Patent Application
20230293132
The present disclosure generally relates to image acquisition, and more specifically relates to methods and systems for reducing radiation dose in image acquisition.
An anatomical image, such as a computed tomography (CT) image is commonly used in clinical diagnosis and medical research. An anatomical image of a subject can provide anatomical data of the subject, and be applied in attenuation correction of a functional image of the subject (e.g., a positron emission tomography (PET) image). However, in a CT scan, high dose radiations may be delivered to the subject (e.g., a patient or a portion thereof), which may be harmful for the subject to some extent. Thus, it is desirable to provide systems and methods for reducing radiation dose in CT image acquisition.
In an aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided. The method may include obtaining first image data of a subject related to a first scan of the subject. The first scan may be of a first type of scan. The method may also include reconstructing a first image of the subject based on the first image data and generating a dose plan of a second scan based on the first image. The second scan may be of a second type of scan. The method may further include obtaining second image data of the subject related to the second scan of the subject. The second scan may be performed according to the dose plan.
In some embodiments, the first type of scan may be at least one of a positron emission tomography (PET) scan, a single photon emission computed tomography scan (SPETC), or a magnetic resonance (MR) scan.
In some embodiments, the second type of scan may be a computed tomography (CT) scan.
In some embodiments, the determining the dose plan of the second scan based on the first image may include determining at least one lesion in the first image. The determining the dose plan of the second scan may also include determining at least one region of interest (ROI) in the first image based on the at least one lesion. The at least one ROI may enclose the at least one lesion. The determining the dose plan of the second scan may further include determining the dose plan of the second scan based on the at least one ROI. The dose plan may include a first dose corresponding to the ROI and a second dose corresponding to a region outside the ROI, and the first dose may be higher than the second dose.
In some embodiments, the determining the at least one ROI in the first image may include determining at least one candidate ROI in the first image based on the at least one lesion. The at least one candidate ROI may enclose the at least one lesion. The determining the at least one ROI in the first image may also include determine a coordinate range of the at least one candidate ROI along an axial direction, and determining the at least one ROI in the first image based on the coordinate range of the at least one candidate ROI along the axial direction.
In some embodiments, the method may further include reconstructing a second image of the subject based on the second image data, and correcting the first image based on the second image to generate a corrected first image.
In some embodiments, the correcting the first image based on the second image may include performing an attenuation correction on the first image based on the second image.
In some embodiments, the method may further include reconstructing a second image of the subject based on the second image data, correcting the first image based on the second image, and generating a fourth image based on the corrected first image and the second image by fusing the corrected first image and the second image.
In some embodiments, the first scan may have a first scan duration. The method may further include obtaining third image data of the subject related to a third scan of the subject. The third scan may be of the first type of scan and have a second scan duration. The second scan duration may be longer than the first scan duration. The method may further include reconstructing a third image based on the third image data and generating a fourth image based on the third image and the second image data.
In another aspect of the present disclosure, a system is provided. The system may include at least one storage device storing a set of instructions and at least one processor in communication with the at least one storage device. When the at least one processor executes the set of instructions, the at least one processor may be configured to cause the system to obtain first image data of a subject related to a first scan of the subject. The first scan may be of a first type of scan. The at least one processor may be also configured to cause the system to reconstruct a first image of the subject based on the first image data, and generate a dose plan of a second scan based on the first image. The second scan may be of a second type of scan. The at least one processor may be further configured to cause the system to obtain second image data of the subject related to the second scan of the subject. The second scan may be performed according to the dose plan.
In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer readable medium including executable instructions is provided. When the executable instructions are executed by at least one processor, the non-transitory computer readable medium may cause the at least one processor to effectuate a method. The method may include obtaining first image data of a subject related to a first scan of the subject. The first scan may be of a first type of scan. The method may also include reconstructing a first image of the subject based on the first image data and generating a dose plan of a second scan based on the first image. The second scan may be of a second type of scan. The method may further include obtaining second image data of the subject related to the second scan of the subject. The second scan may be performed according to the dose plan.
Additional features will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following and the accompanying drawings or may be learned by production or operation of the examples. The features of the present disclosure may be realized and attained by practice or use of various aspects of the methodologies, instrumentalities and combinations set forth in the detailed examples discussed below.
The present disclosure is further described in terms of exemplary embodiments. These exemplary embodiments are described in detail with reference to the drawings. These embodiments are non-limiting exemplary embodiments, in which like reference numerals represent similar structures throughout the several views of the drawings, and wherein:
In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth by way of examples in order to provide a thorough understanding of the relevant disclosure. However, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure may be practiced without such details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, systems, components, and/or circuitry have been described at a relatively high-level, without detail, in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the present disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments shown, but to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the claims.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprise,” “comprises,” and/or “comprising,” “include,” “includes,” and/or “including,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
It will be understood that the term “system,” “engine,” “unit,” “module,” and/or “block” used herein are one method to distinguish different components, elements, parts, section or assembly of different level in ascending order. However, the terms may be displaced by other expression if they achieve the same purpose.
