USER INTERFACE FOR SELECTING PATHS IN AN IMAGE

• US 20110135175A1
• Filed: 11/24/2010
• Published: 06/09/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Philips Medical Systems Technologies Ltd. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Algotec Systems Ltd. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Porat, Hadar, Gazit, Tiferet Ahavah, OSTROVSKY-BERMAN, Yaron, Dror, Oranit, Slutsky, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 8,934,686 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/128
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/40 for processing medical images, e.g. editing
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/50 for simulation or modelling of medical disorders

Abstract

A method, performed by a computer, of facilitating selection by a user of one path from a set of directed paths in an image, partly overlapping but not constituting a directed tree structure, each path beginning at a root and ending at an end point, the method comprising:

• • a) receiving from the user an indication of a specified location in the image;
  • b) identifying a specified path part that best matches the indication of the specified location; and
  • c) suggesting primarily a single path chosen from among two or more paths in the set which include the specified path part, but do not all follow a same route before the specified path part, and at least one of which separates from another path somewhere along its length.

Claims

1. A method, performed by a computer, of facilitating selection by a user of one path from a set of directed paths in an image, partly overlapping but not constituting a directed tree structure, each path beginning at a root and ending at an end point, the method comprising:

a) receiving from the user an indication of a specified location in the image;

b) identifying a specified path part that best matches the indication of the specified location; and

c) suggesting primarily a single path chosen from among two or more paths in the set which include the specified path part, but do not all follow a same route before the specified path part, and at least one of which separates from another path somewhere along its length.

2. A method according to claim 1, also comprising:

a) receiving from the user an acceptance of the suggested path as the path to be selected, or a partial or complete rejection of the suggested path;

b) if a rejection is received, suggesting primarily a single new path chosen from the set of paths or from a changed set of paths, different from the previous suggested path.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein receiving comprises receiving a complete rejection of the suggested path, and suggesting the new path comprises suggesting, in response to the rejection, a new path that includes a specified path part that best matches a new indication of a specified location in the image, received from the user.

4. A method according to claim 2, wherein receiving comprises receiving a partial rejection of the suggested path, and suggesting a new path comprises suggesting a new path that, in response to the partial rejection, is chosen to include the same specified path part as the previous suggested path.

5. A method according to claim 4, wherein the new path is chosen from a changed set of paths, and is not included in the original set of paths.

6. A method according to claim 4, wherein the new path is chosen, in response to the partial rejection, to be the same as the previous path from their root up to the specified path part, differing from the previous path only after the specified path part.

7. A method according to claim 6, also comprising receiving from the user an indication of an extension portion location in the image, wherein the new path is chosen to have a portion after the specified path part, different from the previous path, that best matches the indicated extension portion location.

8. A method according to claim 2, also comprising receiving an indication from the user of a specified root, wherein suggesting a path or suggesting a new path, or both, comprises suggesting a path beginning at the specified root.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein suggesting a path or suggesting a new path, or both, comprises:

a) evaluating a length of each of a plurality of paths from the specified root to the specified path part; and

b) giving priority to one or more paths that have shorter said length.

10. A method according to claim 2, wherein the image is a medical image, and the paths in the set of paths correspond to blood vessels in the image.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein suggesting a path, or suggesting a new path, or both, comprises:

a) for a plurality of paths, evaluating a degree to which the blood vessel corresponding to the path resembles a blood vessel in a category; and

b) giving priority to one or more paths corresponding to blood vessels which have a greater degree of resemblance to vessels in said category.

12. A method according to claim 10, wherein suggesting a path, or suggesting a new path, or both, comprises giving higher priority to one or more paths that correspond to more major blood vessels.

13. A method according to claim 1, wherein the paths in the set of directed paths together include at least one loop.

14. A method of facilitating the selection by a user of a plurality of paths from a set of directed paths in an image, the method comprising:

a) selecting one path in the image, using the method of claim 2, also comprising receiving from the user an acceptance or a partial or complete rejection of each suggested path, and each time a partial or complete rejection is received, suggesting primarily a single new path, chosen from the set of paths or from a changed set of paths, different from the previous path; and

b) selecting one or more additional paths using the method of (a), with previously selected paths excluded from the set of paths and from any changed set of paths.

