Constructive anatomic geometry

• US 9,317,969 B2
• Filed: 09/27/2013
• Issued: 04/19/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Varian Medical Systems Incorporated (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Varian Medical Systems Incorporated (Siemens AG)
• Inventors: Coradi, Thomas, Haas, Benjamin M., Waschbuesch, Micheal
• Primary Examiner(s): Azarian, Seyed
• Application Number:
  US14/040,536
• Publication Number:
  US 20140270426A1
• Time in Patent Office: 935 Days
• Field of Search: 382/100, 382/103, 382/106, 382128-134, 382154-155, 382/168, 382/173, 382/181, 382/199, 382/224, 382/232, 382/254, 382/274, 382/276, 382285-291, 382/305, 382/312, 378/4, 378/21, 378/96, 378/97, 250/363.04, 348/51
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 5/103 Treatment planning systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 17/10 Constructive solid geometry [CSG] using solid primitives, e.g. cylinders, cubes
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2210/41 Medical
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/00 ICT specially adapted for therapies or health-improving plans, e.g. for handling prescriptions, for steering therapy or for monitoring patient compliance
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/40 for processing medical images, e.g. editing
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems

Abstract

A method involving an image of an anatomy, includes: obtaining an image of an anatomy; obtaining a program instruction from a user for creating an object in the image; and executing the program instruction to create the object in the image, wherein the act of executing the program instruction is performed using a processor. A computer product having a non-transitory medium storing a set of instructions, an execution of which causes a method to be performed, the method includes: obtaining an image of an anatomy; obtaining a program instruction from a user for creating an object in the image; and executing the program instruction to create the object in the image.

Claims

1. A method involving a medical image, comprising:

obtaining a medical image;

obtaining a program instruction from a user for creating an object, wherein the program instruction is based on a constructive-anatomic-geometry (CAG) language;

executing the program instruction to create the object, wherein the act of executing the program instruction is performed using a processor that is configured to process the CAG language;

outputting graphical data representing the object that is created based on the program instruction for display in the image; and

storing information regarding the object in a non-transitory medium;

wherein the CAG language is any language having a plurality of commands that can be selectively combined for allowing one or more object-creation actions to be defined.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the program instruction is in a form of a script.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the program instruction is in a form of a formula.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the program instruction is in a form of graphics.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the program instruction comprises one or more operators for processing one or more geometric objects.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the program instruction comprises one or more mathematical operators.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the program instruction comprises one or more logical operators.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the program instruction comprises an instruction for one or more loops.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the program instruction comprises a conditional instruction.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the program instruction is compatible with different medical software from different manufacturers.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the program instruction is created using a language that is less versatile than C++ language.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the object comprises an anatomical object, and the program instruction comprises instruction for creating a margin around the anatomical object in the image.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the program instruction comprises instruction for combining two objects into a single object in the image.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the program instruction comprises instruction for a hull operation.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the program instruction comprises one or more of a margin operator, an union operator, a hull operator, a smooth operator, a margin anisotropic operator, a subtract operator, an intersect operator, a shift operator, a rotate operator, a scale operator, a block operator, a sphere operator, and a cylinder operator.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of executing the program instruction is performed during a cleanup procedure in a treatment planning process.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of executing the program instruction is performed automatically during an automatic segmentation.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the object comprises an outline for one or more tissue structures.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtained image comprises the object, the object being artificially created.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the program instruction is stored as a sequence of characters in a first environment, and the method further comprises loading the program instruction in a second environment for execution.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the program instruction contains a set of one or more object creation instructions created by the user.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the program instruction is based on a specialized language designed for creating and manipulating graphical objects.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more object-creation actions comprise an action to add an object portion to an object, an action to delete the object portion from the object, or an action to change a shape of the object.

24. A computer product having a non-transitory medium storing a set of instructions, an execution of which causes a method to be performed, the method comprising:

obtaining a medical image;

obtaining a program instruction from a user for creating an object, wherein the program instruction is based on a constructive-anatomic-geometry (CAG) language;

executing the program instruction to create the object; and

outputting graphical data representing the object that is created based on the program instruction for display in the image;

wherein the CAG language is any language having a plurality of commands that can be selectively combined for allowing one or more object-creation actions to be defined.

25. The computer product of claim 24, wherein the program instruction is in a form of a script, a formula, or graphics.

26. The computer product of claim 24, wherein the program instruction comprises one or more operators for processing one or more geometric objects.

27. The computer product of claim 24, wherein the program instruction comprises one or more mathematical operators.

28. The computer product of claim 24, wherein the program instruction comprises one or more logical operators.

29. The computer product of claim 24, wherein the program instruction comprises an instruction for one or more loops.

30. The computer product of claim 24, wherein the program instruction comprises a conditional instruction.

31. The computer product of claim 24, wherein the program instruction is compatible with different medical software from different manufacturers.

32. The computer product of claim 24, wherein the program instruction is created using a language that is less versatile than C++ language.

33. The computer product of claim 24, wherein the object comprises an anatomical object, and the program instruction comprises instruction for creating a margin around the anatomical object in the image.

34. The computer product of claim 24, wherein the program instruction comprises instruction for combining two objects into a single object in the image.

35. The computer product of claim 24, wherein the program instruction comprises instruction for a hull operation.

36. The computer product of claim 24, wherein the program instruction comprises one or more of a margin operator, an union operator, a hull operator, a smooth operator, a margin anisotropic operator, a subtract operator, an intersect operator, a shift operator, a rotate operator, a scale operator, a block operator, a sphere operator, and a cylinder operator.

37. The computer product of claim 24, wherein the act of executing the program instruction is performed during a cleanup procedure in a treatment planning process.

38. The computer product of claim 24, wherein the act of executing the program instruction is performed automatically during an automatic segmentation.

39. The computer product of claim 24, wherein the object comprises an outline for one or more tissue structures.

40. The computer product of claim 24, wherein the program instruction is stored as a sequence of characters in a first environment, and the method further comprises loading the program instruction into a second environment for execution.

41. The computer product of claim 24, wherein the program instruction contains a set of one or more object creation instructions created by the user.

42. The computer product of claim 24, wherein the program instruction is based on a specialized language designed for creating and manipulating graphical objects.

43. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor configured for

obtaining a medical image,

obtaining a program instruction from a user for creating an object, wherein the program instruction is based on a constructive-anatomic-geometry (CAG) language, wherein the CAG language is any language having a plurality of commands that can be selectively combined for allowing one or more object-creation actions to be defined;

executing the program instruction to create the object; and

outputting graphical data representing the object that is created based on the program instruction for display in the image; and

a non-transitory medium for storing information regarding the object.

44. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the program instruction contains a set of one or more object creation instructions created by the user.

45. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the program instruction is based on a specialized language designed for creating and manipulating graphical objects.