Medical image imaging method, medical diagnostic apparatus using the same, and recording medium therefor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9366741-B2
Application number	US-201313920666-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 18, 2013
Priority date	Oct 10, 2012
Publication date	Jun 14, 2016
Grant date	Jun 14, 2016

Abstract

A medical diagnostic apparatus includes a data obtainer, which obtains an image frame included in a region to be imaged; and a data processor, which processes the obtained frame and obtains a medical image. The data obtainer includes a composite image generator, which generates a composite image by using the image frame; and a medical image obtainer, which compensates the composite image by using the image frame and boundary conditions corresponding to image signals included in the composite image and obtains the medical image by using the compensated composite image.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An imaging method for obtaining a medical image by a medical imaging apparatus, the imaging method comprising:
obtaining image frames based on k-space data which is acquired from an imaging region of an object and includes complex data values;
generating a composite image by using the image frames;
compensating the composite image by using one image frame, of the image frames, and boundary values corresponding to image signals included in the composite image; and
obtaining the medical image by using the compensated composite image,
wherein the boundary values include a maximum value and a minimum value of the image signals included in the composite image, and
the compensating the composite image includes adjusting values of the image signals of the composite image based on the maximum value and the minimum value of the image signals such that the values of the image signals of the composite image contain only positive values.

2. The imaging method of claim 1 , wherein
the compensating the composite image comprises setting a maximum offset value and a minimum offset value, based on the maximum value and the minimum value of the image signals included in the composite image; and
applying the maximum offset value and the minimum offset value to the image signals included in the composite image, so that the values of the image signals included in the composite image are adjusted to have the positive values.

3. The imaging method of claim 2 , wherein the compensating the composite image comprises:
applying the maximum offset value to the one image frame, so that levels of image signals included in the one image frame have positive values;
compensating the composite image, to which the maximum offset value is applied, by using the one image frame, to which the maximum offset value is applied;
applying the minimum offset value to the one image frame, so that the levels of image signals included in the image frame have positive values;
compensating the composite image, to which the minimum offset value is applied, by using the one image frame, to which the minimum offset value is applied; and
generating the compensated composite image by using the compensated composite image to which the maximum offset value is applied and the compensated composite image to which the minimum offset value is applied.

4. The imaging method of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining the medical image comprises repeatedly compensating the composite image by using the one image frame and the boundary values for a number of times, and
the composite image compensated in a single compensation is updated as a composite image for a next compensation.

5. The imaging method of claim 1 , wherein the composite image is compensated by using a highly-constrained projection reconstruction (HYPR) method.

6. The imaging method of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining the image frames comprises obtaining the image frames of radial views included in the imaging region.

7. The imaging method of claim 1 , wherein the medical imaging apparatus comprises a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus, and
the image frames comprise complex image data.

8. The imaging method of claim 1 , wherein, when

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Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
• Korea Advanced Inst Sci & Tech

Inventors

• Jo Jae-Moon
• Park Hyun-Wook
• Choi Joon-Sung

Classifications

• G06T12/20

  Inverse problem, i.e. transformations from projection space into object space · CPC title

• A61B5/055

  involving electronic [EMR] or nuclear [NMR] magnetic resonance, e.g. magnetic resonance imaging · CPC title

• A61B5/7253

  characterised by using transforms · CPC title

• G01R33/4824

  using a non-Cartesian trajectory · CPC title

• G06T11/006

  Physics · mapped topic