METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATIC ANALYSIS OF BLOOD VESSEL STRUCTURES AND PATHOLOGIES IN SUPPORT OF A TRIPLE RULE-OUT PROCEDURE

• US 20080170763A1
• Filed: 11/22/2006
• Published: 07/17/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rcadia Medical Imaging, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Rcadia Medical Imaging, Ltd.
• Inventors: Begelman, Grigory, Walach, Eugene, Levanon, Shai, Ohayon, Shay, Goldenberg, Roman
• Granted Patent: US 7,873,194 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/128
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02007 Evaluating blood vessel condition, e.g. elasticity, compliance
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/032 Transmission computed tomography [CT]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/504 for diagnosis of blood vessels, e.g. by angiography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/566 involving communication between diagnostic systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10081 Computed x-ray tomography [CT]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30048 Heart; Cardiac
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30101 Blood vessel; Artery; Vein; Vascular

Abstract

A method of automatically performing a triple rule-out procedure using imaging data is provided. Imaging data is received that includes a heart region, a pulmonary artery region, an ascending aorta region, and a thoraco-abdominal aorta region of a patient. The heart region, an ascending aorta object, an abdominal aorta object, a left main pulmonary artery object, and a right main pulmonary artery object are identified from the imaging data. The identified heart region is analyzed to detect a coronary pathology. The identified ascending aorta object and the identified abdominal aorta object are analyzed to detect an aortic dissection. The identified left main pulmonary artery object and the identified right main pulmonary artery object are analyzed to detect a pulmonary embolism. A report is generated that includes any detected coronary pathology, any detected aortic dissection, and/or any detected pulmonary embolism.

Claims

1. A system for automatically performing a triple rule-out procedure using imaging data, the system comprising:

an imaging apparatus configured to generate imaging data including a heart region, a pulmonary artery region, and an aorta region of a patient; and

a processor operably coupled to the imaging apparatus to receive the generated imaging data, the processor configured to;

(a) identify the heart region from the generated imaging data;

(b) analyze the identified heart region to detect a coronary pathology;

(c) identify an aorta object from the aorta region of the imaging data;

(d) analyze the identified aorta object to detect an aortic dissection;

(e) identify a pulmonary artery object from the pulmonary artery region of the imaging data;

(f) analyze the identified pulmonary artery object to detect a pulmonary embolism; and

(g) generate a report including any detected coronary pathology, any detected aortic dissection, and any detected pulmonary embolism.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to track the identified pulmonary artery object.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to identify an abdominal aorta object from the aorta region of the imaging data.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the processor is further configured to model the identified abdominal aorta object to define a normal form and to identify a location of a deviation between the defined normal form and the identified abdominal aorta object.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the processor is further configured to identify an ascending aorta object from the aorta region of the imaging data and to model the identified ascending aorta object to define a normal form and to identify a location of a deviation between the defined normal form and the identified ascending aorta object.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions configured to identify the heart region comprise:

projecting the received imaging data into a first plane of three dimensions of the received imaging data;

applying a first threshold to the first plane of data, wherein the first threshold is selected to eliminate a first pixel associated with air;

identifying a largest first connected component from the first threshold applied data;

calculating a first center of mass of the identified largest first connected component to define a first coordinate and a second coordinate;

projecting the received imaging data into a second plane of the three dimensions, wherein the second plane is perpendicular to the first plane;

applying a second threshold to the second plane of data, wherein the second threshold is selected to eliminate a second pixel associated with air;

identifying a largest second connected component from the second threshold applied data; and

calculating a second center of mass of the identified largest second connected component to define a third coordinate;

wherein a center of a heart region is defined from the defined first coordinate, the defined second coordinate, and the defined third coordinate; and

further wherein the heart region has a width in each of the three dimensions.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions configured to analyze the identified heart region comprise:

identifying an aorta object from the identified heart region;

identifying a coronary artery exit point from the identified aorta object;

identifying a coronary artery vessel tree between the identified coronary artery exit point and the aorta object;

determining a blood vessel radius for the identified coronary artery vessel tree;

determining a blood vessel center for the identified coronary artery vessel tree;

identifying an area of calcium from the determined blood vessel radius and the determined blood vessel center; and

calculating an obstruction severity of the identified area of calcium.

8. Computer-readable instructions that, upon execution by a processor, cause the processor to perform a triple rule-out procedure using imaging data, the instructions comprising:

receiving imaging data including a heart region, a pulmonary artery region, an ascending aorta region, and a thoraco-abdominal aorta region of a patient;

identifying the heart region from the imaging data;

analyzing the identified heart region to detect a coronary pathology;

identifying an ascending aorta object from the ascending aorta region of the imaging data;

analyzing the identified ascending aorta object to detect an aortic dissection;

identifying an abdominal aorta object from the thoraco-abdominal aorta region;

analyzing the identified abdominal aorta object to detect an aortic dissection;

identifying a left main pulmonary artery object and a right main pulmonary artery object from the pulmonary artery region of the imaging data;

analyzing the identified left main pulmonary artery object and the identified right main pulmonary artery object to detect a pulmonary embolism; and

generating a report including any detected coronary pathology, any detected aortic dissection, and any detected pulmonary embolism.

9. The instructions of claim 8, further comprising tracking the identified left main pulmonary artery object and the identified right main pulmonary artery object.

10. The instructions of claim 8, further comprising modeling the identified abdominal aorta object to define a normal form and identifying a location of a deviation between the defined normal form and the identified abdominal aorta object.

11. The instructions of claim 8, further comprising modeling the identified ascending aorta object to define a normal form and identifying a location of a deviation between the defined normal form and the identified ascending aorta object.

12. The instructions of claim 8, wherein identifying the heart region comprises:

projecting the received imaging data into a first plane of three dimensions of the received imaging data;

applying a first threshold to the first plane of data, wherein the first threshold is selected to eliminate a first pixel associated with air;

identifying a largest first connected component from the first threshold applied data;

calculating a first center of mass of the identified largest first connected component to define a first coordinate and a second coordinate;

projecting the received imaging data into a second plane of the three dimensions, wherein the second plane is perpendicular to the first plane;

applying a second threshold to the second plane of data, wherein the second threshold is selected to eliminate a second pixel associated with air;

identifying a largest second connected component from the second threshold applied data; and

calculating a second center of mass of the identified largest second connected component to define a third coordinate;

wherein a center of a heart region is defined from the defined first coordinate, the defined second coordinate, and the defined third coordinate; and

further wherein the heart region has a width in each of the three dimensions.

13. The instructions of claim 8, wherein analyzing the identified heart region comprises:

identifying an aorta object from the identified heart region;

identifying a coronary artery exit point from the identified aorta object;

identifying a coronary artery vessel tree between the identified coronary artery exit point and the aorta object;

determining a blood vessel radius for the identified coronary artery vessel tree;

determining a blood vessel center for the identified coronary artery vessel tree;

identifying an area of calcium from the determined blood vessel radius and the determined blood vessel center; and

calculating an obstruction severity of the identified area of calcium.

14. A method for automatically performing a triple rule-out procedure using imaging data, the method comprising:

receiving imaging data including a heart region, a pulmonary artery region, an ascending aorta region, and a thoraco-abdominal aorta region of a patient;

identifying the heart region from the imaging data;

analyzing the identified heart region to detect a coronary pathology;

identifying an ascending aorta object from the ascending aorta region of the imaging data;

analyzing the identified ascending aorta object to detect an aortic dissection;

identifying an abdominal aorta object from the thoraco-abdominal aorta region;

analyzing the identified abdominal aorta object to detect an aortic dissection;

identifying a left main pulmonary artery object and a right main pulmonary artery object from the pulmonary artery region of the imaging data;

analyzing the identified left main pulmonary artery object and the identified right main pulmonary artery object to detect a pulmonary embolism; and

generating a report including any detected coronary pathology, any detected aortic dissection, and any detected pulmonary embolism.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising tracking the identified left main pulmonary artery object and the identified right main pulmonary artery object.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising modeling the identified abdominal aorta object to define a normal form and identifying a location of a deviation between the defined normal form and the identified abdominal aorta object.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising modeling the identified ascending aorta object to define a normal form and identifying a location of a deviation between the defined normal form and the identified ascending aorta object.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein identifying the heart region comprises:

projecting the received imaging data into a first plane of three dimensions of the received imaging data;

applying a first threshold to the first plane of data, wherein the first threshold is selected to eliminate a first pixel associated with air;

identifying a largest first connected component from the first threshold applied data;

calculating a first center of mass of the identified largest first connected component to define a first coordinate and a second coordinate;

projecting the received imaging data into a second plane of the three dimensions, wherein the second plane is perpendicular to the first plane;

applying a second threshold to the second plane of data, wherein the second threshold is selected to eliminate a second pixel associated with air;

identifying a largest second connected component from the second threshold applied data; and

calculating a second center of mass of the identified largest second connected component to define a third coordinate;

wherein a center of a heart region is defined from the defined first coordinate, the defined second coordinate, and the defined third coordinate; and

further wherein the heart region has a width in each of the three dimensions.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein analyzing the identified heart region comprises:

identifying an aorta object from the identified heart region;

identifying a coronary artery exit point from the identified aorta object;

identifying a coronary artery vessel tree between the identified coronary artery exit point and the aorta object;

determining a blood vessel radius for the identified coronary artery vessel tree;

determining a blood vessel center for the identified coronary artery vessel tree;

identifying an area of calcium from the determined blood vessel radius and the determined blood vessel center; and

calculating an obstruction severity of the identified area of calcium.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising presenting the identified coronary artery vessel tree to the user for analysis of the identified area of calcium.