Method and system for estimating three-dimensional respiratory motion

• US 7,844,317 B2
• Filed: 11/26/2003
• Issued: 11/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GE Medical Systems Global Technology Company LLC (GE Healthcare Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Avinash, Gopal B., Salla, Prathyusha K., Polzin, Jason A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Casler; Brian
• Assistant Examiner(s): LAMPRECHT, JOEL
• Application Number:
  US10/723,728
• Publication Number:
  US 20050113671A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,561 Days
• Field of Search: 600/410, 600/407, 600/415, 600/424, 600/437, 600441-443, 600/463, 600/428, 600/448, 600/413, 378/8, 378/111, 382/294, 382/128, 382/285, 348/169
• US Class Current: 600/407
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0037 Performing a preliminary scan, e.g. a prescan for identifying a region of interest
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/055 involving electronic [EMR] or nuclear [NMR] magnetic resonance, e.g. magnetic resonance imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/113 occurring during breathing
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/721 using a separate sensor to detect motion or using motion information derived from signals other than the physiological signal to be measured
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7289 Retrospective gating, i.e. associating measured signals or images with a physiological event after the actual measurement or image acquisition, e.g. by simultaneously recording an additional physiological signal during the measurement or image acquisition
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7292 Prospective gating, i.e. predicting the occurrence of a physiological event for use as a synchronisation signal
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/503 for diagnosis of the heart
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/5217 extracting a diagnostic or physiological parameter from medical diagnostic data
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/527 using data from a motion artifact sensor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/541 involving acquisition triggered by a physiological signal
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/28 Details of apparatus provided for in groups G01R33/44 - G01R33/64
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/563 of moving material, e.g. flow contrast angiography
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/30 for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment

Abstract

One or more techniques are provided for measuring the motion of an organ in three dimensions. As provided by the technique, the motion of the organ along each dimension may be determined by a suitable methodology. Where sensor-based motion measurements are suitable, one or more sensors may be placed on a patient to measure internal motion of the organ of interest along one or more perpendicular axes. Where image-based techniques are suitable, the motion of the internal organ along a perpendicular axis may determined using pre-acquisition image data or acquisition image data when suitable. Concurrent motion vectors for all three dimensions may be obtained from the motion data acquired for the perpendicular axes by the disparate methodologies. The concurrent motion vectors may be combined to describe the three-dimensional motion of the organ over time. Validation of the motion data may be performed for each of the one-dimensional motion data sets using motion data acquired by image-based methods, or other image-based methods, for a respective axis.

Claims

1. A method for determining the motion of an organ, comprising the steps of:

acquiring a first set of one-dimensional motion data for an organ along a first axis by a first methodology;

acquiring a second set of one-dimensional motion data for the organ along a second axis by a second methodology, wherein the first axis and the second axis are perpendicular;

acquiring a third set of one-dimensional motion data for the organ along a third axis by a third methodology, wherein the third axis is perpendicular to the first axis and the second axis;

deriving one or more concurrent motion vectors from each of the first, second, and third sets of one-dimensional motion data; and

combining the one or more concurrent motion vectors to generate a set of three-dimensional motion data for the organ.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein:

acquiring at least one set of one-dimensional motion data comprises measuring the motion along the one or more respective axes with a set of one or more sensors.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein:

acquiring at least one of the first, second, or third set of one-dimensional motion data comprises validating the one or more sets of one-dimensional motion data using one or more respective sets of validation motion data.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein

acquiring at least one set of one-dimensional motion data comprises determining the motion along the one or more respective axes from a respective set of motion data derived from an imager.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the respective set of motion data is derived from a set of acquisition image data or pre-acquisition image data.

6. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the set of acquisition image data comprises a set of unreconstructed image data or a set of reconstructed image data.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein two of the first methodology, the second methodology or the third methodology comprise the same methodology.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein at least one of the first methodology, the second methodology or the third methodology comprises a sensor-based methodology, and wherein at least one of the first methodology, the second methodology or the third methodology comprises an image-based methodology.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first methodology, the second methodology or the third methodology comprise one or more data-based methodologies, wherein the one or more data-based methodologies determine motion from one or more respective sets of acquisition image data.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein the one or more respective sets of acquisition image data comprise one or more sets of unreconstructed image data.

11. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein the one or more respective sets of acquisition image data comprise one or more sets of reconstructed image data.

35. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein at least one of the first, second, or third sets of one-dimensional motion data comprises measured mechanical motion data for the organ.

36. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the one or more sensors are affixed to a subject of interest.

12. A—

non-transitory—

computer readable storage medium having executable code stored thereon, the executable code comprising;

a routine for acquiring a first set of one-dimensional motion data for an organ along a first axis by a first methodology;

a routine for acquiring a second set of one-dimensional motion data for the organ along a second axis by a second methodology, wherein the first axis and the second axis are perpendicular;

a routine for acquiring a third set of one-dimensional motion data for the organ along a third axis by a third methodology, wherein the third axis is perpendicular to the first axis and the second axis;

a routine for deriving one or more concurrent motion vectors from each of the first, second, and third sets of one-dimensional motion data; and

a routine for combining the one or more concurrent motion vectors to generate a set of three-dimensional motion data for the organ.

13. The computer readable storage medium, as recited in claim 12, wherein:

at least one routine for acquiring at least one of the first, second, or third set of one-dimensional motion data acquires the one-dimensional motion data along the one or more respective axes from a set of one or more sensors.

14. The computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 12, wherein:

at least one routine for acquiring at least one of the first, second, or third set of one-dimensional motion data validates the one or more sets of one-dimensional motion data using one or more respective sets of validation motion data.

15. The computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 12, wherein:

at least one routine for acquiring at least one of the first, second, or third set of one-dimensional motion data determines the one-dimensional motion along the one or more respective axes from a respective set of motion data derived from an imager.

16. The computer readable storage medium, as recited in claim 15, wherein the respective set of motion data is derived from a set of acquisition image data or a set of pre-acquisition image data.

17. The computer readable storage medium, as recited in claim 16, wherein the set of acquisition image data comprises a set of unreconstructed image data or a set of reconstructed image data.

18. The computer readable storage medium, as recited in claim 12, wherein two of the first methodology, the second methodology or the third methodology comprise the same methodology.

19. The computer readable storage medium, as recited in claim 12, wherein at least one of the first methodology, the second methodology or the third methodology comprises a sensor-based methodology, and wherein at least one of the first methodology, the second methodology or the third methodology comprises an image-based methodology.

20. The computer readable storage medium, as recited in claim 12, wherein the first methodology, the second methodology or the third methodology comprise one or more data-based methodologies, wherein the one or more data-based methodologies determine motion from one or more respective sets of acquisition image data.

21. The computer readable storage medium, as recited in claim 20, wherein the one or more respective sets of acquisition image data comprise one or more sets of unreconstructed image data.

22. The computer readable storage medium, as recited in claim 20, wherein the one or more respective sets of acquisition image data comprise one or more sets of reconstructed image data.

37. The computer readable storage medium, as recited in claim 12, wherein at least one of the first, second, or third sets of one-dimensional motion data comprises measured mechanical motion data for the organ.

38. The computer readable storage medium, as recited in claim 13, wherein the one or more sensors are affixed to a subject of interest.

23. An imaging system, comprising,

an imager configured to generate a plurality of signals representative of one or more structures within a region of interest;

a sensor-based motion determination system configured to acquire one-dimensional motion data from one or more sensors;

data acquisition circuitry configured to acquire the plurality of signals;

data processing circuitry configured to process the plurality of signals;

system control circuitry configured to operate at least one of the imager or the data acquisition circuitry; and

an operator workstation configured to communicate with the system control circuitry and to receive the processed plurality of signals from the data processing circuitry;

wherein the imager, the sensor-based motion determination system, or a combination of the imager and the sensor-based motion determination system is configured to acquire a first, a second, and a third set of one-dimensional motion data for an organ along respective first, second, and third perpendicular axes; and

wherein at least one of the sensor-based motion determination system, the data processing circuitry, or the operator workstation are configured to derive one or more concurrent motion vectors from each of the first, second, and third sets of one-dimensional motion data and to combine the one or more concurrent motion vectors to generate a set of three-dimensional motion data for the organ.

