Claims
- 1. A method of determining linear and angular displacements of a first coordinate system of a field of view of a first imaging system relative to a second a coordinate system of a field of view of a second imaging system, the method comprising:
providing a phantom having a plurality of fiducial regions that can be imaged by both imaging systems; acquiring first and second images of the phantom with the first and second imaging systems wherein spatial coordinates of features in the first and second images reference the first and second coordinate systems respectively; determining positions of a plurality of features of the fiducials in the first image and spatial coordinates of the same features in the second image; and using the coordinates to determine the linear and angular displacements.
- 2. A method according to claim 1 wherein fiducial regions imaged by the first system are imaged by the second system.
- 3. A method according to claim 1 wherein determining positions of features comprises determining the coordinates to accuracy better than a resolution of an imaging system of the first and second imaging systems having a lowest resolution.
- 4. A method according to claim 1 wherein determining positions of features comprises determining positions for a center of mass for each of the fiducial regions.
- 5. A method according to claim 1 wherein the first and second imaging systems comprise means for adjusting the position of at least one of the systems and comprising controlling the adjustment means responsive to at least one of the determined linear and angular displacements to reduce the at least one displacement.
- 6. A method of fusing a first image provided by a first imaging system having a first field of view characterized by a first coordinate system and a second image provided by a second imaging system having a second field of view characterized by a second coordinate system, the method comprising:
determining at least one of linear and angular displacements that define the position of the first coordinate system relative to the second coordinate system in accordance with claim 1;transforming at least one of the images responsive to the at least one of linear and angular displacements so that coordinates of both images reference a same coordinate system; and fusing the images that reference the same coordinate system.
- 7. A method according to claim 6 wherein at least one of the first and second imaging systems is a nuclear imaging system.
- 8. A method according to claim 7 wherein the nuclear imaging system comprises a PET imaging system.
- 9. A method according to claim 7 wherein the nuclear imaging system comprises a SPECT imaging system.
- 10. A method according to claim 7 wherein the nuclear imaging system detects photons and the fiducial regions are radioactive regions that emit photons detected by the nuclear imaging system.
- 11. A method according to claim 7 wherein the nuclear imaging system detects photons and the fiducial regions are regions that are more opaque to photons in the energy bandwidth detected by the imaging system than is other material from which the phantom is formed and/or than is material external to the phantom and comprising illuminating the phantom with photons that are detected by the nuclear imaging system after passing through the phantom.
- 12. A method according to claim 11 wherein the phantom comprises a relatively low-density material and the fiducial regions are glass spheres embedded in the low-density material.
- 13. A method according to claim 7 wherein the phantom comprises a material moderately opaque to photons detected by the nuclear imaging system, which material is formed with voids that function as fiducial regions and comprising illuminating the phantom with photons that are detected by the nuclear imaging system after passing through the phantom.
- 14. A method according to claim 6 wherein at least one of the first and second imaging systems is a CT imaging system.
- 15. A method according to claim 14 wherein the fiducial regions are regions that are more opaque to photons in the energy bandwidth detected by the CT imaging system than is other material from which the phantom is formed and/or than is material external to the phantom.
- 16. A method according to claim 14 wherein the phantom comprises a material formed with voids and wherein the material is moderately opaque to photons detected by the CT imaging system and the voids function as fiducial regions.
- 17. A method according to claim 6 wherein at least one of the first and second imaging systems is an MRI imaging system.
- 18. A method according to claim 17 wherein the fiducial regions are regions of the phantom having relatively high concentrations of atoms characterized by relatively large gyromagnetic ratios
- 19. A method according to claim 18 wherein the phantom comprises a relatively low-density material and the fiducial regions are encapsulated volumes of water embedded in the low-density material.
- 20. A method according to claim 19 wherein the low-density material is STYROFOAM.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/325,580, filed on Oct. 1, 2001, titled “Device and Method of registration for Combined Diagnostic Imaging System,” incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60325580 |
Oct 2001 |
US |