MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM

• US 20200134818A1
• Filed: 10/22/2019
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Medical Systems Corporation (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Medical Systems Corporation (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: HATTORI, Chihiro, Aoyagi, Kota
• Granted Patent: US 11,049,245 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2200/24 involving graphical user interfaces [GUIs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10012 Stereo images
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10081 Computed x-ray tomography [CT]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20021 Dividing image into blocks, subimages or windows
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20132 Image cropping
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30056 Liver; Hepatic
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30101 Blood vessel; Artery; Vein; Vascular
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30242 Counting objects in image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0012 Biomedical image inspection
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/11 Region-based segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/62 of area, perimeter, diameter or volume

Abstract

In one embodiment, a medical image processing apparatus includes: processing circuitry configured to acquire three-dimensional image data including a liver of a donor, extract a region of the liver and vessels in the liver from the three-dimensional image data, and determine, in the extracted region of the liver, a cross section of the liver in such a manner that volume of the liver to be resected from the donor satisfies a predetermined matching condition of transplantation and number of vessels on the cross section becomes smaller.

Claims

1. A medical image processing apparatus comprising:

processing circuitry configured to

acquire three-dimensional image data including a liver of a donor,

extract a region of the liver and vessels in the liver from the three-dimensional image data, and

determine, in the extracted region of the liver, a cross section of the liver in such a manner that volume of the liver to be resected from the donor satisfies a predetermined matching condition of transplantation and number of vessels on the cross section becomes smaller.

2. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to

further set an initial cross section of the liver, and

determine the cross section of the liver by adjusting at least one of a position and shape of the initial cross section.

3. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to set the initial cross section as a cross-section corresponding to a Cantlie line or hepatic falciform ligament.

4. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to

set a plurality of provisional cross sections in parallel to the initial cross section within a predetermined range from the initial cross section, and

determine the cross section of the liver by selecting one of the plurality of provisional cross sections in such a manner that number of vessels becomes smaller.

5. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to

determine resection positions of vessels where number of the vessels becomes smaller within a predetermined range from the initial cross section, for respective vessels, and

determine the cross section of the liver as a surface that passes through the respective resection positions.

6. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine the cross section of the liver in such a manner that curvature of the cross section of the liver becomes a predetermined value or less.

7. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the vessels on the cross section are vessels to be anastomosed with vessels of a recipient at a time of transplantation; and

the processing circuitry is configured to determine the cross section of the liver in such a manner that number of the vessels existing on the cross section and having a diameter larger than a predetermined value becomes the smallest.

8. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to count number of the vessels on the cross section in such a manner that each peripheral vessel on the cross section and each vessel having a diameter equal to or smaller than a predetermined value on the cross section are excluded.

9. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine the cross section in such a manner that a bifurcation of each vessel is separated away from the cross section by a predetermined distance.

10. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a display, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to

provisionally determine a plurality of choices of the cross section,

causing the display to display the plurality of choices of the cross section, and

finally determine the cross section as a cross section designated from among the plurality of choices of the cross section displayed on the display.

11. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the three-dimensional image data are data generated by imaging the donor with an X-ray CT apparatus.

12. A medical image processing method comprising:

acquiring three-dimensional image data including a liver of a donor,

extract a region of the liver and vessels in the liver from the three-dimensional image data, and

determine a cross section in the region of the liver in such a manner that volume of the liver to be resected from the donor satisfies a predetermined matching condition of transplantation and number of vessels on the cross section becomes smaller.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium that stores a program causing a computer to execute a process for

acquiring three-dimensional image data including a liver of a donor,

extracting a region of the liver and vessels in the liver from the three-dimensional image data, and

determining, in the extracted region of the liver, a cross section of the liver in such a manner that volume of the liver to be resected from the donor satisfies a predetermined matching condition of transplantation and number of vessels on the cross section becomes smaller.