FUNCTIONAL IMAGING

• US 20110299747A1
• Filed: 02/09/2010
• Published: 12/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Solf, Torsten, Schweizer, Bernd, Weibrecht, Martin, Ribbing, Carolina
• Granted Patent: US 8,897,518 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/128
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/055 involving electronic [EMR] or nuclear [NMR] magnetic resonance, e.g. magnetic resonance imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/743 Displaying an image simultaneously with additional graphical information, e.g. symbols, charts, function plots
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/00 Apparatus or devices for radiation diagnosis; Apparatus or devices for radiation diagnosis combined with radiation therapy equipment instruments measuring radiation intensity for application in the field of nuclear medicine, e.g. in vivo counting, G01T1/161; apparatus for taking X-ray photographs G03B42/02
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/037 Emission tomography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/463 characterised by displaying multiple images or images and diagnostic data on one display
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/545 involving automatic set-up of acquisition parameters
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/463 characterised by displaying multiple images or images and diagnostic data on one display composite display in devices for short-range imaging with acoustic waves G01S7/52074
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/481 involving the use of contrast agent, e.g. microbubbles introduced into the bloodstream analysis of echo signal exploiting properties of a contrast enhancer in devices for short-range imaging with acoustic waves G01S7/52039
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/585 Automatic set-up of the device
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS

Abstract

A method includes obtaining an image of a region of interest of a subject, wherein the image is generated with image data produced by an imaging system used to scan the subject, obtaining a signal indicative of a physiological state of the subject before the scan, and displaying both the image and data indicative of the physiological state. In another aspect, a method includes correcting, via a processor, a tracer uptake value for a target region of interest based on a tracer uptake correction factor.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

obtaining an image of a region of interest of a subject, wherein the image is generated with image data produced by an imaging system used to scan the subject;

obtaining a signal indicative of a physiological state of the subject before the scan; and

displaying both the image and data indicative of the physiological state.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising annotating the image with the physiological state.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the physiological state is one of a heart rate, a respiratory rate, a body temperature, or a glucose level.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating supplemental data based on the signal; and

displaying the supplemental data with the image.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the supplemental data includes a message indicating a change in value of the physiological state, relative to a baseline value, that is greater than a predetermined threshold value.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising overlaying the supplemental data on the image.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the image includes information indicative of tracer uptake.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining a tracer uptake value for a target region of interest based on the information indicative of tracer uptake;

determining a tracer uptake correction factor; and

correcting the tracer uptake value for the target region of interest based on the tracer uptake correction factor.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising adapting or changing a planned scan protocol for the scan based on the signal indicative of a physiological state.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a correction for the image or the image data based on the signal indicative of a physiological state; and

correcting the image or the image data based on the correction.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the correction is based on an expected affect of the physiological state on the image data or the image.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining a second signal indicative of a behavioral state of the subject before the scan; and

displaying second data indicative of the behavioral state with the image.

13. A system, comprising:

a data packager that packages an image of a region of interest of a subject and data indicative of at least one of a physiological or a behavioral state of the subject together, wherein the image is generated with image data produced by an imaging system used to scan the subject and the state is obtained prior to scanning the subject.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the data packager overlays the data indicative of the state of the subject on the image.

15. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

a physiological state monitoring apparatus that includes at least one physiological monitor that determines the physiological state of the subject.

16. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

a behavioral state monitoring apparatus that includes at least one behavior monitor that determines the behavioral state of the subject.

17. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

a supplemental information identifier that identifies supplemental information based on the state, wherein the data packager packages the supplemental information with the image.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the supplemental information identifier identifies the supplemental information by mapping the state to predetermined information in a supplemental information bank.

19. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

a protocol analyzer that determines a modification to a scan protocol for the scan or an alternative scan protocol for the scan based on a planned scan protocol and the state.

20. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

a data corrector that determines an image or image data correction based on a planned protocol and the state and corrects the image or the image data based on the correction.

21. The system of claim 13 wherein the physiological or behavioral state includes state information obtained after administration of a tracer and prior to the scan.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the physiological or behavioral state includes state information obtained prior to administration of the tracer to the subject.

23. A method, comprising:

obtaining a signal indicative of a physiological or behavioral state of a subject before a scan of the subject;

adapting or changing a planned scan protocol for the scan based on the signal; and

scanning the subject based on the adapted or changed scan protocol.

24. A method, comprising:

obtaining a signal indicative of a physiological or behavioral state of a subject before a scan of the subject;

generating supplemental data indicative of an affect of the state on tracer uptake in the subject state based on the signal; and

displaying the image with the supplemental data.

25. A method, comprising:

obtaining a signal indicative of a physiological or behavioral state of a subject before a scan of the subject;

generating a correction for an image or image data from the scan based on the signal, wherein the correction corrects for an anticipated affect of the state on tracer uptake in the subject state; and

correcting the image or image data based on the correction.

26. A method, comprising:

correcting, via a processor, a tracer uptake value for a target region of interest based on a tracer uptake correction factor.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

determining concurrent tracer uptake values for one or more non-target regions of interest; and

generating the correction factor based on the concurrent tracer uptake values for the one or more non-target regions of interest.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

determining concurrent tracer uptake values for one or more physiological processes; and

generating the correction factor based on the concurrent tracer uptake values for the one or more physiological processes.

29. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

determining the concurrent tracer uptake values based on imaging and non-imaging data.

30. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

extrapolating a measured tracer uptake value for a sub-portion of the non-target region of interest to an estimated volume of the non-target region of interest to determine a concurrent tracer uptake value for the non-target region of interest.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

estimating the volume of the non-target region of interest by registering the sub-portion of the non-target region of interest with an anatomical model of the non-target region of interest.

32. A system, comprising:

a processing component, including;

a target ROI tracer uptake determiner that determines a tracer uptake value for a target region of interest;

a non-target ROI tracer uptake determiner that determines a concurrent tracer uptake value for at least one non-target region of interest; and

a process tracer uptake determiner that determines a concurrent tracer uptake value for at least one physiological process; and

a target ROI tracer uptake corrector that corrects the tracer uptake value for the target region of interest based on at least one of the concurrent tracer uptake value for the at least one non-target region of interest or the concurrent tracer uptake value for the at least one physiological process.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the corrector subtracts the concurrent tracer uptake value from the tracer uptake value for the target region of interest to determine a corrected tracer uptake value for the target region of interest.

34. The system of claim 32, wherein the target ROI tracer uptake determiner determines the tracer uptake value for the target region of interest by based on a measured tracer uptake value for a sub-portion of the target region of interest and an estimated volume of the target region of interest.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the estimated volume is based on one of an anatomical population mean model or a mathematical function.

36. The system of claim 32, wherein the processing component determines a tracer uptake value based on imaging and non-imaging data.