24. A computer with access to image data, comprising:

a) a monitor for displaying images from the image data;

b) a user input device for indicating a location in the displayed image, and for receiving instructions from a user; and

c) a CPU programmed to perform the method of claim 1 to facilitate selection by the user of one path from a set of directed paths in the image, using the monitor and the input device to receive the indication of the specified location in the image.

25. A computer according to claim 24, also comprising enough memory to perform the method of claim 1 for the network of coronary arteries in a human heart.

26. A computer according to claim 25, also programmed to run segmentation software for coronary arteries of a human heart, wherein the CPU is fast enough, and the memory is big enough, both to run the segmentation software and to perform the method of claim 1.

27. A computer according to claim 26, with no more than 4 gigabytes of memory.

15. A method, performed by a computer, of facilitating selection by a user of one path from a set of directed paths in an image, each path beginning at a root and ending at an end point, the method comprising:

a) receiving from the user an indication of a specified location in the image;

b) identifying a specified path part that best matches the specified location;

c) suggesting primarily a single path chosen from among two or more paths in the set which include the specified path part;

d) receiving from the user a partial rejection of the suggested path, with an indication of an extension portion location in the image; and

e) suggesting primarily a single new path, chosen, in response to the partial rejection of the previous suggested path, from among paths in the set of paths or in a changed set of paths, to have a portion after the specified path part, different from the previous suggested path, that best matches the indication of the extension portion location.

16. A method according to claim 15, wherein the new path is chosen to have an end point that best matches the indication of the extension portion location.

17. A method according to claim 15, wherein the new path is chosen from among paths that are the same as the previous suggested path from the root to the specified path part, but differs after the specified path part.

18. A method according to claim 15, wherein the new path is the same up to its end point as the previous suggested path, but ends before the previous suggested path ends.

19. A method according to claim 18, wherein the new path is so chosen in response to a request from the user to make the new path like the previous suggested path but truncated at an indicated end location.

20. A method according to claim 15, wherein the new path is chosen from a changed set of paths, and is not in the original set of paths.

21. A method according to claim 20, wherein at least a portion of the new path is not part of any path in the original set of paths.

22. A method of facilitating the selection by a user of a plurality of paths from a set of directed paths in an image, the method comprising, for each path to be selected:

a) performing (a) through (c) of claim 15;

b) receiving from the user an acceptance, a partial rejection, or a complete rejection of the suggested path, as the path to be selected;

c) if a complete rejection is received, performing (a) through (c) of claim 15 again, and if a partial rejection is received, receiving from the user an indication of a new end location and performing (e) of claim 15; and

d) repeating (b) and (c) until an acceptance of the suggested path is received;

wherein a partial rejection is received for at least one suggested path.

23. A method of facilitating the selection by a user of a plurality of paths from a set of directed paths in an image, the method comprising selecting one or more paths in the image by successively suggesting only one path at a time from the set of paths or from a changed set of paths, and each time receiving from the user an acceptance or a partial or complete rejection of each path as the path to be selected, until an acceptance is received, wherein previously selected paths are excluded from the set of paths and from any changed set of paths, and selecting at least one of the paths is done according to the method of claim 22.

28. A computer with access to image data, comprising:

a) a monitor for displaying images from the image data;

b) a user input device for indicating a location in the displayed image, and for receiving instructions from a user; and

c) a CPU programmed to perform the method of claim 15 to facilitate selection by the user of one path from a set of directed paths in the image, using the monitor and the input device to receive the indication of the specified location in the image.

29. A computer according to claim 28, also programmed to run segmentation software for coronary arteries of a human heart, wherein the CPU is fast enough, and the memory is no more than 4 gigabytes but is big enough both to run the segmentation software and to perform the method of claim 15 for the network of coronary arteries in a human heart.