung region shape instances from the chest radiographic image; by using a shape alignment algorithm, aligning all shape instances as closely as possible to a pre-defined template shape; and generating a statistical model shape of the lung regions by principle component analysis using the aligned shape instances.