Dose estimation service system configured to support multiple computerized medical imaging scan providers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10546376-B2
Application number	US-201715493892-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 21, 2017
Priority date	Dec 8, 2010
Publication date	Jan 28, 2020
Grant date	Jan 28, 2020

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed for estimating patient radiation exposure during computerized tomography (CT) scans. More specifically, embodiments of the invention provide efficient approaches for generating a suitable patient model used to make such an estimate, to approaches for estimating patient dose by interpolating the results of multiple simulations, and to approaches for a service provider to host a dose estimation service made available to multiple CT scan providers.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for providing a plurality of medical imaging providers with estimates of radiation dose absorbed by individuals receiving imaging scans, the method comprising:
receiving, from one of the medical imaging providers, a request for an estimate of radiation dose absorbed by an individual patient in receiving an imaging scan, wherein the request includes an initial mathematical phantom, a transformation for deforming the initial mathematical phantom to correspond to the individual patient, and a set of parameters describing the imaging scan and an image scanning apparatus being used to perform the imaging scan;
deforming the initial mathematical phantom based on the transformation whereby a deformed mathematical phantom resulting therefrom approximates a size, a shape and organ positions of the individual patient;
accessing a library comprising a plurality of previously completed simulations corresponding to one or more individuals, each of the previously completed simulations having an estimate of radiation dose absorption associated therewith;
evaluating the plurality of previously completed simulations corresponding to the one or more individuals;
looking up, based on the evaluation, one of the plurality of previously completed simulations in the library that matches within a specified tolerance measure the received set of parameters and the deformed mathematical phantom;
determining an estimate of radiation dose absorption associated with the one of the previously completed simulations looked up in the library as the estimate of radiation dose absorbed by the individual patient; and
returning, to the medical imaging provider, the estimate of radiation dose absorbed by the individual patient.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the imaging scan is a computerized tomography (CT) scan.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the estimate of radiation dose absorbed by the individual patient provides estimates of an organ absorbed dose for one or more organs of the individual patient.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the transformation for deforming the initial mathematical phantom is determined by performing an image registration process mapping a set of points in at least one localizer image associated with the initial mathematical phantom to a corresponding set of points in a scout image of the individual patient.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the transformation for deforming the initial mathematical phantom is determined by:
segmenting a reference CT scan associated with the individual patient to identify a three-dimensional (3D) position of a plurality of anatomical landmarks of the individual patient present in the reference CT scan;
matching one or more of the identified anatomical landmarks in the segmented reference CT scan to corresponding anatomical landmarks in the initial mathematical phantom;
determining a three dimensional (3D) displacement map from the matched anatomical landmarks;
voxelizing the initial mathematical phantom; and
determining an image transformation for transforming the voxelized mathematical phantom to match the displacement map.

6. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more application programs, which, when executed by a processor, performs an operation for providing a plurality of medical imaging providers with estimates of radiation dose absorbed by individuals receiving imaging scans, the operation comprising:
receiving, from one of the medical imaging providers, a request for an estimate of radiation dose absorbed by an individual patient in receiving an imaging scan, wherein the request includes an initial mathematical phantom, a transformation for deforming the initial mathematical phantom to correspond to the individual patient, and a set of parameters describing the imaging scan and an image scanning apparatus being used to perform the imaging scan;
deforming the initial mathematical phantom based on the transformation whereby a deformed mathematical phantom resulting therefrom approximates a size, a shape and organ positions of the individual patient;
accessing a library comprising a plurality of previously completed simulations corresponding to one or more individuals, each of the previously completed simulations having an estimate of radiation dose absorption associated therewith;
evaluating the plurality of previously completed simulations corresponding to the one or more individuals;
looking up, based on the evaluation, one of the plurality of previously completed simulations in the library that matches within a specified tolerance measure the received set of parameters and the deformed mathematical phantom;
determining an estimate of radiation dose absorption associated with the one of the previously completed simulations looked up in the library as the estimate of radiation dose absorbed by the individual patient; and
returning, to the medical imaging provider, the estimate of radiation dose absorbed by the individual patient.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein the imaging scan is a computerized tomography (CT) scan.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein the estimate of radiation dose absorbed by the individual patient provides estimates of an organ absorbed dose for one or more organs of the individual patient.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein the transformation for deforming the initial mathematical phantom is determined by performing an image registration process mapping a set of points in at least one localizer image associated with the initial mathematical phantom to a corresponding set of points in a scout image of the individual patient.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein the transformation for deforming the initial mathematical phantom is determined by:
segmenting a reference CT scan associated with the individual patient to identify a three-dimensional (3D) position of a plurality of anatomical landmarks of the individual patient present in the reference CT scan;
matching one or more of the identified anatomical landmarks in the segmented reference CT scan to corresponding anatomical landmarks in the initial mathematical phantom;
determining a three dimensional (3D) displacement map from the matched anatomical landmarks;
voxelizing the initial mathematical phantom; and
determining an image transformation for transforming the voxelized mathematical phantom to match the displacement map.

11. A system, comprising:
a processor, and
a memory storing an application program configured to perform an operation for providing a plurality of medical imaging providers with estimates of radiation dose absorbed by individuals receiving imaging scans, the operation comprising:
receiving, from one of the medical imaging providers, a request for an estimate of radiation dose absorbed by an individual patient in receiving an imaging scan, wherein the request includes an initial mathematical phantom, a transformation for deforming the initial mathematical phantom to correspond to the individual patient, and a set of parameters describing the imaging scan and an image scanning apparatus being used to perform the imaging scan;
deforming the initial mathematical phantom based on the transformation whereby a deformed mathematical phantom resulting therefrom approximates a size, a shape and organ positions of the individual patient;
accessing a library comprising a plurality of previously completed simulations corresponding

Assignees

• Bayer Healthcare Llc

Inventors

• Couch Gregory
• Couch James

Classifications

• G16H30/20

  for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS · CPC title

• A61B6/032 Primary

  Transmission computed tomography [CT] · CPC title

• A61B6/563 Primary

  involving image data transmission via a network · CPC title

• A61B6/542

  involving control of exposure · CPC title

• G01T1/02

  Dosimeters (G01T1/15 takes precedence) · CPC title