IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING APPARATUS

• US 20160058319A1
• Filed: 11/10/2015
• Published: 03/03/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (Canon Inc.), Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: SHIODERA, Taichiro, NITTA, Shuhei, TAKEGUCHI, Tomoyuki
• Granted Patent: US 9,974,464 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0042 for the brain
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/031 Intracranial pressure
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/055 involving electronic [EMR] or nuclear [NMR] magnetic resonance, e.g. magnetic resonance imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4064 Evaluating the brain A61B5/031, A61B5/369, A61B5/14553 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/742 using visual displays A61B5/339 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/546 Interface between the MR system and the user, e.g. for controlling the operation of the MR system or for the design of pulse sequences
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/56308 Characterization of motion or flow; Dynamic imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/20 Processor architectures; Processor configuration, e.g. pipelining
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20224 Image subtraction
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30016 Brain
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2210/41 Medical
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0016 involving temporal comparison
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/40 for processing medical images, e.g. editing

Abstract

An image processing apparatus according to an embodiment includes a processor and a memory. The memory stores processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: receive an input of information designating an observation target; extract, from each of magnetic resonance (MR) images included in an MR image group collected by applying a tagging pulse to a region where a fluid flows, a group of regions of the fluid; analyze, by an analyzing method associated with the observation target, the group of regions of the fluid extracted from each of the MR images, thereby deriving an index indicating a dynamic state of the fluid; and cause the index to be displayed on a display.

Claims

1. An image processing apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory that stores processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

receive an input of information designating an observation target;

extract, from each of magnetic resonance (MR) images included in an MR image group collected by applying a tagging pulse to a region where a fluid flows, a group of regions of the fluid;

analyze, by an analyzing method associated with the observation target, the group of regions of the fluid extracted from each of the MR images, thereby deriving an index indicating a dynamic state of the fluid; and

cause the index to be displayed on a display.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the processor-executable instructions further cause the processor to:

receive information on an anatomical region as the information designating the observation target and

analyze, by the analyzing method associated with the anatomical region, the group of regions of the fluid, to derive the index.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the processor-executable instructions further cause the processor to:

cause a list of anatomical region names to be displayed on the display, and

receive a selection for the list.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the analyzing method includes a first analyzing method of tracking temporal displacement of one position in a region of the fluid, thereby deriving an index indicating the dynamic state of the fluid for the position.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein

the analyzing method further includes a second analyzing method of tracking temporal displacements of a plurality of positions in a region of the fluid, thereby deriving an index indicating the dynamic state of the fluid for each of the plurality of positions, and the memory stores processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

select the first analyzing method or the second analyzing method according to the observation target, to derive the index.

6. The apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the processor to change a color of a region designated as an observation target region on the MR images.

7. The apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the processor to receive an input of information designating an observation target region that is the anatomical region.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7,

wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the processor to designate fluid paths according as a transition of a position of a mark due to a moving operation by an operator.

9. A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus comprising:

an MRI system including a controller to execute a pulse sequence to apply a tagging pulse to a region where a cerebrospinal fluid flows, thereby acquiring a group of MR (Magnetic Resonance) images;

a processor; and

a memory that stores processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

receive an input of information designating an observation target;

extract, from each of MR images included in the group of MR images, a group of regions of the cerebrospinal fluid;

analyze, by an analyzing method associated with the observation target, the group of regions of the cerebrospinal fluid extracted from each of the MR images, thereby deriving an index indicating a dynamic state of the cerebrospinal fluid; and

cause the index to be displayed on a display.

10. An image processing method comprising:

receiving an input of information designating an observation target;

extracting, from each of magnetic resonance (MR) images included in an MR image group collected by applying a tagging pulse to a region where a fluid flows, a group of regions of the fluid;

analyzing, by an analyzing method associated with the observation target, the group of regions of the fluid extracted from each of the MR images, thereby deriving an index indicating a dynamic state of the fluid; and

causing the index to be displayed on a display.