Imaging of biological structures

• US 20040176677A1
• Filed: 05/08/2003
• Published: 09/09/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Academia Sinica (Government of The Republic of China)
• Original Assignee: Academia Sinica (Government of The Republic of China)
• Inventors: Margaritondo, Giorgio, Je, Jung Ho, Hwu, Yeu-Kuang
• Granted Patent: US 7,991,454 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/407
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/4092 for producing synchrotron radiation
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/481 involving the use of contrast agents
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/482 involving multiple energy imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/484 involving phase contrast X-ray imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/504 for diagnosis of blood vessels, e.g. by angiography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/508 for non-human patients

Abstract

Images of blood vessels of a body are obtained by injecting a refraction enhancement contrast agent into the blood vessels to increase a difference in refractive indices of the blood vessels and surrounding material. The blood vessels are irradiated with a penetrating radiation, and an image of the blood vessels is generated based on detected radiation. The image has visible edge enhancement features indicating boundaries of the blood vessels.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

injecting a refraction contrast agent into a blood vessel to increase a difference in refractive indices of material inside the blood vessel and material outside of the blood vessel;

irradiating the blood vessel with a penetrating radiation; and

generating an image of a portion of the blood vessel based on detected radiation.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the image is generated without using a material that enhances absorption of the radiation inside the blood vessel.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the image has an edge enhancement feature indicating a boundary of the portion of the blood vessel.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the edge enhancement feature is caused by refraction of the radiation at the boundary.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the edge enhancement feature is caused by diffraction of the radiation at the boundary.

6. The method of claim 3 wherein the edge enhancement feature comprises a line positioned along the boundary, the line having an average diameter less than half the average diameter of the blood vessel.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the refraction contrast agent increases the refractive index of the material inside the blood vessel.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the refraction enhancement contrast agent comprises artificial serum.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the refraction enhancement contrast agent comprises alcohol.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the refraction enhancement contrast agent comprises oil.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the refraction enhancement contrast agent comprises collagen based fluid.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the refraction enhancement contrast agent comprises polymer based fluid.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the refraction enhancement contrast agent comprises gases having an atomic number less than 40.

14. A method comprising:

irradiating a blood vessel with a penetrating radiation; and

generating an image of a portion of the blood vessel based on detected radiation, the radiation having a wavelength and effective source size selected such that the image has an edge enhancement feature that indicates a boundary of the blood vessel, the edge enhancement feature caused by refraction of the penetrating radiation near the boundary.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the edge enhancement feature comprises a line that has an average diameter less than half the average diameter of the blood vessel.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the radiation is generated from a source, which when viewed from the blood vessels, extends an angle that is less than 1 mrad.

17. The method of claim 14 wherein the radiation comprise components having wavelengths smaller than 10 angstroms.

18. The method of claim 14, further increasing a contrast between the edge enhancement feature and areas near the edge enhancement feature by adjusting a distance between the blood vessel and a detector used to detect the radiation.

19. The method of claim 14, further comprising generating a second image after the image is obtained, and comparing the image and the second image to detect a movement of the blood vessel.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising generating a video showing movements of the blood vessel by generating a sequence of images, each image including edge enhancement features caused by refraction of the radiation near the boundary of the blood vessel.

21. The method of claim 14, further comprising detecting a presence of a tumor having outer diameters less than 10 mm by detecting a concentration of blood vessels

23. The method of claim 14 wherein the internal portion comprises a portion of a heart, a lung, a liver, a kidney, tissue forming an air passage, a digestive organ, an organ of a ureteral system, or an organ of a lymphatic circulating system of a human.

24. The method of claim 14 wherein the internal portion comprises a portion of a heart, a lung, a liver, a kidney, tissue forming an air passage, a digestive organ, an organ of a ureteral system, or an organ of a lymphatic circulating system of an animal.

26. The method of claim 14 wherein the internal portion comprises a portion of a heart, a lung, a liver, a kidney, tissue forming an air passage, a digestive organ, an organ of a ureteral system, or an organ of a lymphatic circulating system of a human.

27. The method of claim 14 wherein the internal portion comprises a portion of a heart, a lung, a liver, a kidney, tissue forming an air passage, a digestive organ, an organ of a ureteral system, or an organ of a lymphatic circulating system of an animal.

