Methods and systems for iteratively identifying vascular structure

• US 7,826,647 B2
• Filed: 12/13/2005
• Issued: 11/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/23/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. (Intuitive Surgical Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Launay, Laurent, Laramontalvo, Ruben, Capolunghi, Renaud, Stefani, Laurent
• Primary Examiner(s): Ahmed; Samir A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fitzpatrick; Atiba O
• Application Number:
  US11/301,950
• Publication Number:
  US 20070118024A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,785 Days
• Field of Search: 382128-134, 128920-930, 250455-465, 356 39- 49
• US Class Current: 382/128
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10081 Computed x-ray tomography [CT]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20156 Automatic seed setting
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30101 Blood vessel; Artery; Vein; Vascular
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0012 Biomedical image inspection
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/11 Region-based segmentation

Abstract

Certain embodiments of the present invention provide a method for identifying vascular structure in an image including: receiving at least one image including a vascular network; identifying at least one seed point corresponding to the vascular network; identifying automatically at least a portion of the vascular network to form an original vascular identification based at least in part on the at least one seed point; and allowing a dynamic user interaction with the vascular identification to form an iterative vascular identification. In an embodiment, the iterative vascular identification is formable in real-time. In an embodiment, the iterative vascular identification is displayable in real-time. In an embodiment, the iterative vascular identification is formable without re-identifying substantially unaltered portions of the vascular identification.

Claims

1. A method for identifying vascular structure in an image, the method comprising:

receiving, at an image processing subsystem, an image including a vascular network;

identifying, with the image processing subsystem, a first vascular identification and a second vascular identification; and

allowing, through a user interface of the image processing subsystem, a dynamic user interaction to form a bridge in a region between the first vascular identification and the second vascular identification,

wherein the dynamic user interaction comprises an addition of an intermediate seed point in the region between the first vascular identification and the second vascular identification.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the dynamic user interaction comprises a selection of at least a portion of the region between the first vascular identification and the second vascular identification.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the first vascular identification, the second vascular identification, and the bridge.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the bridge comprises a color different than a color of the first vascular identification and a color of the second vascular identification.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the bridge is simultaneously displayed in at least two of an axial view, a sagittal view, or a coronal view.

6. A non-transitory computer readable medium having a set of instructions for execution by a computer, the set of instructions comprising:

a reception routine for receiving, at an image processing subsystem, an image including a vascular network;

an identification routine for identifying, with the image processing subsystem, a first vascular identification and a second vascular identification; and

an allowance routine for allowing, through a user interface of the image processing subsystem, a dynamic user interaction to form a bridge in a region between the first vascular identification and the second vascular identification,

wherein the dynamic user interaction comprises an addition of an intermediate seed point in the region between the first vascular identification and the second vascular identification.

7. The set of instructions of claim 6, wherein the dynamic user interaction comprises a selection of at least a portion of the region between the first vascular identification and the second vascular identification.

8. The set of instructions of claim 6, further comprising a display routine for displaying the first vascular identification, the second vascular identification, and the bridge.

9. The set of instructions of claim 8, wherein the bridge comprises a color different than a color of the first vascular identification and a color of the second vascular identification.

10. The set of instructions of claim 8, wherein the bridge is simultaneously displayed in at least two of an axial view, a sagittal view, or a coronal view.