The subject matter disclosed herein relates to digital tomosynthesis (DT) imaging using a stationary x-ray source array.
Patient motion during a digital tomosynthesis scan introduces blur artifacts into the captured images. In addition, the reconstructed DT volume is static, which does not reflect the dynamic nature of the patient anatomy in motion, such as lung breathing or cardiac motion.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
The invention solves the above problems by timing the projection image acquisition at different phases of periodic anatomy motion, wherein the acquisition occurs through multiple cycles of the periodic motion. The projections captured at the same phase of motion are used for reconstruction, and a different reconstruction is generated for each captured phase of the periodic motion. A plurality of radiographic images of a patient may be captured, grouped and reconstructed according to a common periodic phase depicted in each of the captured image groups. The 3D reconstruction is performed for each phase group. A 4D (3D+time) motion volume may be generated and displayed using the plurality of 3D reconstructions for anatomical motion assessment.
A plurality of radiographic images are captured of a portion of a patient in periodic motion, such as cardiac images (heartbeat motion) or lungs (breathing motion). A first subset of the captured radiographic images are identified as having a common first capture time relative to a phase of the periodic motion. A first 3D image is reconstructed using the first subset of captured radiographic images. Additional subsets of the radiographic images are processed similarly based on their common capture time relative to the phase of the periodic motion. An advantage that may be realized in the practice of some disclosed embodiments of the present invention is a sharper 3D reconstruction and the ability to display the sharper 3D reconstructions in motion (4D).
In one embodiment, a plurality of radiographic images of a portion of a patient are captured, wherein the portion of the patient is in periodic motion. A first subset of the captured radiographic images are identified and are used for reconstructing a 3D (volume) image. The first subset is identified based on each image being captured at a same instant relative to a phase of the periodic motion of the portion of the patient.
In another embodiment, a plurality of radiographic heart or lung images of a patient are captured, wherein the heart or lungs of the patient are in periodic motion. A first subset of the captured radiographic heart or lung images are selected according to their common capture time relative to a phase of the periodic motion. A 3D (volume) image is reconstructed using the first subset of the captured radiographic heart or lung images.
The summary descriptions above are not meant to describe individual separate embodiments whose elements are not interchangeable. In fact, many of the elements described as related to a particular embodiment can be used together with, and possibly interchanged with, elements of other described embodiments. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the present invention without departing from the spirit thereof, and the invention includes all such modifications.
This brief description of the invention is intended only to provide a brief overview of subject matter disclosed herein according to one or more illustrative embodiments, and does not serve as a guide to interpreting the claims or to define or limit the scope of the invention, which is defined only by the appended claims. This brief description is provided to introduce an illustrative selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This brief description is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. The claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in the background.
So that the manner in which the features of the invention can be understood, a detailed description of the invention may be had by reference to certain embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the drawings illustrate only certain embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the scope of the invention encompasses other equally effective embodiments. The drawings below are intended to be drawn neither to any precise scale with respect to relative size, angular relationship, relative position, or timing relationship, nor to any combinational relationship with respect to interchangeability, substitution, or representation of a required implementation, emphasis generally being placed upon illustrating the features of certain embodiments of the invention. In the drawings, like numerals are used to indicate like parts throughout the various views. Thus, for further understanding of the invention, reference can be made to the following detailed description, read in connection with the drawings in which:
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In one embodiment, the sixteen x-ray sources 203 may be controllably activated one at a time in a timed sequence starting at S with the x-ray source numbered 1 and continuing with each of x-ray sources 203 numbered 2-16, to acquire a series of sixteen radiographic images of patient P during one cardiac or respiratory cycle, shown in
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method, or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.), or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “service,” “circuit,” “circuitry,” “module,” and/or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.
Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
Program code and/or executable instructions embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer (device), partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal language of the claims.
This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 63/213,784, filed Jun. 23, 2021, in the name of Wang et al., and entitled STATIONARY X-RAY SOURCE ARRAY FOR DIGITAL TOMOSYNTHESSIS, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. This application is related in certain respects to International Application No. PCT/US2022/030804, filed May 25, 2022, in the name of Foos et al., and entitled CARDIAC GATED DIGITAL TOMOSYNTHESIS which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63213784 | Jun 2021 | US |