Patent Application
20070287905
A preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described hereinafter with reference to the drawings.
With a minimal invasive intervention the area for operation should on the one hand be checked in real time using X-ray images, i.e. using radioscopy, and on the other hand the functional centers from the magnetic resonance tomography image data should be registered or merged with the X-ray images.
To achieve this, the first step lies in creating a functional magnetic resonance tomography image record of an organ, as is shown in
In addition to the functional magnetic resonance tomography image record an anatomical magnetic resonance tomography image record of the organ is created, as is shown in
Since the patient virtually does not move between anatomical and functional magnetic resonance tomography scans, because he is positioned in a fixed head coil, the anatomical and functional magnetic resonance tomography scans can advantageously be registered with each other, as is shown in
The magnetic resonance tomography scans are pre-interventional images which are taken of the patient before the intervention and which are then available during the intervention (transfer via network, for example PACS).
When the patient is finally subject to intervention three-dimensional, CT-like images of the anatomy (DynaCT) are first of all created using a rotating C-arm 18 of a C-arm X-ray device 14, as shown in
These transaxial tomographs of the CT-like images cover a three-dimensional volume which can be registered with the anatomical magnetic resonance tomography scan in
The actual X-ray images of the organ are then created preferably in real time during the intervention, as is shown in
At the same time registering of the functional magnetic resonance tomography data with the X-ray images, i.e. with the X-ray anatomy of the patient, is achieved, since the functional magnetic resonance tomography image record and the X-ray images are registered with the CT-like images.
Use of interventional instruments can preferably be controlled in real time using the X-ray images. The instruments can thereby advantageously be guided in a targeted manner such that injury to functional centers in the brain can be avoided.
In addition the instruments can be equipped with a position sensor (medical GPS) which determines their position in the three-dimensional space. After appropriate calibration, position control of the instruments in the three-dimensional space of the anatomical and functional data can be carried out.
The apparatus 14 in this exemplary embodiment is an X-ray unit 14 with a connected device with which the fluoroscopic X-ray images are created. The X-ray device 14 is a C-arm device with a C-arm 18, on the arms of which an X-ray tube 16 and an X-ray detector 20 are provided. The device may for example be the Axiom Artis dFC belonging to Siemens AG, Medical Solutions, Erlangen, Germany. The patient 24 is located on a bed in the field of vision of the X-ray unit. Reference numeral 22 designates an organ inside the patient 24 which is the intended target of the intervention, such as the brain for example. A computer 25, which in the illustrated example controls the X-ray unit 14 and takes on the steps of registering the X-ray images with the anatomical magnetic resonance tomography image record and of depicting the images in a superimposed manner, is connected to the X-ray unit 14. These two functions can however also be implemented separately. In the illustrated example the C-arm movement and taking of intra-operative X-ray images is controlled by a control module 26.
The pre-operatively taken functional and anatomical magnetic resonance tomography image records can be stored in a memory 28.
The X-ray images can be registered with the anatomical magnetic resonance tomography image record in a computing module 30 using landmarks 3. The X-ray images and the images of the functional magnetic resonance tomography image record can be displayed on a monitor 32 in a superimposed manner.
The computing module 30 is also capable of creating 3D reconstructions by means of DynaCT.
The present invention is not restricted to the illustrated embodiments; instead modifications are also incorporated by the scope of the invention which is defined by the accompanying claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2006 026 752.4 | Jun 2006 | DE | national |
