Method for providing a 3D X-ray image dataset of a patient's heart

• US 8,027,526 B2
• Filed: 10/30/2007
• Issued: 09/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Siemens Healthcare GMBH (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Prümmer, Marcus, Lauritsch, Günter, Hornegger, Joachim, Boese, Jan
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho; Allen C.
• Application Number:
  US11/980,229
• Publication Number:
  US 20080137936A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,428 Days
• Field of Search: 378/8, 378/95, 378/901, 382/131
• US Class Current: 382/131
• 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 6/032 Transmission computed tomography [CT]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/466 adapted to display 3D data
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/503 for diagnosis of the heart
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/5288 involving retrospective matching to a physiological signal
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30048 Heart; Cardiac
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/20 Analysis of motion motion estimation for coding, decoding, compressing or decompressing digital video signals H04N19/43, H04N19/51
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 378/901 Computer tomography program or processor

Abstract

X-ray images are recorded of a patient'"'"'s heart and the heartbeat phase is registered as that is done. The heartbeat phases are coarsely divided into intervals and all X-ray images that have been assigned heartbeat phase from the interval are used for reconstructing a 3D image dataset. The movement fields of the other 3D image datasets are then calculated for one of said 3D image datasets. Movement fields are vector fields indicating the movements of similar structures from one local area to the other. A departure is then made from the coarse interval division, and for each heartbeat phase a movement field is interpolated individually or at least for fairly short intervals from the movement fields determined in advance, which field is used for generating a deformed 3D image dataset that has been imaged onto a reference heartbeat phase. The deformed 3D image datasets are then added together.

Claims

1. A method for generating a 3D X-ray image dataset of a heart of a patient, comprising:

recording a sequence of 2D X-ray images of the heart with heartbeat phases at image recording instants being measured and assigned to the images;

dividing a range of the heartbeat phases into a plurality of intervals;

generating a plurality of 3D image datasets, each 3D image dataset being generated from the 2D X-ray images assigned to a heartbeat phrase from a respective interval;

assigning each 3D image dataset to the heartbeat phase from the respective interval;

choosing one of the 3D image datasets as a reference image dataset;

calculating movement fields of remaining 3D image datasets relative to the reference image dataset;

selecting a heartbeat phase from the heartbeat phases;

picking a 2D X-ray image assigned to the selected heartbeat phase;

generating a second 3D image dataset from the picked 2D X-ray image;

determining a position of the selected heartbeat phase relative to the heartbeat phases;

calculating an interpolated movement field for the second 3D image dataset relative to the reference image dataset based on the movement fields and the position; and

deforming the second 3D image dataset using the interpolated movement field to generate the 3D X-ray image dataset.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1,

wherein a further heartbeat phase is selected and a third 3D image dataset is deformed for the further selected heartbeat phase, and

wherein the 3D X-ray image dataset is generated by summing the deformed second and the deformed third image dataset.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein at least one of the heartbeat phase and the further heartbeat phase is not assigned to one of the 3D image datasets.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the range of the heartbeat phases is divided into a further plurality of intervals that is narrower than the intervals for selecting the heartbeat phase.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1,

wherein the sequence of 2D X-ray images is recorded by an X-ray C-arm that repeatedly traverses a predetermined number of fixed angular positions within a specific time,

wherein the traversal is triggered as a function of the heartbeat phases so that in a specific interval at least one 2D X-ray image assigned to the heartbeat phase from the specific interval will be recorded at each angular position.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the range of heartbeat phases is divided into the intervals of the predetermined number of fixed angular positions.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1,

wherein a target heartbeat phase is selected that is different from a heartbeat phase assigned to the reference image dataset,

wherein the movement fields are reversed, and

wherein the interpolated movement field is calculated for the target heartbeat phase based on the reversed movement fields for the deforming.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the target heartbeat phase is selected from any of the heartbeat phases.

9. The method as claimed in claim 7,

wherein the target heartbeat phase is a heartbeat phase assigned to a further 2D image or a further 3D image dataset other than the recorded 2D X-ray images, or the 3D image datasets or the second 3D image dataset, and

wherein the deformed 3D X-ray image dataset is registered with the further 2D image or the further 3D image dataset.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the movement fields are interpolated to calculate a 4D movement field before selecting the heartbeat phase.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the 4D movement field is smoothed through a filter application before selecting the heartbeat phase.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the 2D X-ray image is picked from images assigned to a heartbeat phase from an interval that is closer to an interval from the selected heartbeat phase than the other intervals to the interval from the selected heartbeat phase.

13. An X-ray device for generating a 3D X-ray image dataset of a heart of a patient, comprising:

an X-ray source that emits X-rays to the patient;

an X-ray detector that records a sequence of 2D X-ray images of the heart with heartbeat phases at image recording instants being measured and assigned to the images; and

a computing device that;

divides a range of the heartbeat phases into a plurality of intervals,

generates a plurality of 3D image datasets, each 3D image dataset being generated from the 2D X-ray images assigned to a heartbeat phrase from a respective interval,

assigns each 3D image dataset to the heartbeat phase from the respective interval,

chooses one of the 3D image datasets as a reference image dataset,

calculates movement fields of remaining 3D image datasets relative to the reference image dataset,

selects a heartbeat phase from the heartbeat phases,

picks a 2D X-ray image assigned to the selected heartbeat phase,

generates a second 3D image dataset from the picked 2D X-ray image,

determines a position of the selected heartbeat phase relative to the heartbeat phases,

calculates an interpolated movement field for the second 3D image dataset relative to the reference image dataset based on the movement fields and the position, and

deforms the second 3D image dataset using the interpolated movement field to generate the 3D X-ray image dataset.

14. The X-ray device as claimed in claim 13,

wherein a further heartbeat phase is selected and a third 3D image dataset is deformed for the further selected heartbeat phase, and

wherein the 3D X-ray image dataset is generated by summing the deformed second and the deformed third image dataset.