Generally, the word “module,” “unit,” or “block,” as used herein, refers to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions. A module, a unit, or a block described herein may be implemented as software and/or hardware and may be stored in any type of non-transitory computer-readable medium or other storage device. In some embodiments, a software module/unit/block may be compiled and linked into an executable program. It will be appreciated that software modules can be callable from other modules/units/blocks or from themselves, and/or may be invoked in response to detected events or interrupts. Software modules/units/blocks configured for execution on computing devices (e.g., processor 210 as illustrated in
It will be understood that when a unit, engine, module or block is referred to as being “on,” “connected to,” or “coupled to,” another unit, engine, module, or block, it may be directly on, connected or coupled to, or communicate with the other unit, engine, module, or block, or an intervening unit, engine, module, or block may be present, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
These and other features, and characteristics of the present disclosure, as well as the methods of operation and functions of the related elements of structure and the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, may become more apparent upon consideration of the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this disclosure. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. It is understood that the drawings are not to scale.
Provided herein are systems and components for non-invasive imaging, such as for disease diagnosis or research purposes. In some embodiments, the imaging system may be a computed tomography (CT) system, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, a positron emission tomography (PET) system, a Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT), or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the imaging system may be a multi-modality imaging system such as PET/CT system, a SPECT/CT system, a PET/MRI system, a SPECT/MRI system, etc.
The term “image” used in this disclosure may refer to a 2D image, a 3D image, a 4D image, and/or any related image data (e.g., image data, projection data corresponding to the image data). The term “region of interest (ROI)” used in this disclosure may refer to a region in an image of a subject or a physical portion (e.g., a tissue, an organ) of the subject corresponding to the region in the image. This is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. For persons having ordinary skills in the art, a certain amount of variations, changes, and/or modifications may be deducted under the guidance of the present disclosure. Those variations, changes, and/or modifications do not depart from the scope of the present disclosure.
The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for reducing radiation dose in image acquisition. The system may acquire first image data of a subject and reconstruct a first image based on the first image data. The first image data and the first image may include functional data of the subject. For example, the first image data may include PET data and the first image may be a PET image of the subject. The system may generate a dose plan of a second scan (e.g., a CT scan) based on the first image. The first image may indicate conditions of different portions of the subject and the dose plan may include various doses corresponding to different portions of the subject. For example, the dose may include a low dose corresponding to normal portions of the subject and a high dose corresponding to abnormal portions (e.g., portions that include lesions or potentially lesions). As such, the normal portions of the subject may be prevented from receiving unnecessary radiations. The system may further acquire second image data (e.g., CT image data) based on the second scan performed according to the dose plan, and reconstruct a second image (e.g., CT image) based on the second image data. The second image may include anatomical data of the subject and may be applied in attenuation correction of the first image.
The scanning device 110 may be configured to scan a subject to acquire data related to the subject. In some embodiments, the scanning device 110 may be configured to acquire functional data of the subject. For example, the scanning device 110 may be a PET device, a SPETCT, or an MRI device. In some embodiments, the scanning device 110 may be configured to acquire anatomical data of the subject. For example, the scanning device 110 may be a CT device. In some embodiments, the scanning device 110 may be configured to acquire functional data and anatomical data of the subject. For example, the scanning device 110 may be a combined scanning device, such as a PET/CT device, an MRI/CT device, or a SPECT/CT device.
Merely by way of example, the scanning device 110 may be a PET/CT device. The scanning device 110 may include a gantry 111, a detector 112, a detecting region 113, a table 114, and a radioactive scanning source 115. The gantry 111 may support the detector 112 and the radioactive scanning source 115. A subject may be placed on the table 114 for scanning. The table 114 may be moved into the detection tunnel of the scanning device 110 along the Z-axis (also referred to as the axial direction) as illustrated in
The network 120 may include any suitable network that can facilitate exchange of information and/or data for the imaging system 100. In some embodiments, one or more components of the imaging system 100 (e.g., the scanning device 110, the terminal 130, the processing engine 140, the storage device 150, etc.) may communicate information and/or data with one or more other components of the imaging system 100 via the network 120. For example, the processing engine 140 may obtain image data from the scanning device 110 via the network 120. As another example, the processing engine 140 may obtain user instructions from the terminal 130 via the network 120. The network 120 may be and/or include a public network (e.g., the Internet), a private network (e.g., a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN)), etc.), a wired network (e.g., an Ethernet network), a wireless network (e.g., an 802.11 network, a Wi-Fi network, etc.), a cellular network (e.g., a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network), a frame relay network, a virtual private network (“VPN”), a satellite network, a telephone network, routers, hubs, witches, server computers, and/or any combination thereof. Merely by way of example, the network 120 may include a cable network, a wireline network, a fiber-optic network, a telecommunications network, an intranet, a wireless local area network (WLAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a public telephone switched network (PSTN), a Bluetooth™ network, a ZigBee™ network, a near field communication (NFC) network, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the network 120 may include one or more network access points. For example, the network 120 may include wired and/or wireless network access points such as base stations and/or internet exchange points through which one or more components of the imaging system 100 may be connected to the network 120 to exchange data and/or information.
