Method and control device to control a slice image acquisition system

• US 8,000,510 B2
• Filed: 08/12/2009
• Issued: 08/16/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Siemens Healthineers AG (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Schmidt, Bernhard, Kaepplinger, Stefan, Boeing, Dieter, Krauss, Bernhard
• Primary Examiner(s): Tabatabai; Abolfazl
• Application Number:
  US12/539,687
• Publication Number:
  US 20100040268A1
• Time in Patent Office: 734 Days
• Field of Search: 382/128, 382/129, 382/130, 382/131, 382/132, 382/133, 382/134, 378/4, 378 21- 27, 378/57, 378/205, 378/207, 378/901, 600/407, 600/410, 600/411, 600/425, 600/427, 600/729, 128/915, 128/916, 128/920, 128/922, 250/370.08, 250/370.09
• US Class Current: 382/128
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/02 Arrangements for diagnosis sequentially in different planes; Stereoscopic radiation diagnosis
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/482 involving multiple energy imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/545 involving automatic set-up of acquisition parameters
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/40 for processing medical images, e.g. editing
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass

Abstract

In a method and control device to control a slice image acquisition system, a scan protocol is initially selected from a number of scan protocols, and then an automatic control of the slice image acquisition system (13) ensues on the basis of the selected scan protocol by automatic receipt of previous information regarding the examination subject, automatic synchronization of the previous information with information regarding scan protocol-specific parameters of scan protocols, and automatic selection of the scan protocol, from among the number of scan protocols, that has parameters exhibiting the greatest compatibility with the received previous information according to an established rule.

Claims

1. A method to control a slice image acquisition system, comprising the steps of:

for an examination subject who is to undergo a scan in a slice image acquisition system, automatically importing into a processor information associated with said examination subject that is relevant to said scan;

from said processor, accessing a plurality of electronically stored scan protocols, each of said scan protocols comprising protocol-specific parameters that serve to control implementation of a scan by said slice image acquisition system;

in said processor, automatically matching said previously-acquired information with information describing the respective protocol-specific parameters of the respective electronically stored protocols; and

in said processor, automatically selecting a scan protocol, from among said plurality of electronically stored scan protocols, that has protocol-specific parameters that, as a result of said matching, exhibit a highest compatibility with said information according to a predetermined rule that is stored in and used by said processor, and making the automatically selected scan protocol available at an output of the processor for implementing scan of said examination subject with said slice image acquisition system.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising employing, as said information, information specifying a goal of said scan of said examination subject that is specific to said examination subject.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising employing, as said information, image data representing a topogram of the examination subject generated by an imaging system.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising selecting said information from the group consisting of information describing positioning of the examination subject in the image acquisition system, information describing positioning of a body part of the examination subject in the slice image acquisition system, information describing a size of the examination subject, information describing a weight of the examination subject, and information describing the scan that the examination subject is to undergo in the slice image acquisition system.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising selecting said protocol-specific parameters from the group consisting of a radiation source voltage of a radiation source of the slice image acquisition system that is to be applied to implement the scan of the examination subject in the slice image acquisition system, and a power source current of said radiation source.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said protocol-specific parameters describe a pulse sequence used to activate electromagnetic fields in said slice image acquisition system during a scan.

7. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising selecting said protocol-specific parameters from the group consisting of information describing feed of the examination subject on a subject positioning device during a scan in the slice image acquisition system, and reconstruction parameters for reconstructing an image from image data acquired by said slice image acquisition system from the scan of the examination subject, and parameters describing evaluation of said image.

8. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising:

prior to implementing the scan of the examination subject in said slice image acquisition system, generating a topogram of the examination subject with the slice image acquisition system; and

using said topogram as said information.

9. A method as claimed in claim 8 comprising generating said topogram as a multiple energy topogram.

10. A method as claimed in claim 9 comprising, from image data representing said topogram, generating separate images respectively representing soft tissue in said examination subject and soft tissues and bone structures in said examination subject.

11. A method as claimed in claim 10 comprising, in said processor, implementing an automatic organ detection algorithm using at least one of said images, to identify a detected organ in the examination subject from said topogram, and using said detected organ information as said previously-acquired information, and calibrating the automatically selected scan protocol dependent on the detected organ information.

12. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising making a description of the automatically selected scan protocol available to an operator of the slice image acquisition system for modification or confirmation of the automatically selected scan protocol prior to implementing the scan of the examination subject using said automatically selected scan protocol.

13. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising electronically storing information describing the automatically selected scan protocol together with image data acquired in the scan of the examination subject with the slice image acquisition system using the automatically selected scan protocol.

14. A control device to control a slice image acquisition system, comprising:

a processor;

an input interface to said processor configured to import information into said processor for an examination subject who is to undergo a scan in a slice image acquisition system, said information being associated with said examination subject and being relevant to said scan;

a memory accessible from said processor, in which a plurality of scan protocols are stored, each of said scan protocols comprising protocol-specific parameters that serve to control implementation of a scan by said slice image acquisition system;

said processor being configured to access said memory and automatically match said previously-acquired information with information describing the respective protocol-specific parameters of the respective electronically stored protocols; and

said processor being configured to automatically select a scan protocol, from among said plurality of electronically stored scan protocols, that has protocol-specific parameters that, as a result of said matching, exhibit a highest compatibility with said information according to a predetermined rule that is stored in and used by said processor, and to make the automatically selected scan protocol available at an output of the processor for implementing scan of said examination subject with said slice image acquisition system.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with programming instructions to control a slice image acquisition system, said programming instructions causing a processor of said system to:

for an examination subject who is to undergo a scan in a slice image acquisition system, automatically import into the processor information associated with said examination subject that is relevant to said scan;

access a plurality of electronically stored scan protocols, each of said scan protocols comprising protocol-specific parameters that serve to control implementation of a scan by said slice image acquisition system;

automatically match said previously-acquired information with information describing the respective protocol-specific parameters of the respective electronically stored protocols; and

automatically select a scan protocol, from among said plurality of electronically stored scan protocols, that has protocol-specific parameters that, as a result of said matching, exhibit a highest compatibility with said previously-acquired information according to a predetermined rule that is stored in and used by said processor, and make the automatically selected scan protocol available at an output of the processor for implementing scan of said examination subject with said slice image acquisition system.