24. The imaging system, as recited in claim 23, wherein at least one of the sensor-based motion determination system, the data processing circuitry, or the operator workstation is configured to validate one or more sets of one-dimensional motion data using one or more respective sets of validation motion data.

25. The imaging system, as recited in claim 23, wherein the one or more sensors comprise at least one of an accelerometer, an optical marker, a displacement sensor, a force sensor, an ultrasonic sensors, a strain gauge, a photodiode, or a pressure sensor.

26. The imaging system, as recited in claim 23, wherein at least one of the first, the second, or the third set of one-dimensional motion data is determined from a respective set of motion data acquired by the imager.

27. The imaging system, as recited in claim 26, wherein the respective set of motion data is a set of pre-acquisition image data or a set of acquisition image data.

28. The imaging system, as recited in claim 27, wherein the set of acquisition image data comprises a set of unreconstructed image data- or a set of reconstructed image data.

29. The imaging system, as recited in claim 23, wherein the first and second sets of one-dimensional motion data are acquired by the sensor-based motion determination system.

30. The imaging system, as recited in claim 23, wherein the first, second, and third sets of one-dimensional motion data are acquired by the sensor-based motion determination system.

39. The imaging system, as recited in claim 23, wherein at least one of the first, second, or third sets of one-dimensional motion data is acquired by the imager, and wherein at least one of the first, second, or third sets of one-dimensional motion data is acquired by the sensor-based motion determination system.

40. The imaging system, as recited in claim 23, wherein the one or more sensors are affixed to a subject of interest such that the one or more sensors is stationary with respect to the subject of interest.

41. The imaging system, as recited in claim 23, wherein at least one of the first, second, or third sets of one-dimensional motion data comprises measured mechanical motion data for the organ.

31. An imaging system, comprising,

an imager configured to generate a plurality of signals representative of one or more structures within a region of interest and to acquire at least one set of acquisition image data used to derive a first, a second, and/or a third set of one-dimensional motion data for an organ along respective first, second, and third perpendicular axes;

data acquisition circuitry configured to acquire the plurality of signals;

data processing circuitry configured to process the plurality of signals;

system control circuitry configured to operate at least one of the imager or the data acquisition circuitry; and

an operator workstation configured to communicate with the system control circuitry and to receive the processed plurality of signals from the data processing circuitry; and

wherein at least one of the data processing circuitry or the operator workstation is configured to derive one or more concurrent motion vectors from each of the first, second, and third sets of one-dimensional motion data and to combine the one or more concurrent motion vectors to generate a set of three-dimensional motion data for the organ.

32. The imaging system, as recited in claim 31, wherein the at least one set of acquisition data comprises one or more sets of unreconstructed image data.

33. The imaging system, as recited in claim 31, wherein the at least one set of acquisition data comprises one or more sets of reconstructed image data.

34. The imaging system, as recited in claim 31, wherein at least one of the data processing circuitry or the operator workstation is configured to validate one or more sets of one-dimensional motion data using one or more respective sets of validation motion data.

42. An imaging system, comprising,

an imager configured to generate a plurality of signals representative of one or more structures within a region of interest of a patient;

a sensor-based motion determination system configured to acquire one-dimensional motion data from one or more sensors, wherein at least one of the one or more sensors comprises a pad configured to affix the sensor to a body surface of the patient;

data acquisition circuitry configured to acquire the plurality of signals;

data processing circuitry configured to process the plurality of signals;

system control circuitry configured to operate at least one of the imager or the data acquisition circuitry; and

an operator workstation configured to communicate with the system control circuitry and to receive the processed plurality of signals from the data processing circuitry;

wherein the imager, the sensor-based motion determination system, or a combination of the imager and the sensor-based motion determination system is configured to acquire a first, a second, and a third set of one-dimensional motion data for an organ along respective first, second, and third perpendicular axes;

wherein at least one of the sensor-based motion determination system, the data processing circuitry, or the operator workstation are configured to derive one or more concurrent motion vectors from each of the first, second, and third sets of one-dimensional motion data and to combine the one or more concurrent motion vectors to generate a set of three-dimensional motion data for the organ; and

wherein the one or more sensors are configured to remain generally stationary with respect to the position of the patient during the acquisition of the first, second, and third sets of one dimensional motion data.