Medical image processing apparatus and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016125607-A1
Application number	US-201514853235-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 14, 2015
Priority date	Nov 3, 2014
Publication date	May 5, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A medical image processing apparatus includes a data acquirer that scans an object with a fiducial marker attached thereto to acquire volume data, and a data processor that estimates a plane of interest, based on a position of the fiducial marker and a position of a landmark in the volume data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A medical image processing apparatus comprising:
a data acquirer configured to scan an object which has a fiducial marker attached to a surface of the object and a landmark disposed within the object, and acquire volume data of the object; and a data processor configured to estimate a plane of interest (POI) in the object, based on a position of the fiducial marker and a position of the landmark in the volume data.

2 . The medical image processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the data processor is configured to detect the position of the fiducial marker and the position of the landmark from the volume data.

3 . The medical image processing apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the fiducial marker is displayed at high luminance in the volume data.

4 . The medical image processing apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the fiducial marker is displayed at high luminance on the surface of an image of the object of the volume data.

5 . The medical image processing apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the data processor is configured to detect a mid-sagittal plane (MSP) from the volume data, and detect the position of the landmark from the MSP.

6 . The medical image processing apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the data processor is configured to detect the position of the landmark from the MSP through machine learning.

7 . The medical image processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the data acquirer is configured to perform a scout-scan of the object, to acquire the volume data.

8 . The medical image processing apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the data acquirer is configured to rescan the object, and acquire an image of interest (IOI) which is an image of the estimated POI.

9 . The medical image processing apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the data acquirer is configured to perform the scout scan at a first resolution and perform the rescan at a second resolution higher than the first resolution.

10 . The medical image processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the data processor is configured to acquire an image of interest (IOI) which is an image of the POI.

11 . The medical image processing apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the data processor is configured to acquire the IOI, based on the volume data.

12 . A medical image processing method comprising:
scanning an object which has a fiducial marker attached to a surface of the object and a landmark disposed within the object, to acquire volume data; and estimating a plane of interest (POI), based on a position of the fiducial marker and a position of the landmark in the volume data.

13 . The medical image processing method of claim 12 , further comprising:
detecting the position of the fiducial marker and the position of the landmark from the volume data.

14 . The medical image processing method of claim 13 , wherein the fiducial marker is displayed at high luminance in the volume data.

15 . The medical image processing method of claim 13 , wherein the fiducial marker is displayed at high luminance on the surface of an image of the object of the volume data.

16 . The medical image processing method of claim 13 , wherein the detecting the position of the landmark comprises:
detecting a mid-sagittal plane (MSP) from the volume data; and detecting the position of the landmark from the MSP.

17 . The medical image processing method of claim 16 , wherein the position of the landmark is detected from the MSP through machine learning.

18 . The medical image processing method of claim 12 , further comprising:
performing a scout scan of the object to acquire the volume data.

19 . The medical image processing method of claim 18 , further comprising:
rescanning the object to acquire an image of interest (IOI) which is an image of the estimated POI.

20 . The medical image processing method of claim 19 , wherein the scout scan is performed at a first resolution, and
the rescan is performed at a second resolution higher than the first resolution.

21 . The medical image processing method of claim 12 , further comprising acquiring an image of interest which is an image of the POI.

22 . The medical image processing method of claim 21 , wherein the IOI is acquired based on the volume data.

23 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to execute the medical image processing method of claim 12 .

24 . A medical image processing method comprising:
scanning an object which has a first fiducial marker attached to a surface of the object and a landmark disposed within the object, to acquire first volume data in a first period; estimating a first plane of interest (POI), based on a position of the first fiducial marker and a position of the landmark in the first volume data; acquiring a first image of interest (IOI) which is an image of the first POI; scanning the object, with a second fiducial marker attached to a same position as that of the first fiducial marker in a scan in the first period, to acquire second volume data in a second period; estimating a second POI which is a same POI as the first POI, based on a position of the second fiducial marker and a position of the landmark in the second volume data; and acquiring a second IOI which is an image of the second POI.

25 . The medical image processing method of claim 24 , further comprising:
acquiring information about a difference between the first IOI and the second IOI.

26 . The medical image processing method of claim 25 , further comprising:
displaying the first IOI and the second IOI together on a display.

27 . The medical image processing method of claim 23 , further comprising storing the first IOI.

28 . A medical image processing apparatus comprising:
a data acquirer configured to scan an object, which has a first fiducial marker attached to a surface of the object and a landmark disposed within the object, and acquire first volume data in a first period; a data processor configured to estimate a first plane of interest (POI), based on a position of the first fiducial marker and a position of the landmark in the first volume data, and acquire a first image of interest (IOI) which is an image of the first POI; and a storage unit configured to store the first IOI.

29 . The medical image processing apparatus of claim 28 , wherein the data acquirer is configured to scan the object with a second fiducial marker attached to a same position as that of the first fiducial marker in a scan in the first period, and acquire second volume data in a second period, and
the data processor is configured to estimate a second POI which is a same POI as the first POI, based on a position of the second fiducial marker and a position of the landmark in the second volume data, and acquire a second IOI which is an image of the second POI.

30 . The medical image processing apparatus of claim 29 , wherein the data processor is configured to acquire information about a difference between the second IOI and the first IOI which has been stored in the storage unit.

31 . The medical image processing apparatus of claim 29 , further comprising:
a display configured to display together the second IOI and the first IOI which is retrieved from the storage unit.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Gulaka Praveen
• Kim Young-Ha
• Cho Soo-In
• Jo Jae-Moon
• Choi Yang-Lim

Classifications

• G06T7/0081

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06T2207/30204

  Marker · CPC title

• G06T7/0042 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06T7/0012

  Biomedical image inspection · CPC title

• G06T7/73 Primary

  using feature-based methods · CPC title