Methods and apparatus for reconstruction of volume data from projection data
First Claim
1. A method for reconstructing a volumetric image of an object comprising:
- obtaining a tomosynthesis projection dataset of an object; and
utilizing the tomosynthesis projection dataset and additional information about the object, minimizing a selected energy function or functions to at least one of satisfy or arbitrate among a selected set of constraints to obtain a 3D volumetric image representative of the imaged object in which each voxel in the volumetric image corresponds to a single one component material class.
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Abstract
Some configurations of method for reconstructing a volumetric image of an object include obtaining a tomosynthesis projection dataset of an object. The method also includes utilizing the tomosynthesis projection dataset and additional information about the object to minimize a selected energy function or functions to satisfy a selected set of constraints. Alternatively, constraints are applied to a reconstructed volumetric image in order to obtain an updated volumetric image. A 3D volume representative of the imaged object is thereby obtained in which each voxel is reconstructed and a correspondence indicated to a single one of the component material classes.
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Citations
158 Claims
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1. A method for reconstructing a volumetric image of an object comprising:
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obtaining a tomosynthesis projection dataset of an object; and
utilizing the tomosynthesis projection dataset and additional information about the object, minimizing a selected energy function or functions to at least one of satisfy or arbitrate among a selected set of constraints to obtain a 3D volumetric image representative of the imaged object in which each voxel in the volumetric image corresponds to a single one component material class. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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8. A method in accordance with claim I wherein at least one of said specific energy definitions may be bounded by a maximum value.
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51. A method for reconstructing a volumetric image of an object, said method comprising:
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acquiring a tomosynthesis projection dataset of an object;
preprocessing the projections to produce quantitative projections;
performing an initial reconstruction using the quantitative projections; and
choosing an energy definition to minimize, wherein the energy definition includes a term that constrains the reconstructed volumetric image to an N-ary or approximately N-ary composition of material classes. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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65. A method for reconstructing a volumetric image of a breast, said method comprising:
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acquiring a tomosynthesis projection dataset comprising a set of projection radiographs of a breast from different projection angles;
estimating a geometry of a three-dimensional volume that contains breast tissue to produce an air/tissue volumetric image, and thereby a volumetric image of the breast hull;
determining radiation pathlengths for each projection radiograph in the tomosynthesis projection dataset;
using the determined radiation pathlengths and tomosynthesis projection dataset to estimate a quantitative projection image for each projection radiograph;
determining an overall percentage glandular tissue for at least one of a plurality of quantitative projection images using said quantitative projection images;
using the set of quantitative projection images to estimate intensities of a volumetric image for voxels located within in the breast hull; and
utilizing said estimated intensities to determine an N-ary or approximately N-ary reconstructed volumetric image of the breast, wherein at least most voxels of said reconstructed volumetric image are labeled as one or the other member of the set of tissues consisting of fatty tissue and glandular tissue. - View Dependent Claims (66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
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74. An apparatus for producing a reconstructed volumetric image of an object, said apparatus comprising a radiation source, a detector, an image processor and a computer, wherein said image processor is not necessarily a separate component from said computer, said apparatus configured to:
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obtain a tomosynthesis projection dataset of an object; and
utilize the tomosynthesis projection dataset and additional information about the object to minimize a selected energy function or functions to at least one of satisfy or arbitrate among a selected set of constraints to obtain a volumetric image in which each voxel is assigned a specific component material class. - View Dependent Claims (75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122)
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123. An apparatus for producing a reconstructed volumetric image of an object, said apparatus comprising a radiation source, a detector, an image processor and a computer, wherein said image processor is not necessarily a separate component from said computer, said apparatus configured to:
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acquire projections of an object;
preprocess the projections to produce quantitative projections;
perform an initial reconstruction using the quantitative projections; and
choose an energy definition to minimize, wherein the energy definition includes a term that constrains the reconstructed volume to an N-ary or approximately N-ary composition of material classes. - View Dependent Claims (124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136)
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137. An apparatus for producing a reconstructed volumetric image of a breast, said apparatus comprising a radiation source, a detector, an image processor and a computer, wherein said image processor is not necessarily a separate component from said computer, said apparatus configured to:
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acquire a tomosynthesis projection dataset comprising a set of projection radiographs of a breast from different projection angles;
estimate a geometry of a three-dimensional volume that contains breast tissue to produce an air/tissue reconstruction of an image volume, and thereby a reconstruction of the breast hull;
determine radiation pathlengths for each projection radiograph in the tomosynthesis projection dataset;
use the determined radiation pathlengths and tomosynthesis projection dataset to estimate a percentage of glandular breast tissue material class for each projection radiograph, said estimate thereby producing a set of quantitative glandular projection estimates;
determine an overall percentage glandular tissue for a plurality of x-ray projection radiographs using said quantitative glandular projection estimates;
use the set of quantitative percentage glandular projection estimates to estimate intensities in the breast hull; and
utilize said estimated intensities to determine an N-ary or almost N-ary volumetric image of the breast, wherein at least most voxels of said reconstruction are labeled as one or the other member of the set of tissues consisting of fatty tissue and glandular tissue. - View Dependent Claims (138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145)
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146. A method for reconstructing a volumetric image of an object, said method comprising:
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acquiring tomosynthesis dataset; and
utilizing the tomosynthesis dataset to determine a volumetric image of the object, wherein the volumetric image includes a plurality of voxels, and wherein each voxel corresponds to a material class. - View Dependent Claims (147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158)
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Specification