Method and system for detection of interval change in temporally sequential chest images
First Claim
1. A method for computerized analysis of temporally sequential images, comprising:
- obtaining first and second images of a patient;
aligning corresponding portions of said first and second images in relation to corresponding anatomical features present in said first and second images, including performing cross-correlation mapping to produce a plurality of shift values indicative of differences in locations between corresponding anatomical features of said first and second images with respect to corresponding pixel locations of said first and second images, mathematically fitting a predetermined surface to said shift values for correcting said shift values in order to compensate for errors introduced into said cross-correlation mapping, and shifting the anatomical features in one of said first and second images based on the corrected shift values;
performing subtraction processing between said first and second images; and
determining differences between said first and second images indicative of abnormal changes which have occurred in said patient during the time interval between the taking of said first and second images.
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Abstract
A computerized scheme for the analysis of digitized medical images which provides enhancement of interval changes occurring in a pair of temporally sequential images. In the method and apparatus of the invention, a pair of images are digitized and then are subjected to image registration including a nonlinear warping of one of the images so that corresponding locations in the two images are aligned with each other. Subsequent to image registration, a subtraction process is performed in order to generate a difference between the warped and unwarped images. In this manner, slight opacities which are only present in the later image may be detected based on the subtraction of the registered images.
227 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method for computerized analysis of temporally sequential images, comprising:
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obtaining first and second images of a patient; aligning corresponding portions of said first and second images in relation to corresponding anatomical features present in said first and second images, including performing cross-correlation mapping to produce a plurality of shift values indicative of differences in locations between corresponding anatomical features of said first and second images with respect to corresponding pixel locations of said first and second images, mathematically fitting a predetermined surface to said shift values for correcting said shift values in order to compensate for errors introduced into said cross-correlation mapping, and shifting the anatomical features in one of said first and second images based on the corrected shift values; performing subtraction processing between said first and second images; and determining differences between said first and second images indicative of abnormal changes which have occurred in said patient during the time interval between the taking of said first and second images. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A system for computerized analysis of temporally sequential digitized chest images, comprising:
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means for obtaining first and second digitized chest images of a patient; means for aligning corresponding portions of said first and second images in relation to corresponding anatomical features present in said first and second images, including means for performing cross-correlation mapping to produce a plurality of shift values indicative of differences in location between corresponding anatomical features of said first and second images with respect to corresponding pixel locations of said first and second images, means for mathematically fitting a predetermined surface to said shift values for correcting said shift values in order to compensate for errors introduced into said cross-correlation mapping, and means for shifting the anatomical features in one of said first and second images based on the corrected shift values; means for performing subtraction processing between said first and second images, whereby differences between said first and second images are determined which indicate abnormal changes which have occurred in said patient during the time interval between the taking of said first and second images. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification