Systems and methods of radiation dose mapping

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10238358-B2
Application number	US-201615386717-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 21, 2016
Priority date	Dec 21, 2016
Publication date	Mar 26, 2019
Grant date	Mar 26, 2019

Abstract

Systems and methods of estimating radiation dose include obtaining at least one radiation exposure value from a location marked on a patient model. A radiation exposure of the patient is estimated using a dose model which includes the patient model. At least one correction factor is calculated based upon the radiation exposure value and the estimation of radiation exposure using the dose model. The at least one correction factor is applied to the dose model and a refined estimation of radiation exposure is produced based upon the at least one correction factor and the dose model.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system for estimation of radiation dose of a medical imaging system, the system comprising:
a dosimeter adapted to be associated with a patient; and
a processing unit that obtains at least one dose model comprising a patient model, receives at least one radiation exposure value from the dosimeter, marks a location of the dosimeter on the patient model, estimates the radiation exposure of the patient during an imaging procedure according to the dose model, calculates at least one correction value based upon the estimated radiation exposure of the patient according to the dose model and the at least one radiation exposure value received from the dosimeter, applies the at least one correction factor to the dose model and produces a refined estimation of radiation exposure of the patient based upon the at least one correction factor and the dose model.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising an X-ray source configured to generate an X-ray beam in an imaging procedure in the direction of the dosimeter.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the dosimeter is an analog dosimeter.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the dosimeter is a digital dosimeter communicatively connected to the processing unit and the processing unit reads a radiation exposure value from the digital dosimeter at a sampling interval.

5. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of dosimeters including the dosimeter, the plurality of dosimeters arranged in an array and integrated into a garment configured to be worn by the patient.

6. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of dosimeters including the dosimeter, the plurality of dosimeters arranged in an array and associated with a table configured to support the patient during the imaging procedure.

7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one digital camera communicatively connected to the processing unit, wherein at least one image captured by the at least one digital camera is used by the processing unit to mark the location of the dosimeter on the patient model.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the refined estimation of radiation exposure of the patient is visually presented as a dose map on a graphical display operated by the processing unit.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor applies the at least one correction factor to the dose model by scaling the dose model according to the at least one correction factor.

10. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a plurality of dosimeters including the dosimeter, wherein a location of each of the dosimeters of the plurality is marked on the patient model and the processing unit receives a plurality of radiation exposure values from the plurality of dosimeters;
wherein the processing unit calculates a plurality of dose model values and calculates a plurality of initial correction factors between each of the radiation exposure values from the plurality of dosimeters and a dose model value of the plurality of dose model values at a corresponding location in the patient model, the processing unit applies a transition rule between radiation exposure values of adjacent dosimeters and calculates intermediation correction factors based upon the transition rule and the radiation exposure values; and
wherein the refined estimation of radiation exposure of the patient comprises the radiation exposure values from the plurality of dosimeters and the dose model values corrected by the intermediation correction factors for locations on the dose model between the locations of the radiation exposure values.

11. A method of estimating radiation dose, the method comprising:
obtaining a patient model;
marking a location of at least one radiation exposure value measurement on the patient model;
obtaining at a processor at least one radiation exposure value from a radiation exposure event;
estimating a radiation exposure of the patient during the radiation exposure event with a dose model comprising the patient model to produce at least one dose model value;
calculating at least one correction factor based upon the at least one radiation exposure value and the at least one dose model value;
applying the at least one correction factor to the dose model; and
producing a refined estimation of radiation exposure of the patient based upon the at least one correction factor and the dose model.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising outputting the estimated radiation exposure in a dose map visually presented on a graphical display.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
estimating the radiation exposure of the patient for a plurality of radiation exposure events; and
cumulating the estimated radiation exposure from the plurality of radiation exposure events to produce a total estimated radiation exposure by the patient.

14. The method of claim 11 , Further comprising comparing the at least one radiation exposure value to the at least one dose model value, wherein the correction factor value is based upon the comparison between the at least one radiation exposure value and the at least one dose model value.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising positioning a plurality of dosimeters in association with the patient and obtaining at the processor a plurality of radiation exposure values, including the at least one radiation exposure value, from the plurality of dosimeters.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising reading radiation exposure values from the plurality of dosimeters during the radiation exposure event to obtain the radiation exposure values.

17. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
wherein the location the at least one radiation exposure value measurement marked on the patient model comprises a plurality of locations of radiation exposure value measurements;
wherein at least one radiation exposure value is a plurality of radiation exposure values obtained by the processor from a plurality of locations marked on the patient model;
wherein the at least one dose model value is a plurality of dose model values from the same locations on the dose model as the plurality of locations marked on the patient model; and
wherein calculating the at least one correction value comprises calculating a plurality of correction factors between each of the radiation exposure values of the plurality of radiation exposure values and a dose model value of the plurality of dose model values at a corresponding location in the patient model.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising scaling the dose model with the plurality of correction factors, wherein the radiation exposure of the patient is estimated based upon the dose model scaled by the plurality of correction factors.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising applying a smoothing factor to each of the plurality of correction factors to geometrically limit each correction factor of the plurality of correction factors.

20. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
applying a transition rule between radiation exposure values of adjacent dosimeters; and
calculating intermediation correction factors based upon the transition rules and the radiation exposure values;
wherein the estimating the radiation exposure of the patient comprises the radiation exposure values and the dose model values corrected by the intermediation correction factors for locations on the dose model between the locations of the radiation exposure values.

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Desponds Lionel Francois

Classifications

• A61B6/0407

  Supports, e.g. tables or beds, for the body or parts of the body · CPC title

• G01T1/02

  Dosimeters (G01T1/15 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A61B6/5211

  involving processing of medical diagnostic data · CPC title

• A61B6/4441

  the rigid structure being a C-arm or U-arm · CPC title

• A61B6/542 Primary

  involving control of exposure · CPC title