Method for identification of anatomical landmarks
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of determining an anatomical landmark in an anatomy of a patient, comprising:
- obtaining image data of a brain of the patient, including at least one of obtaining a T1 weighted magnetic resonance image data, a T2 weighted magnetic resonance image data, X-ray image data, computed tomography image data, and Positron emission tomography image data;
pre-processing image data of the brain with a processor system configured to at least smooth the image data;
determining a seed portion in at least one of the obtained image data or the smoothed image data;
after pre-processing the image data, segmenting the image data based upon a region growing from the seed portion to identify a third ventricle of the brain as at least a portion of a selected region in the image data;
identifying the anatomical landmark as at least one of an anterior commissure and a posterior commissure after segmenting the third ventricle and based on the segmented third ventricle in the image data as a bright portion that includes an intensity change at an edge of the segmented third ventricle, wherein at least one of the anterior commissure and the posterior commissure is identified in the selected region; and
after identifying the anatomical landmark, determining a location of an anatomical target based on the identified anatomical landmark, wherein the anatomical target is substantially indistinguishable from surrounding structures in the image data of the brain.
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Abstract
A method for determining anatomical landmarks is provided. The anatomical landmarks can be used to determine anatomical targets of a patient. The method may be used for planning a procedure and performing a procedure, such as performing a procedure in the brain.
71 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A method of determining an anatomical landmark in an anatomy of a patient, comprising:
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obtaining image data of a brain of the patient, including at least one of obtaining a T1 weighted magnetic resonance image data, a T2 weighted magnetic resonance image data, X-ray image data, computed tomography image data, and Positron emission tomography image data; pre-processing image data of the brain with a processor system configured to at least smooth the image data; determining a seed portion in at least one of the obtained image data or the smoothed image data; after pre-processing the image data, segmenting the image data based upon a region growing from the seed portion to identify a third ventricle of the brain as at least a portion of a selected region in the image data; identifying the anatomical landmark as at least one of an anterior commissure and a posterior commissure after segmenting the third ventricle and based on the segmented third ventricle in the image data as a bright portion that includes an intensity change at an edge of the segmented third ventricle, wherein at least one of the anterior commissure and the posterior commissure is identified in the selected region; and after identifying the anatomical landmark, determining a location of an anatomical target based on the identified anatomical landmark, wherein the anatomical target is substantially indistinguishable from surrounding structures in the image data of the brain. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of determining an anatomical landmark of a brain of a patient, comprising:
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obtaining image data of the brain of the patient including a plurality of slices spaced apart and along an axis relative to the brain; processing the image data of the brain of the patient with a processor system; determining a third ventricle of the brain in the obtained image data of the brain of the patient by executing instructions with the processor system; after determining the third ventricle, executing instructions with the processor system to determine a skeletonized line including ends that are equal distance from an edge of the determined third ventricle within the obtained image data of the brain of the patient, wherein determining the skeletonized line is based upon minimizing the determined third ventricle until a region of minimally connected pixels is determined; after executing instructions with the processor system to determine a skeletonized line, aligning the plurality of slices of image data around the axis based upon the skeletonized line in each of the image data slices by substantially removing the slope of the skeletonized line between each of the image slices of the image data; after aligning the plurality of slices of the image data, executing further instructions with the processor system to extract a mid-sagittal plane from the image data that is aligned with the skeletonized line; after extracting the mid-sagittal plane, determine the anatomical landmark in the brain; and after identifying the anatomical landmark, determining a location of the anatomical target based on the identified anatomical landmark, wherein the anatomical target is substantially indistinguishable from surrounding structures in the image data of the brain. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method of determining an anatomical landmark of a brain of a patient, comprising:
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obtaining image data of the brain of the patient; determining a third ventricle in a first region of the brain in the image data of the patient; after determining the third ventricle, a processor system executing instructions configured to determine an anterior commissure as a portion of the image data that is a brightest pixel anterior to the determined third ventricle that is in the obtained image data and determining a posterior commissure relative to the determined third ventricle as a brightest pixel in the obtained image data just dorsal to a point where a cerebral aqueduct enters the determined third ventricle; and after determining the anterior commissure and the posterior commissure, determining an anatomical target that is indistinguishable in the obtained image data from surrounding structures based upon the determined location of the anterior commissure and the posterior commissure. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method of determining an anatomical landmark of a brain of a patient, comprising:
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obtaining image data of the brain including a plurality of slices of the brain of the patient, wherein the plurality of slices are spaced apart along an axis in the brain; executing instructions with a processor system configured to include; processing the image data to at least one of smooth the image data, remove unneeded data from the image data, define edges in the image data, or combinations thereof; after the processing the image data, determining a third ventricle in the image data of the brain at least in part by segmenting the image data including comparing a test voxel intensity to a threshold intensity, adding the test voxel to a seed voxel if the test voxel intensity is within the threshold intensity to begin growing a homogeneous region, and identifying every test voxel that touches the growing homogeneous region until no further test voxels have the test voxel intensity within the threshold intensity; after determining the third ventricle, determining a skeletonized line in the determined third ventricle in each of the plurality of slices by successively thinning the edges of the homogeneous region and stopping when a line of portions that are minimally connected includes ends that are substantially equal distant from the boundaries of the homogeneous region; after determining the skeletonized line, aligning each of the slices of the image data around the axis based upon the first region of the image data by removing a slope between the plurality of slices of the brain of the patient based upon the skeletonized line; after aligning each of the slices of the image data to generate aligned image data, extracting a mid-sagittal plane based upon a sagittal plane formed by the plurality of skeleton lines in the plurality of slices in the aligned image data; and after extracting the mid-sagittal plane, determining a landmark region in the image data of the brain. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification