Scatter rejection for composite medical imaging systems
First Claim
1. A method of imaging a selected tissue region of a patient'"'"'s body, comprising the steps of:
- transmitting radiation into said selected tissue region of said patient'"'"'s body during an exposure period;
detecting radiation from said selected tissue region of said patient'"'"'s body, wherein detected radiation from said selected tissue region includes a scattered portion corresponding with photonic energy scattered within said selected tissue region, and a non-scattered portion corresponding with photonic energy passing through said selected tissue region substantially free from scattering;
estimating first and second parts of said scattered portion, wherein said first part corresponds with photonic energy passing through said selected tissue region with a single scattering occurrence, and wherein said second part corresponds with photonic energy passing through said selected tissue region with multiple scattering occurrences;
obtaining radiographic image data in relation to said detected radiation from said selected tissue region; and
, utilizing the estimated first and second parts of said scattered portion to adjust said radiographic image data.
8 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Scatter effects are reduced in a radiographic imaging device, such as a digital slot scan mammographic imaging device, by reducing detected scatter and processing detector information to compensate for scatter effects. In one embodiment, a digital mammographic imaging system (10) includes a source (24) for transmitting a narrow beam (28) and a detector assembly (32) for detecting the beam (28). The beam (28) and the detector assembly (32) are synchronously scanned across the patient'"'"'s breast (48) to obtain an image. Collimator slats (74) are provided at the leading and trailing edges of the detector to reduce detected scatter. Additionally, attenuators (76 and 92) are provided at the ends of the scanned motion and at the anterior edge of the detector array to assist in determining a spatial intensity profile. The spatial intensity profile information together with other imaging signal and patient dependent parameters are used in image processing to estimate and compensate for various scatter effects including single and multiple scatters and Compton and Rayleigh scatter.
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Citations
87 Claims
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1. A method of imaging a selected tissue region of a patient'"'"'s body, comprising the steps of:
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transmitting radiation into said selected tissue region of said patient'"'"'s body during an exposure period;
detecting radiation from said selected tissue region of said patient'"'"'s body, wherein detected radiation from said selected tissue region includes a scattered portion corresponding with photonic energy scattered within said selected tissue region, and a non-scattered portion corresponding with photonic energy passing through said selected tissue region substantially free from scattering;
estimating first and second parts of said scattered portion, wherein said first part corresponds with photonic energy passing through said selected tissue region with a single scattering occurrence, and wherein said second part corresponds with photonic energy passing through said selected tissue region with multiple scattering occurrences;
obtaining radiographic image data in relation to said detected radiation from said selected tissue region; and
,utilizing the estimated first and second parts of said scattered portion to adjust said radiographic image data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. An apparatus for use in imaging a selected tissue region of a patient'"'"'s body, comprising:
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a source for transmitting radiation into said selected region of said patient'"'"'s body;
a detector for detecting radiation from said selected region of said patient'"'"'s body, wherein detected radiation from said selected tissue region includes a scattered portion corresponding with photonic energy scattered within said selected tissue region, and a non-scattered portion corresponding with photonic energy passing through said selected tissue region substantially free from scattering; and
a processor operative for;
estimating first and second parts of said scattered portion, wherein said first part corresponds with photonic energy passing through said selected tissue region with a single scattering occurrence, and wherein said second part corresponds with photonic energy passing through said selected tissue region with multiple scattering occurrences;
obtaining radiographic image data in relation to said detected radiation from said selected tissue region; and
,utilizing the estimated first and second parts of said scattered portion to adjust said radiographic image data. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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55. A method of imaging a selected tissue region of a patient'"'"'s body, comprising the steps of:
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transmitting radiation into said selected tissue region of said patient'"'"'s body during an exposure period;
detecting radiation from said selected tissue region of said patient'"'"'s body, wherein detected radiation from said selected tissue region includes a scattered portion corresponding with photonic energy scattered within said selected tissue region, and a non-scattered portion corresponding with photonic energy passing through said selected tissue region substantially free from scattering;
positioning a patient in a desired position for a radiographic procedure;
with said patient positioned in said desired position, operating a parameter measurement device to measure a procedure specific value of a scatter related parameter and provide an output indicative thereof;
obtaining radiographic image data in relation to said detected radiation from said selected tissue region; and
operating a processor to receive said output and use said image-specific value of said scatter related parameter to adjust said radiographic image data. - View Dependent Claims (56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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64. An apparatus for use in imaging a selected tissue region of a patient'"'"'s body, comprising:
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a source for transmitting radiation into said selected region of said patient'"'"'s body;
a detector for detecting radiation from said selected region of said patient'"'"'s body and providing first imaging information based thereon;
a patient support for supporting the patient such that said selected region is maintained in a desired imaging position for a radiographic procedure;
a sensor for measuring a procedure specific value of a scatter related parameter with said patient positioned in said desired imaging position and providing a sensor output indicative thereof; and
a processor for receiving said first imaging information and. said sensor output, and providing second imaging information based thereon. - View Dependent Claims (65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71)
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72. A method for use in imaging a selected tissue region of a patient'"'"'s body, comprising the steps of:
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transmitting a photonic energy relative to said area of interest of said patient'"'"'s body during an exposure period of a radiographic procedure;
first operating a detector to detect portions of said photonic energy that have interacted with said area of interest of said patient'"'"'s body and provide a detector output indicative thereof, wherein said detector output reflects imaging information for different portions of said area of interest obtained at corresponding different times of said exposure period;
establishing scatter compensation information for said radiographic procedure; and
second operating a processor to process said detector output, using said scatter compensation information to provide reduced scatter composite imaging information of said area of interest of said patient'"'"'s body. - View Dependent Claims (73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79)
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80. An apparatus for use in imaging a selected tissue region of a patient'"'"'s body, comprising:
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an imaging source for transmitting photonic energy relative to said area of interest of said patient'"'"'s body during an exposure period of a radiographic procedure;
a detector for detecting portions of said photonic that have interacted with said area of interest of said patient'"'"'s body and providing a detector output indicative thereof, wherein said detector output includes imaging information for different portions of said area of interest obtained at corresponding different times of said exposure period; and
a processor for accessing scatter compensation information for said radiographic procedure and processing said detector output using said scatter compensation information to provide reduced scatter composite imaging information of said area of interest of said patient'"'"'s body. - View Dependent Claims (81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87)
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Specification