System for and method of performing a medical evaluation

• US 20080004519A1
• Filed: 06/14/2007
• Published: 01/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Revolutions Medical Corp.
• Original Assignee: Revolutions Medical Corp.
• Inventors: Theriault, Richard
• Application Number:
  US11/818,328
• Publication Number:
  US 20080004519A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/410
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/055 involving electronic [EMR] or nuclear [NMR] magnetic resonance, e.g. magnetic resonance imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0012 Biomedical image inspection

Abstract

In accordance with one embodiment, a method of performing a medical evaluation is provided. A plurality of composite-color MRI slices are generated and auto-segmented. The auto-segmenting identifies at least one boundary concerning an extent of a biological object represented in at least one of the plurality of composite-color slices. A change in a dimension of the biological object can be determined by comparing a dimension determined from a first three-dimensional color image and a dimension determined from a second three-dimensional color image.

Claims

1. A method of performing a medical evaluation, the method comprising acts of:

generating a first plurality of composite-color MRI slices from a first plurality of registered groups of gray-scale slices captured of a subject;

auto-segmenting the first plurality of composite-color slices to identify at least one boundary concerning an extent of a biological object represented in at least one of the first plurality of composite-color slices;

generating a first three-dimensional color image of the biological object;

generating a second plurality of composite-color MRI slices from a second plurality of registered groups of gray-scale slices captured of the subject;

auto-segmenting the second plurality of composite-color slices to identify at least one boundary concerning the extent of the biological object represented in at least one of the second plurality of composite-color slices;

generating a second three-dimensional color image of the biological object; and

determining whether a change in a dimension of the biological object exists between a dimension determined from the first three-dimensional color image and a dimension determined from the second three-dimensional color image.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising an act of determining whether a change in a size of the biological object exists between a size determined from the first three dimensional image and a size determined from the second three dimensional image.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising an act of determining a volume of the biological object.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising an act of determining whether a change in a volume of the biological object exists between a volume determined from the first three dimensional image and a volume determined from the second three dimensional image.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising an act of identifying the biological object as indicative of a pathological condition.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising an act of providing a degree of confidence concerning an accuracy of the identification of the pathological condition.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising an act of planning a surgical procedure based on the change in a dimension of the biological object.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the biological object includes human tissue.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the biological object is an organ.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the registered groups of gray-scale images are spatially aligned.

11. A method of preparing a set of color MRI images for medical use, the method comprising acts of:

generating a plurality of series of MRI images of a subject using selected image-generating parameters wherein each of the series is generated with at least one image-generating parameter that differs from image-generating parameters employed with others of the plurality of series;

generating a plurality of composite color MRI images from the plurality of series of MRI images; and

segmenting a plurality of images included in the plurality of composite color MRI images, wherein the segmenting is performed automatically.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the act of segmenting includes an act of identifying, in an image included in the plurality of images, a boundary of a region having a known tissue-type.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the boundary is identified to within ±

5 millimeters or greater accuracy of an actual location of the boundary.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the act of segmenting includes an act of identifying, in an image included in the plurality of images, a boundary of a region having a known pathological condition.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the boundary is identified to within ±

3 millimeters or greater accuracy of an actual location of the boundary.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the act of segmenting includes an act of identifying, in an image included in the plurality of images, a boundary of a region comprising at least a part of an organ.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the boundary is identified to within ±

3 millimeters or greater accuracy of an actual location of the boundary.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising an act of selecting at least one of the plurality of segmented images as a subject of a medical diagnosis.

19. The method of claim 11, further comprising an act of registering images from each of the series with one another.

20. A system for generating a medical diagnosis from a three dimensional MRI image, the system comprising:

a composite-image generating module configured to register a plurality of gray-scale slices and generate a plurality of composite-color slices wherein each of the plurality of composite-color slices is generated from a group of registered gray-scale slices;

an auto-segmentation module configured to receive the plurality of composite-color slices and identify features within each of the composite-color slices;

a 3D rendering module configured to convert the plurality of auto-segmented, composite-color slices into a first three dimensional image; and

a processing module configured to compare a feature included in the first three dimensional image with a feature included in a second three dimensional image and to provide the medical diagnosis based on the comparison.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the processing module is configured to measure a dimension of the feature appearing in the first three dimensional image and a dimension of the feature appearing in the second three dimensional image.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the auto-segmentation module is configured to identify at least one boundary that defines the feature appearing in the first three dimensional image to an accuracy of ±

3 millimeters of an actual location of the boundary in the image.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the processing module is configured to determine a size of the feature appearing in the first three dimensional image and a size of the feature appearing in the second three dimensional image.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the processing module is configured to determine a volume of the feature in the first three dimensional image and a volume of the feature appearing in the second three dimensional image.

25. The system of claim 21, wherein the dimension of the feature in the first three dimensional image is employed for surgical planning.

26. The system of claim 20, wherein at least one of the feature in the first three dimensional image and the feature in the second three dimensional image is indicative of a pathological condition.

27. The system of claim 20, wherein the 3D rendering module is configured to generate the second three dimensional image.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the system includes a database, and wherein the 3D rendering module is configured to generate the second three dimensional model from a plurality of auto-segmented, composite-color slices stored in the database.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the first three dimensional image is of a current subject of the diagnosis.

30. The system of claim 20, wherein the first three dimensional image is a first color image, and wherein the second three dimensional image is a second color image.