Method and a system for obtaining operating parameters for x ray data acquisition

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11793476-B2
Application number	US-202217592825-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 4, 2022
Priority date	Sep 29, 2017
Publication date	Oct 24, 2023
Grant date	Oct 24, 2023

Abstract

The invention concerns a method for obtaining operating parameters for x-ray imaging a patients maxillofacial region, the method comprising: —identifying a patients maxillofacial first region of interest ROI 1 , —determining a height of a horizontal plane of said patients maxillofacial first region of interest ROI 1 when the patient is in an occlusion position or bites a patient positioning accessory, said horizontal plane passing through the teeth and the bones of the jaw, —acquiring through a slit-shaped collimator window a first set of data relative to said patients maxillofacial first region of interest ROI 1 including the horizontal plane using x-ray CBCT imaging and a first x-ray dose, said first set of data being suitable for generating a CBCT slice, —reconstructing the CBCT slice comprising the horizontal plane based on the first set of data relative to the patients maxillofacial first region of interest ROI 1 , —obtaining operating parameters for an x-ray imaging apparatus based on the reconstructed CBCT slice in view of acquiring a second set of data of a patients maxillofacial second region of interest ROI 2 using a second x-ray dose, the first x-ray dose being lower than the second x-ray dose.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for obtaining operating parameters for x-ray imaging a patient's maxillofacial region, the method comprising the steps of:
identifying a patient's maxillofacial first region of interest (ROI 1 );
determining a height of a horizontal plane of said patient's maxillofacial first region of interest (ROI 1 ) when the patient is in an occlusion position or bites a patient positioning accessory, said horizontal plane passing through the teeth and the bones of the jaw;
acquiring through a slit-shaped collimator window a first set of data relative to said patient's maxillofacial first region of interest (ROI 1 ) including the horizontal plane using x-ray CBCT imaging and a first x-ray dose, said first set of data comprising a first set of x-ray images including the horizontal plane obtained at different angular positions relative to the patient's maxillofacial first region of interest (ROI 1 ) and suitable for generating a CBCT slice;
reconstructing the CBCT slice comprising the horizontal plane based on the first set of data relative to the patient's maxillofacial first region of interest (ROI 1 ); and
obtaining operating parameters for an x-ray imaging apparatus based on the reconstructed CBCT slice in view of acquiring a second set of data of a patient's maxillofacial second region of interest (ROI 2 ) using a second x-ray dose, the first x-ray dose being lower than the second x-ray dose.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining a height of the horizontal plane of the patient comprises beforehand one of the following:
acquiring a lateral x-ray scout view comprising the patient's maxillofacial first region of interest (ROI 1 ); or
acquiring an optical image comprising the patient's maxillofacial first region of interest (ROI 1 ) including landmarks; or
performing physical measurements on the patient's maxillofacial first region of interest (ROI 1 ) using a patient positioning device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises a step of determining features relative to the patient's maxillofacial first region morphology or to the x-ray patient attenuation in the patient's maxillofacial first region based on the reconstructed CBCT slice, wherein obtaining operating parameters is based at least in part on the determined features.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the determined features relative to the patient's maxillofacial first region morphology include at least one of the width, depth, or shape of the dental arch of the patient's maxillofacial first region.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the width of the dental arch of the patient's maxillofacial first region is determined by determining the width between the two ends of the patient's mandibular rami.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the determined features relative to the patient's maxillofacial first region morphology include the relative position of the teeth with respect to the dental arch of the patient's maxillofacial first region.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the patient's maxillofacial first region morphology is determined based on both the width of the maxillofacial first region and a comparison of the width with a predetermined model of a different patient's morphologies or a predetermined different patient's morphology characteristics.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the patient's maxillofacial first region morphology is also determined based on the depth of the patient's mandibular rami relative to the position of the incisors.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the predetermined different patient's morphology characteristics include a predetermined set of dental arch shapes including a U shape, a V shape and a square shape.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining operating parameters for an x-ray imaging apparatus that comprises an x-ray source and at least one x-ray sensor based on the reconstructed CBCT slice includes adjusting a trajectory for both the x-ray source and the x-ray sensor based on morphological data.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining operating parameters for an x-ray imaging apparatus that comprises an x-ray source and at least one x-ray sensor based on the reconstructed CBCT slice includes adjusting the x-ray dose for the x-ray source based on morphological data.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining operating parameters for an x-ray imaging apparatus that comprises an x-ray source and at least one x-ray sensor based on the reconstructed CBCT slice includes adjusting the x-ray dose for the x-ray source based on a measurement of the x-ray attenuation by the patient's maxillofacial first region bone density on the reconstructed CBCT slice.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining operating parameters for an x-ray imaging apparatus includes one of the following:
selecting a predetermined set of operating parameters; or
determining operating parameters based on a predetermined model.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first x-ray dose does not exceed 20% of the second x-ray dose.

15. A computer storage medium having instructions stored therein for causing a computer or a microprocessor to perform the method of claim 1 .

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises a step of determining a morphology characteristic of the patient's maxillofacial first region of interest (ROI 1 ) based on the reconstructed CBCT slice, wherein the obtained operating parameters for said acquiring the second set of data of the patient's maxillofacial second region of interest (ROI 2 ) using the second x-ray dose are based at least in part on the determined morphology characteristic.

17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
acquiring the second set of data that comprises a second set of x-ray images obtained at different angular positions including the patient's maxillofacial second region of interest (ROI 2 ) using the second x-ray dose; and
reconstructing a 3D CBCT image including the defined second region of interest (ROI 2 ); based on the acquired second set of data, wherein the 3D CBCT image has a higher resolution than the CBCT slice.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the obtained operating parameters for the x-ray CBCT imaging apparatus for acquiring the second set of data of the patient's maxillofacial second region of interest (ROI 2 ) using the second x-ray dose comprise an adjusted trajectory for both an x-ray source and an x-ray sensor based on the patient's maxillofacial second region of interest (ROI 2 ).

19. A system for obtaining operating parameters for x-ray imaging a patient's maxillofacial region, comprising:
an x-ray source and at least one x-ray sensor that are configured to move around a patient's maxillofacial first region of interest while irradiating the latter with a slit-shaped x-ray beam formed from a first x-ray dose so as to acquire a first set of data relative to said patient's maxillofacial first region of interest when the patient is in an occlusion position or bites a patient positioning accessory, said patient's maxillofacial first region of interest including a horizontal plane that passes through the teeth and the bones of the jaw, said first set of data comprising a first set of x-ray images including the horizontal plane obtained at different angular positions relative to the patient's maxillofacial first region of interest (ROI 1 ) and suitable for generating a CBCT slice; and
a microprocessor configured to:
reconstruct the CBCT slice comprising the horizontal plane based on the first set of dat

Assignees

• Trophy

Inventors

• Loustauneau Vincent
• Nesme Olivier
• Abdoul Carime Comparetti Chloe
• Maury Colombe

Classifications

• A61B6/14 Primary

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• A61B6/032

  Transmission computed tomography [CT] · CPC title

• A61B6/04

  Positioning of patients; Tiltable beds or the like · CPC title

• A61B6/06

  Diaphragms · CPC title

• A61B6/4085

  Cone-beams · CPC title