Systems and methods for determining scanning parameter in imaging

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11877873-B2
Application number	US-202016904596-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 18, 2020
Priority date	Dec 18, 2017
Publication date	Jan 23, 2024
Grant date	Jan 23, 2024

Abstract

Systems and methods for determining at least one scanning parameter for a scanning by an imaging device ( 110 ) are provided. The methods may include obtaining a scout image of at least one portion of a subject ( 502 ), and determining, in the scout image, a region of interest (ROI) corresponding to the at least one portion of the subject ( 504 ). The methods may further include determining, based on the ROI, the at least one scanning parameter associated with the at least one portion of the subject for performing the scanning by the imaging device ( 506 ). Systems and methods for evaluating a scanning parameter are further provided. The methods may include determining a scanning parameter associated with the ROI ( 1606 ) and obtaining a reference scanning parameter associated with the ROI ( 1608 ). The methods may further include determining whether the scanning parameter needs to be adjusted by comparing the scanning parameter and the reference scanning parameter ( 1610 ).

First claim

We claim:

1. A method for determining at least one scanning parameter for a scanning by an imaging device, implemented on a machine having at least one processor and a storage device, the method comprising:
obtaining a scout image of at least one portion of a subject;
determining, in the scout image, a region of interest (ROI) corresponding to the at least one portion of the subject; and
determining, based on the ROI, the at least one scanning parameter associated with the at least one portion of the subject for performing the scanning by the imaging device, the at least one scanning parameter including a scanning direction of an axial scanning, wherein the determining, based on the ROI, the at least one scanning parameter, includes:
determining, based on coordinates of pixels in the ROI, a covariance matrix, the covariance matrix indicating a difference between pixels in the ROI in multiple pixel coordinates;
determining, based on the covariance matrix, one or more feature vectors associated with the multiple pixel coordinates;
determining, three feature vectors corresponding to top three highest eigenvalues in the multiple feature vectors, the three feature vectors corresponding to three candidate directions; and
determining, from the three candidate directions, a candidate direction as the scanning direction, the candidate direction forming a smallest angle with a horizontal axis direction among the three candidate directions.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining an ROI from the scout image includes:
segmenting the scout image using a target segmentation model.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the target segmentation model is a trained neural network model.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the target segmentation model is trained according to a training process, the training process comprising:
obtaining a plurality of training samples, each of the plurality of training samples including a sample scout image and a label associated with one or more sample regions segmented from the sample scout image; and
using the plurality of training samples to obtain the target segmentation model.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one scanning parameter includes a scanning scope, and wherein the determining, based on the ROI, the at least one scanning parameter, further includes:
determining, based on a contour of the ROI, a frame encompassing the ROI; and
determining, based on the frame, the scanning scope associated with the ROI.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the determining, based on a contour of the ROI, a frame encompassing the ROI, includes:
generating, based on a plurality of points on the contour of the ROI, the frame encompassing the ROI.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the frame forms a minimum parallelogram encompassing the ROI and the determining, based on the frame, the scanning scope associated with the ROI includes:
determining, based on a thickness of a bone region of the subject, a translation distance of at least a portion of the frame;
obtaining an adjusted frame by adjusting at least a portion of the frame based on the translation distance; and
designating the adjusted frame as the scanning scope associated with the ROI.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one scanning parameter further includes a scanning scope, and wherein the determining, based on the ROI, the at least one scanning parameter, further includes:
determining, based on the scanning direction and a contour of the ROI, the scanning scope associated with the ROI.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the determining, based on the scanning direction and a contour of the ROI, the scanning scope associated with the ROI, includes:
determining, based on the scanning direction, a plurality of feature points on the contour of the ROI;
determining a plurality of lines along the scanning direction, each of the plurality of lines passing through one of the plurality of feature points on the contour of the ROI; and
determining, based on the plurality of lines, a frame encompassing the ROI as the scanning scope associated with the ROI.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
obtaining a reference scanning parameter for each of the at least one scanning parameter associated with the ROI; and
determining whether a scanning parameter of the at least one scanning parameter needs to be adjusted by comparing the scanning parameter with the corresponding reference scanning parameter.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the scanning direction defines a tilting angle of a gantry of the imaging device or a direction along which the radiation beams or the pulses or radio waves are emitted.

12. A system for determining at least one scanning parameter for a scanning by an imaging device, comprising:
at least one non-transitory storage medium including a set of instructions; and
at least one processor in communication with the at least one non-transitory storage medium, wherein when executing the set of instructions, the at least one processor is configured to cause the system to:
obtain a scout image of at least one portion of a subject;
determine, in the scout image, a region of interest (ROI) corresponding to the at least one portion of the subject; and
determine, based on the ROI, the at least one scanning parameter associated with the at least one portion of the subject for performing the scanning by the imaging device, the at least one scanning parameter including a scanning direction of an axial scanning, wherein the determining, based on the ROI, the at least one scanning parameter, includes:
determining, based on coordinates of pixels in the ROI, a covariance matrix, the covariance matrix indicating a difference between pixels in the ROI in multiple pixel coordinates;
determining, based on the covariance matrix, one or more feature vectors associated with the multiple pixel coordinates;
determining, three feature vectors corresponding to top three highest eigenvalues in the multiple feature vectors, the three feature vectors corresponding to three candidate directions; and
determining, from the three candidate directions, a candidate direction as the scanning direction, the candidate direction forming a smallest angle with a horizontal axis direction among the three candidate directions.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the at least one scanning parameter includes a scanning scope, and wherein the determining, based on the ROI, the at least one scanning parameter, further includes:
determining, based on a contour of the ROI, a frame encompassing the ROI; and
determining, based on the frame, the scanning scope associated with the ROI.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the determining, based on a contour of the ROI, a frame encompassing the ROI, includes:
generating, based on a plurality of points on the contour of the ROI, the frame encompassing the ROI.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the determining, based on the frame, the scanning scope associated with the ROI includes:
obtaining an adjusted frame by adjusting at least a portion of the frame; and
designating the adjusted frame as the scanning scope associated with the ROI.

16. A method for evaluating a scanning parameter, implemented on a machine having at least one processor and a storage device, the method comprising:
obtaining a scout image of at least one portion of a subject;
determining, in the scout image, a region of interest (ROI) corresponding to the at least one portion of the subject;
determining, based on a contour of the ROI, a scanning parameter as

Assignees

• Shanghai United Imaging Healthcare Co Ltd

Inventors

• Dou Shidan
• Meng Xiaolin
• Lyu Chuanfeng

Classifications

• G06N3/09

  Supervised learning · CPC title

• G06N3/0464

  Convolutional networks [CNN, ConvNet] · CPC title

• A61B6/032 Primary

  Transmission computed tomography [CT] · CPC title

• G06N3/08

  Learning methods · CPC title

• G06T7/0012

  Biomedical image inspection · CPC title