Method for reconstructing a three-dimensional target volume in realtime and displaying it

• US 8,077,940 B2
• Filed: 03/20/2007
• Issued: 12/13/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Siemens Healthcare GMBH (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: John, Matthias, Rahn, Norbert
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu, Jingge
• Assistant Examiner(s): Yentrapati, Avinash J
• Application Number:
  US11/725,830
• Publication Number:
  US 20070233739A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,729 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 382/128
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0066 Optical coherence imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/352 Detecting R peaks, e.g. for synchronising diagnostic apparatus; Estimating R-R interval
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/12 in body cavities or body tracts, e.g. by using catheters catheters per se A61M25/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/543 involving acquisition triggered by a physiological signal
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/005 Specific pre-processing for tomographic reconstruction, e.g. calibration, source positioning, rebinning, scatter correction, retrospective gating
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2211/428 Real-time

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for reconstructing a three-dimensional target volume, particularly within the human body, in realtime and displaying it, with a three-dimensional reconstruction volume being determined from a basic set comprising a minimum number of two-dimensional images obtained from an image recording device located within the target volume, wherein, when a new image is included in the basic set, locally limited updating at least of the reconstruction volume'"'"'s partial areas covered by the new image will under a predefined condition be performed and the updated reconstruction volume will be displayed.

Claims

1. A method for reconstructing a three-dimensional image of a target volume of a human body in realtime during a medical procedure, comprising:

recording a plurality of two-dimensional images of the target volume by an image recording device;

selecting a basic set from the recorded images comprising a minimum number of two-dimensional images;

determining the three-dimensional reconstruction volume from the basic set;

recording a new image of the target volume by the image recording device;

locally limited updating a partial area of the reconstruction volume covered by the new image under a condition; and

displaying the updated reconstruction volume,

wherein the recorded images are filed in a memory,

wherein the images are filed in the memory in an order according to a recording time,

wherein a size of the memory is adjusted,

wherein a defined subset of the filed images is selected as the basic set,

wherein each recorded image comprises an assigned information that comprises a voxel of the reconstruction volume to which the image has contributed, and

wherein a threshold is defined for the voxel to which the image has contributed and the image is deleted from the basic set or the memory if the threshold is undershot.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1,

wherein the memory is a ring buffer, and

wherein the basic set is selected as a sequence of images filed in a specific section of the ring buffer or in a section that is specified based on the new image.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1,

wherein the basic set or the memory comprises a fixed number of images,

wherein when the new image is added in the basic set or the memory, an image is eliminated from the basic set or the memory if the fixed number has been reached,

wherein the eliminated image is an oldest image in the basic set or the memory,

wherein a partial area of the reconstruction volume covered by the eliminated image is locally limited updated under a further condition, and

wherein the updated reconstruction volume is displayed.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3,

wherein the condition or the further condition for updating is a specific number of newly recorded or eliminated images or a specific period of time, and

wherein the updating takes place for each newly recorded or eliminated image or when an image has been newly recorded or eliminated within the specific period of time.

5. The method as claimed in claim 3,

wherein a predefined area surrounding the partial areas covered by the new or the eliminated image is updated,

wherein the predefined area is updated by interpolating the new image,

wherein the interpolating is performed with images recorded within a specific period of time before the new image is recorded.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1,

wherein the new image covers an area lying at least partially within a defined subvolume of the target volume,

wherein the subvolume of the target volume is in a vicinity of the image recording device within the target volume.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein an image data in an area of the reconstruction volume covered by the new image is replaced with a corresponding image data of the new image.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a deleting time is determined relative to a present time and images recorded before the deleting time is eliminated from the basic set or the memory.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1,

wherein the reconstruction volume is reconstructed completely from the basic set if a new reconstruction condition has been met,

wherein the new reconstruction condition is an expiration of a new reconstruction period or a specific number of newly recorded images.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the basic set comprises all images recorded during a specific period of time.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1,

wherein the basic set is selected from the recorded images based on a criterion of optimal coverage of the target volume,

wherein a further criterion of recording time is considered in selecting the basic set if a plurality of images cover adjacent or identical partial area of the target volume, and

wherein a more recent image is selected in the basic set.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reconstruction volume is dynamically enlarged if the new image is outside an area of a previous reconstruction volume.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the updating is not performed until a specific number of images have been recorded overall.

14. The method as claimed in claim 1,

wherein an updated area or the partial area covered by the new image is identified in the display of the updated reconstruction by a color, and

wherein a previous reconstruction volume is displayed along with the display of the updated reconstruction.

15. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the image recording device is periodically moved automatically or manually and the basic set is selected from images recorded over a last cycle.

16. The method as claimed in claim 1,

wherein the images are recorded by the image recording device within the target volume,

wherein the image recording device is an ultrasonic device, and

wherein the ultrasonic device is an intracardial echocardiography device.

17. A medical device for reconstructing a three-dimensional image of a target volume of a human body in realtime during a medical procedure, comprising:

an image recording device that records a plurality of two-dimensional images of the target volume; and

a computing device that;

selects a basic set from the recorded images comprising a minimum number of two-dimensional images,

determines the three-dimensional reconstruction volume from the basic set, and

locally limited updating a partial area of the reconstruction volume covered by a newly recorded image,

wherein the recorded images are filed in a memory,

wherein the images are filed in the memory in an order according to a recording time,

wherein a size of the memory is adjusted,

wherein a defined subset of the filed images is selected as the basic set,

wherein each recorded image comprises an assigned information that comprises a voxel of the reconstruction volume to which the image has contributed, and

wherein a threshold is defined for the voxel to which the image has contributed and the image is deleted from the basic set or the memory if the threshold is undershot.