System and method for producing parametric maps of optoacoustic data

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9610043-B2
Application number	US-201213507222-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 13, 2012
Priority date	Jun 13, 2012
Publication date	Apr 4, 2017
Grant date	Apr 4, 2017

Abstract

A method is disclosed for creating and outputting a masked parametric map that reflects parameters in a first parametric map and second parametric map. First and second parametric maps are generated, and then a masked parametric map that reflects parameters in the first and second parametric maps is generated. The first parametric map may be based upon portions of two optoacoustic images created using differing wavelengths of light. The first parametric map is reflective of areas within the volume of tissue that have a differing response to the longer wavelength light event compared to the shorter one. The second parametric map is reflective of areas within the volume of tissue that have a stronger response to the longer and shorter wavelength light events than the surrounding areas. A masked parametric map is output which is reflective of a combination of information in the first and second parametric maps.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising the steps of:
generating a first parametric map, the first parametric map being based upon at least a portion of each of at least two optoacoustic images,
each of the at least two optoacoustic images reflecting at least a portion of an optoacoustic response of a volume of tissue to a different light event, at least one of the different light events having a shorter predominant wavelength than at least one other of the different light events,
the first parametric map being reflective of areas within at least a portion of the volume of tissue, which areas have a difference in absorption in response to the longer wavelength light event compared to the shorter wavelength light event;
generating a second parametric map, the second parametric map being based upon at least a portion of each of the at least two optoacoustic images,
the second parametric map being reflective of areas within at least a portion of the volume of tissue having stronger absorption in response to the longer and shorter wavelength light events than to other areas within the at least a portion of the volume of tissue;

generating a mask reflective of a combination of information in the first parametric map and information in the second parametric map, the mask used to exclude areas of an image, the generating comprising
(i) generating a mathematical function of the first parametric map to produce a Boolean value;
(ii) generating a mathematical function of the second parametric map to produce a Boolean value; and
(iii) combining the results of the mathematical function of the first parametric map and the mathematical function of the second parametric map by performing an intersection between the mathematical function of the first parametric map and the mathematical function of the second parametric map;

generating a masked parametric map by applying the mask to an auxiliary map, thus forming a new parametric map, the auxiliary map being selected from the group consisting of: the first parametric map, the second parametric map, an additional parametric map, and an image; and
outputting the masked parametric map.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of generating the mask is carried out using information contained in the at least a portion of each of the at least two optoacoustic images, rather than from information contained in each of the first and the second parametric maps.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the masked parametric map is reflective of a relative level of oxygenated hemoglobin in at least a portion of the volume of tissue.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predominant wavelength of one light event is about 1064 nm and the predominant wavelength of the other light event is about 757 nm.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the at least two optoacoustic images is a first envelope image, and at least one of the at least two optoacoustic images is a second envelope image, and wherein the method further comprises the steps of:
generating the first envelope image based upon at least a portion of a first sinogram, the first sinogram comprising data reflecting at least a portion of an optoacoustic response of the volume of tissue to the light event having a first predominant wavelength; and
generating the second envelope image based upon at least a portion of a second sinogram, the second sinogram comprising data reflecting at least a portion of an optoacoustic response of the volume of tissue to the light event having another predominant wavelength.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
creating one light event in the volume of tissue, the light event having the first predominant wavelength;
sampling at least a portion of the optoacoustic response to the one light event, and storing the sampled data as a first sinogram;
creating another light event in the volume of tissue, the light event having another predominant wavelength;
sampling at least a portion of the optoacoustic response to the another light event, and storing the sampled data as a second sinogram.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising the steps of:
receiving an ultrasound image representing the at least a portion of the volume of tissue; and
coregistering and overlaying the ultrasound image with the masked parametric map prior to outputting the masked parametric map.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising the step of processing the first and second sinograms prior to generating envelope images based thereupon, the processing step reducing undesired data in the sinograms, the undesired data comprising information other than the location and amount of absorption at the wavelength of the light events.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
receiving an ultrasound image representing the at least a portion of the volume of tissue;
coregistering and overlaying the ultrasound image with the masked parametric map prior to outputting the masked parametric map; and
wherein the step of outputting the masked parametric map comprises outputting the masked parametric map coregistered and overlayed on the ultrasound image.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising the steps of:
coregistering and overlaying the ultrasound image with the first and second parametric maps; and
outputting the first and second parametric maps coregistered and overlayed on the ultrasound image.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of generating the mask is performed by using information from at least one of the first parametric map and the second parametric map.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mask is reflective of an alpha channel of an RGBA image.

Assignees

• Zalev Jason
• Clingman Bryan
• Seno Medical Instr Inc

Inventors

• Zalev Jason
• Clingman Bryan

Classifications

• A61B8/5238

  for combining image data of patient, e.g. merging several images from different acquisition modes into one image · CPC title

• A61B5/14552

  Details of sensors specially adapted therefor · CPC title

• A61B5/14546

  for measuring analytes not otherwise provided for, e.g. ions, cytochromes · CPC title

• A61B5/7425

  Displaying combinations of multiple images regardless of image source, e.g. displaying a reference anatomical image with a live image · CPC title

• A61B5/7203 Primary

  for noise prevention, reduction or removal · CPC title