System and method for automated patient anatomy localization

• US 8,045,771 B2
• Filed: 11/21/2007
• Issued: 10/25/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Tao, Xiaodong, Senzig, Robert Franklin, Joshi, Mukta Chandrashekhar, Miller, James Vradenburg
• Primary Examiner(s): Lu; Tom Y
• Application Number:
  US11/986,494
• Publication Number:
  US 20080159611A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,434 Days
• Field of Search: 382/128, 382/131, 382/132, 382/154, 382/294
• US Class Current: 382/128
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/032 Transmission computed tomography [CT]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/08 Auxiliary means for directing the radiation beam to a particular spot, e.g. using light beams
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/488 involving pre-scan acquisition

Abstract

A method of imaging comprises performing a scout image of an object and aligning major regions of interest within the object by comparing the scout image with a pre-determined atlas image. In a further embodiment, a method of imaging using a computed tomography (CT) scanner is provided and comprises performing a scout image of a subject and aligning major anatomical regions of interest within the subject by comparing the scout image with a pre-determined atlas image. Further, an imaging system for us with a computed tomography (CT) imaging device is provided and comprises a processor configured to perform aligning major anatomical regions of interest within a subject by comparing a scout image with a pre-determined atlas image, and wherein the major anatomical regions are used for automated localization for Scan Range and/or Exam split.

Claims

1. A method of imaging comprising:

performing a scout image of an object;

aligning major regions of interest within the object by comparing the scout image with a pre-determined atlas image to define a limited scan range for image acquisition;

acquiring image data based on the limited scan range.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the aligning step further comprises calculating a similarity measurement between the scout image and altas image.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising identifying more detailed or finer regions of interest contained within the object after aligning the major regions of interest to localize detailed regions of interest.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the object is a patient and the major regions of interest comprise anatomical regions of interest comprising chest, abdomen, pelvis, and combinations thereof.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the detailed or finer regions of interest comprise organs and anatomical structures comprising eyes, breasts, liver, and combinations thereof.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the scout and atlas images are acquired with a same computed tomography (CT) scanner geometry.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the scout and atlas images are acquired with one of multiple two-dimensional (2D) scouts or a low dose helical acquisition.

8. A method of imaging using a computed tomography (CT) scanner comprising:

performing a scout image of a subject;

aligning major anatomical regions of interest within the subject by comparing the scout image with a pre-determined atlas image to define a limited scan range for image acquisition;

acquiring image data based on the limited scan range.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising identifying more detailed or finer regions of interest contained within the subject after aligning the major anatomical regions of interest to localize detailed regions of interest.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the major anatomical regions of interest comprise chest, abdomen, pelvis, and combinations thereof.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the detailed or finer regions of interest comprise organs and anatomical structures comprising eyes, breasts, liver, and combinations thereof.

12. The method of claim 8 wherein the major anatomical regions are used for automated localization for Exam split.

13. The method of claim 8 wherein the anatomical regions are used for automatic identification of patient orientation within a gantry of the CT scanner.

14. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

using information corresponding to the major anatomical regions of interest for automated post processing steps comprising anatomy based reformat, anatomy based context sensitive processing to extract relevant information, Computer Aided detection of pathology and combinations thereof.