Robotic Navigated Nuclear Probe Imaging

• US 20130261446A1
• Filed: 11/10/2011
• Published: 10/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Siemens Medical Solutions USA Incorporated (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Siemens Corp. (Siemens AG)
• Inventors: Paladini, Gianluca, Kamen, Ali, Kutter, Oliver
• Granted Patent: US 9,370,332 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/436
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/30 Surgical robots
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0064 Body surface scanning
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/037 Emission tomography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/4057 by using radiation sources located in the interior of the body A61B6/037 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/4258 for detecting non x-ray radiation, e.g. gamma radiation A61B6/037 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/4417 related to combined acquisition of different diagnostic modalities
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/4458 the source unit or the detector unit being attached to robotic arms
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/4464 the source unit or the detector unit being mounted to ceiling
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/466 adapted to display 3D data
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/481 involving the use of contrast agents
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/5223 generating planar views from image data, e.g. extracting a coronal view from a 3D image
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/5229 combining image data of a patient, e.g. combining a functional image with an anatomical image
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/5247 combining images from an ionising-radiation diagnostic technique and a non-ionising radiation diagnostic technique, e.g. X-ray and ultrasound

Abstract

Robotic navigation is provided for nuclear probe imaging. Using a three-dimensional scanner (19), the surface of a patient is determined (42). A calibrated robotic system positions (48) a nuclear probe about the patient based on the surface. The positioning (48) may be without contacting the patient and the surface may be used in reconstruction to account for spacing of the probe from the patient. By using the robotic system for positioning (48), the speed, resolution and/or quality of the reconstructed image may be predetermined, user settable, and/or improved compared to manual scanning. The reconstruction (52) may be more computationally efficient by providing for regular spacing of radiation detection locations within the volume

Claims

1. A system for robotic navigation in nuclear probe imaging, the system comprising:

a nuclear detector (12) for detecting (50) radiation;

a robotic assembly (11) connected with the nuclear detector (12), the robotic assembly (11) operable to move the nuclear detector (12) relative to a patient;

a three-dimensional scanner (19) positioned to view the patient; and

a processor (30) configured to control movement of the robotic assembly (11) to scan the patient with the nuclear detector (12) in a pattern, the movement being a function of the view of the patient by the three-dimensional scanner (19).

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the robotic assembly (11) comprises a robot arm connected with the nuclear detector (12) and a base configured to be stationary during movement of the robot arm and relative to the three-dimensional scanner (19).

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the robotic assembly (11) comprises a raster scanner (19) comprising a pan and a tilt stage, the nuclear detector (12) moveable within the pan.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the nuclear detector (12) comprises a gamma detector.

5. The system of claim 1 further comprising a user input (36), wherein the processor (30) is configured to control the robotic assembly (11) to perform the scan at different resolutions and corresponding speeds of the scan as a function of a user selection from the user input (36).

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor (30) is configured to control the robotic assembly (11) for performing the scan at a first sampling density for the patient and at a second sampling density different than the first sampling density for a different patient.

7. The system of claim 1 further comprising a memory (32), the memory (32) configured to store parameters of the scan, the parameters including a resolution, the scan performed prior to or during a surgical operation, and wherein the processor (30) is configured to repeat the scan after the surgical operation, the repeat being based on the same parameters, and configured to generate a first image from the scan performed prior to or during the surgical operation and a second image from the scan performed after the surgical operation, the first and second images displayed simultaneously or combined.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor (30) is configured to perform the scan at different times using the pattern for each and to generate a comparison of images resulting from the scans.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor (30) is configured to determine a three-dimensional surface of the patient from the view of the patient, the movement being of the nuclear detector (12) relative to the three-dimensional surface without contacting the patient based on the three-dimensional surface.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor (30) is configured to establish the pattern as a function of a region of interest indicated from the view of the patient.

11. The system of claim 10 further comprising a display (34) configured to display an image of the view, the image representing a three-dimensional surface of the patient, and a user input (36) configured to receive indication of the region of interest on the patient indicated from the three-dimensional surface, and wherein the pattern includes translation and rotation of the nuclear detector (12) to acquire data along beams from different locations and rotations relative to the three-dimensional surface.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the nuclear detector (12) is operable to receive radiation projection along a line, the pattern corresponding to positions and angles for receiving the radiation along lines regularly spaced in a volume of the patient, and wherein the processor (30) is configured to tomographically reconstruct an image representing the volume from the radiation projections of the regularly spaced lines.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the processor (30) is configured to tomographically reconstruct the image as a function of a three-dimensional surface provided in the view from the three-dimensional scanner (19).

14. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor (30) is configured to calibrate the robotic assembly (11) with the three-dimensional scanner (19).

15. A method for robotic navigation in nuclear probe imaging, the method comprising:

identifying (42) a three-dimensional surface of a patient;

moving (48) a detector to regularly spaced locations about the patient based on the three-dimensional surface, the moving (48) avoiding contact with the patient;

detecting (50) radiation with the detector at the regularly spaced locations, the detector aligned such that the radiation being detected is from within the patient;

reconstructing (52) an image from the radiation, the image representing the patient; and

displaying (54) the image.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

calibrating (40) a coordinate system for the detecting (50) of the three-dimensional surface with a coordinate system for the moving (48) of the detector;

wherein moving (48) comprises translating and rotating the detector about the patient based on the three-dimensional surface;

wherein detecting (50) comprises detecting (50) along a beam at each of the regularly spaced locations; and

wherein reconstructing (52) comprises reconstructing (52) from projections of the radiation along the beams, the reconstructing (52) being a function of the regularly spaced locations, an orientation of the detector at each of the regularly spaced locations, and the three-dimensional surface.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein identifying (42), moving (48), detecting (50), and reconstructing (52) are performed prior to or during a surgical procedure;

further comprising;

repeating the identifying (42), moving (48), detecting (50) and reconstructing (52) with the same regularly spaced locations after the surgical procedure; and

displaying (54) another image from the repetition for comparison with the image from prior to or during the surgical procedure.

18. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

receiving (44) user selection of a resolution, quality, speed, or combinations thereof; and

establishing (46) the regularly spaced locations as a function of the user selection.

19. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

receiving (44) user selection of a region of interest in the three-dimensional surface; and

establishing (46) the regularly spaced locations as a function of the region of interest.

20. The method of claim 15 wherein reconstructing (52) comprises reconstructing a two-dimensional single photon emission computed tomography image.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein moving (48) the detector comprises moving the detector for a two-dimensional map of positions of hotspots;

further comprising;

identifying the positions and moving the detector to acquire radiation along lines at different angles through the positions; and

computing a three-dimensional reconstruction from the radiation.

22. In a non-transitory computer readable storage medium (32) having stored therein data representing instructions executable by a programmed processor (30) for robotic navigation in nuclear probe imaging, the storage medium comprising instructions for:

receiving (44) a user indication of resolution selection;

robotically positioning (48) a nuclear probe as a function of the resolution selection;

receiving (50) radiation projection information from the nuclear probe for different positions from the positioning; and

reconstructing (52) an image from the radiation projection information.

23. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 22 further comprising instructions for determining (42) a surface of a patient from a camera, wherein the robotically positioning is performed as a function of the surface such that the nuclear probe is positioned around the surface without contacting the patient, and wherein the reconstructing (52) comprises reconstructing (52) as a function of the surface as a boundary.

24. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 22 wherein reconstructing (52) comprise reconstructing a two-dimensional image.