Systems And Methods For Gating An Imaging Device

• US 20110074409A1
• Filed: 09/25/2009
• Published: 03/31/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nellcor Puritan Bennett Ireland
• Original Assignee: Nellcor Puritan Bennett Ireland
• Inventors: Stoughton, Robert, Addison, Paul Stanley, Watson, James
• Granted Patent: US 8,400,149 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 324/307
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0205 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular conditions and different types of body conditions, e.g. heart and respiratory condition
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/541 involving acquisition triggered by a physiological signal
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/5673 Gating or triggering based on a physiological signal other than an MR signal, e.g. ECG gating or motion monitoring using optical systems for monitoring the motion of a fiducial marker

Abstract

A method and system for automatically gating an imaging device is disclosed. Physiological process information of a patient may be derived from a plethysmographic signal, for example, by analyzing the plethysmographic signal transformed by a continuous wavelet transform. Other techniques for deriving physiological process information of a patient include, for example, analyzing a scalogram derived from the continuous wavelet transform. The physiological process information may be used to automatically gate imaging data acquired from an imaging device in order to synchronize the imaging data with the physiological process information.

Claims

1. A method of obtaining imaging data from a patient, the method comprising:

receiving from a sensor a plethysmographic signal;

analyzing with a processor the plethysmographic signal to determine physiological process information; and

automatically gating an imaging device based at least in part on the physiological process information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the imaging device comprises a computed tomography device, a positron emission tomography device, and/or a magnetic resonance imaging device, and/or combinations thereof.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing comprises determining physiological process information based at least in part on the plethysmographic signal.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing comprises determining cardiac cycle information based at least in part on the plethysmographic signal.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing comprises transforming the plethysmographic signal based at least in part on a continuous wavelet transform.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing comprises identifying periods of voluntary or involuntary patient movement.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising outputting the imaging data to an output device.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the imaging device comprises a computed tomography device, a positron emission tomography device, and/or a magnetic resonance imaging device, and/or combinations thereof.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the analyzing comprises determining physiological process information based at least in part on the plethysmographic signal.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the analyzing comprises determining cardiac cycle information based at least in part on the plethysmographic signal.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the analyzing comprises transforming the plethysmographic signal based at least in part on a continuous wavelet transform.

13. The system of claim 7, wherein the analyzing comprises identifying periods of voluntary or involuntary patient movement.

14. The system of claim 7, further comprising outputting the imaging data to an output device.

8. A system for gating imaging data of a patient, the system comprising:

a sensor attached to the patient capable of generating a plethysmographic signal;

an imaging device capable of generating an imaging signal; and

a processor coupled to the sensor and to the imaging device capable of analyzing the plethysmographic signal to determine physiological process information, wherein the imaging device is automatically gated based at least in part on the physiological process information.

15. A computer-readable medium for gating imaging data, the computer-readable medium having computer program instructions recorded thereon for:

receiving from a sensor a plethysmographic signal;

analyzing a plethysmographic signal to determine physiological process information; and

automatically gating an imaging device based at least in part on the physiological process information.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the imaging device comprises a computed tomography device, a positron emission tomography device, and/or a magnetic resonance imaging device, and/or combinations thereof.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the analyzing comprises determining physiological process information based at least in part on the plethysmographic signal.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the analyzing comprises determining cardiac cycle information based at least in part on the plethysmographic signal.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the analyzing comprises transforming the plethysmographic signal based at least in part on a continuous wavelet transform.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, further comprising outputting the imaging data to an output device.