22. A method comprising:

injecting a refraction contrast agent into an internal portion of a body to increase a difference in refractive indices of material inside the internal portion and material outside of the internal portion;

irradiating the internal portion with a penetrating radiation; and

generating an image of the internal portion based on detected radiation.

25. A method comprising:

irradiating an internal portion of a body with a penetrating radiation; and

generating an image of the internal portion based on detected radiation, the radiation having a wavelength and effective source size selected such that the image has edge enhancement features that indicate edges of the internal portion, the edge enhancement features caused by refraction of the penetrating radiation near the edges.

28. A method comprising:

irradiating a blood vessel with a penetrating radiation;

generating a first image of the blood vessel based on the radiation, the first image having edge enhancement features that indicate edges of the blood vessel;

generating a second image of the same blood vessel based on the radiation, the second image having reduced edge enhancement features; and

generating a third image based on the first and second images, the third image having edge enhancement features with a contrast greater than the edge enhancement features of the first image.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein generating the third image comprises subtracting the second image from the first image.

30. The method of claim 28 wherein the edge enhancement features comprise a dark line adjacent to an edge of the blood vessel.

31. A method comprising:

inserting objects into a blood vessel of a body;

irradiating the blood vessel with a penetrating radiation;

generating an image of the objects based on detected radiation, the image including edge enhancement features that indicate boundaries of the objects.

32. The method of claim 31 in which the objects have refractive indices that are different from a wall of the blood vessel.

33. The method of claim 31 in which the objects have refractive indices that are different from material outside of the blood vessel.

34. The method of claim 31 wherein the edge enhancement features are caused by refraction of the radiation at edges of the objects.

35. The method of claim 31, further comprising deriving an image of the blood vessels from the image of the objects.

36. The method of claim 31 wherein the objects comprise small gas bubbles comprising gas of atomic number less than 40.

37. The method of claim 31 in which the objects comprise plastic beads.

38. The method of claim 37 in which the plastic beads have diameters less than 1 μ

m.

39. The method of claim 37, further comprising generating successive images of the objects at different period of time to detect a movement of the objects through the blood vessels.

40. An apparatus for angiography, comprising:

an imaging device to generate images of blood vessels based on penetrating radiation irradiated on the blood vessels; and

a data processor configured to generate a third image based on differences in a first image and a second image obtained by the imaging device at two different positions relative to the blood vessels, the third image having edge enhancement features indicating edges of the blood vessels, the edge enhancement features caused in part by refraction of the penetrating radiation at edges of the blood vessels.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, further comprising an injector for injecting a refraction enhancement contrast agent into the blood vessels.

42. An apparatus for angiography, comprising:

a support for supporting a body having blood vessels;

a radiation source to generate a penetrating radiation that is irradiated on the blood vessels; and

an imaging device to generate images of the blood vessel based on detected radiation, the radiation source having a wavelength and an effective source size selected so that the imaging device can generate images of the blood vessels, the images having edge enhancement features indicating edges of the blood vessels, the edge enhancement features caused by refraction of the penetrating radiation at the edges of the blood vessels.

43. The apparatus of claim 42 further comprising an aperture to adjust the effective source size.

44. An apparatus, comprising:

a support for supporting a body having blood vessels; and

means for generating an image of the blood vessels based on penetrating radiation that is irradiated on the blood vessels, the image having edge enhancement features indicating boundaries of the blood vessels, the edge enhancement features caused by refraction of the radiation at edges of the blood vessels or by refraction of the radiation at edges of objects in the blood vessels.

45. The apparatus of claim 44, further comprising means for injecting a refraction contrast agent into the blood vessels to change the refractive index of material inside the blood vessel.

46. The apparatus of claim 44, further comprising means for detecting movements of the blood vessels based on the edge enhancement features.

47. The apparatus of claim 44, further comprising means for injecting objects into the blood vessels, the objects having refractive indices that are different from walls of the blood vessels or different from material outside of the blood vessels.

48. The apparatus of claim 44, further comprising means for processing two images of the blood vessels to enhance features that indicate boundaries of the blood vessels.