Medical diagnostic apparatus, medical image processing apparatus and medical image processing method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10575823-B2
Application number	US-201514869007-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 29, 2015
Priority date	Sep 30, 2014
Publication date	Mar 3, 2020
Grant date	Mar 3, 2020

Abstract

A medical diagnostic apparatus according to one embodiment comprises processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to acquire a three-dimensional shape of a first part based on a contour of the first part in each of a plurality of sectional images intersecting each other along an extending direction of the first part connecting to a cardiac chamber; acquire a three-dimensional shape of a second part, based on a contour of the second part in a sectional image along an extending direction of the second part connecting to the cardiac chamber; and generate a three-dimensional image representing at least some of the first part, the second part, and the cardiac chamber using a three-dimensional shape representing the cardiac chamber and the three-dimensional shapes of the first part and the second part acquired.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A medical diagnostic apparatus, comprising:
a scanner to scan a three-dimensional region and acquire three-dimensional volume data of the three-dimensional region; and
processing circuitry configured to
generate a three-dimensional shape of a first part for a blood inflow path to a cardiac chamber, the first part being approximated using a first form and based on a contour of the first part in a plurality of first sectional images generated from the three-dimensional volume data, the plurality of first sectional images intersecting each other along an extending direction of the first part in which blood flows;
generate a three-dimensional shape of a second part for a blood outflow path from the cardiac chamber, the second part being approximated using a second form different from the first form and based on a contour of the second part in at least one second sectional image generated from the three-dimensional volume data, the at least one second sectional image being taken along an extending direction of the second part in which blood flows;
generate a three-dimensional shape of the cardiac chamber including the three-dimensional shapes of the first part and the second part by using the generated three-dimensional shape of the first part and the generated three-dimensional shape of the second part;
perform a rendering process using the three-dimensional shape of the cardiac chamber including the three-dimensional shapes of the first part and the second part, and generate a three-dimensional image representing at least part of a heart including the first part, the second part, and the cardiac chamber; and
control a display to display the three-dimensional image.

2. The medical diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to
set a contour line of at least a part of a myocardial region of the first part using at least two or more of the first sectional images taken along the extending direction of the first part;
approximate the contour of the first part on a plurality of third sections intersecting an axis along the extending direction of the first part by setting an ellipse on each third section based on each position through which the contour line passes in each of the plurality of third sections: and
acquire the three-dimensional shape of the first part by interpolating a plurality of the ellipses.

3. The apparatus according to claim, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to
set a contour line of at least a part of a myocardial region of the second part using the second sectional image taken along the extending direction of the second part;
approximate the contour of the second part on a plurality of fourth sections intersecting an axis along the extending direction of the second part by setting a circle on each fourth section based on each position through which the contour line passes in each of the plurality of fourth sections; and
acquire the three-dimensional shape of the second part by interpolating a plurality of the circles.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to generate a three-dimensional image representing a three-dimensional image of a ventricle including the first part and the second part further using information in relation to the cardiac chamber, which is prepared in advance.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the second sectional image along the extending direction of the second part is a same section as any one of the plurality of first sectional images along the extending direction of the first part.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to
track an axis along the extending direction of the first part and an axis along the extending direction of the second part in volume data in at least another temporal phase using an axis along the extending direction of the first part and an axis along the extending direction of the second part in a predetermined temporal phase;
set the first part using the plurality of first sectional images generated from the volume data along the extending direction of the tracked first part with respect to the volume data of the at least another temporal phase;
generate a three-dimensional shape of the first part approximated based on a contour line of at least a part of a myocardial region of the set first part;
set the second part using the at least one second sectional image generated from the volume data along the extending direction of the tracked second part with respect to the volume data of the at least another temporal phase;
generate a three-dimensional shape of the second part approximated based on a contour line of at least a part of a myocardial region of the set second part; and
generate the three-dimensional image representing the three-dimensional myocardial shape of the ventricle including the first part and the second part using the three-dimensional shape of the first part and the three-dimensional shape of the second part in the at least another temporal phase.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the cardiac chamber is a right ventricle, the first part is a tubular structure including a tricuspid valve, and the second part is a tubular structure including a pulmonary valve.

8. The medical diagnostic apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to receive an input from a user for the contour of the first part and the contour of the second part.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the cardiac chamber is a ventricle, the first part corresponds to a blood inflow path of the ventricle, and the second part corresponds to a blood outflow path from the ventricle.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the cardiac chamber is an atrium, the first part corresponds to a blood outflow path from the atrium, and the second part corresponds to a blood inflow path to the atrium.

11. The medical diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a number of the at least one second sectional image is less than a number of the plurality of first sectional images.

12. The medical diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first form is elliptical and the second form is circular.

13. A medical diagnostic apparatus, comprising:
processing circuitry configured to
generate a three-dimensional shape representing a blood inflow path to a right ventricle by approximation using a first form and based on a contour of the blood inflow path in a plurality of first sectional images generated from three-dimensional volume data of at least part of a heart, the plurality of first sectional images intersecting each other along an extending direction of the blood inflow path in which blood flows:
generate a three-dimensional shape representing a blood outflow path from the right ventricle by approximation using a second form different from the first form and based on a contour of the blood outflow path in at least one second sectional image generated from the three-dimensional volume data, the at least one second sectional image being taken along an extending direction of the blood outflow path in which blood flows:
perform a rendering process using the three-dimensional shape representing the blood inflow path and the three-dimensional shape representing the blood outflow path, and generate a three-dimensional image of said at least part of the heart including the blood inflow path, the blood outflow path, and the right ventricle; and
control a display to display the three-dimensional image.

Assignees

• Toshiba Medical Sys Corp
• Canon Medical Systems Corp

Inventors

• Okazaki Tomoya
• Sakata Yukinobu
• Takeguchi Tomoyuki

Classifications

• G06T2210/41

  Medical · CPC title

• G06T17/20

  Finite element generation, e.g. wire-frame surface description, {tesselation} · CPC title

• A61B8/483

  involving the acquisition of a 3D volume of data · CPC title

• A61B8/5253

  combining overlapping images, e.g. spatial compounding · CPC title

• G06T19/00

  Manipulating three-dimensional [3D] models or images for computer graphics · CPC title