The terminal(s) 130 may include a mobile device 130-1, a tablet computer 130-2, a laptop computer 130-3, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the mobile device 130-1 may include a smart home device, a wearable device, a mobile device, a virtual reality device, an augmented reality device, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the smart home device may include a smart lighting device, a control device of an intelligent electrical apparatus, a smart monitoring device, a smart television, a smart video camera, an interphone, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the wearable device may include a bracelet, a footgear, eyeglasses, a helmet, a watch, clothing, a backpack, a smart accessory, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the mobile device may include a mobile phone, a personal digital assistance (PDA), a gaming device, a navigation device, a point of sale (POS) device, a laptop, a tablet computer, a desktop, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the virtual reality device and/or the augmented reality device may include a virtual reality helmet, virtual reality glasses, a virtual reality patch, an augmented reality helmet, augmented reality glasses, an augmented reality patch, or the like, or any combination thereof. For example, the virtual reality device and/or the augmented reality device may include a Google Glass™, an Oculus Rift™, a Hololens™, a Gear VR™, etc. In some embodiments, the terminal(s) 130 may be part of the processing engine 140.
The processing engine 140 may process data and/or information obtained from the scanning device 110, the terminal 130, and/or the storage device 150. For example, the processing engine 140 may generate a dose plan for a CT scan based on a PET image. In some embodiments, the processing engine 140 may be a single server or a server group. The server group may be centralized or distributed. In some embodiments, the processing engine 140 may be local or remote. For example, the processing engine 140 may access information and/or data stored in the scanning device 110, the terminal 130, and/or the storage device 150 via the network 120. As another example, the processing engine 140 may be directly connected to the scanning device 110, the terminal 130 and/or the storage device 150 to access stored information and/or data. In some embodiments, the processing engine 140 may be implemented on a cloud platform. Merely by way of example, the cloud platform may include a private cloud, a public cloud, a hybrid cloud, a community cloud, a distributed cloud, an inter-cloud, a multi-cloud, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the processing engine 140 may be implemented by a computing device 200 having one or more components as illustrated in
The storage device 150 may store data, instructions, and/or any other information. In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may store data obtained from the terminal 130 and/or the processing engine 140. In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may store data and/or instructions that the processing engine 140 may execute or use to perform exemplary methods described in the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may include a mass storage, a removable storage, a volatile read-and-write memory, a read-only memory (ROM), or the like, or any combination thereof. Exemplary mass storage may include a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a solid-state drive, etc. Exemplary removable storage may include a flash drive, a floppy disk, an optical disk, a memory card, a zip disk, a magnetic tape, etc. Exemplary volatile read-and-write memory may include a random access memory (RAM). Exemplary RAM may include a dynamic RAM (DRAM), a double date rate synchronous dynamic RAM (DDR SDRAM), a static RAM (SRAM), a thyristor RAM (T-RAM), and a zero-capacitor RAM (Z-RAM), etc. Exemplary ROM may include a mask ROM (MROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a compact disk ROM (CD-ROM), and a digital versatile disk ROM, etc. In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may be implemented on a cloud platform. Merely by way of example, the cloud platform may include a private cloud, a public cloud, a hybrid cloud, a community cloud, a distributed cloud, an inter-cloud, a multi-cloud, or the like, or any combination thereof.
In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may be connected to the network 120 to communicate with one or more other components in the imaging system 100 (e.g., the processing engine 140, the terminal 130, etc.). One or more components in the imaging system 100 may access the data or instructions stored in the storage device 150 via the network 120. In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may be directly connected to or communicate with one or more other components in the imaging system 100 (e.g., the processing engine 140, the terminal 130, etc.). In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may be part of the processing engine 140.
The processor 210 may execute computer instructions (e.g., program code) and perform functions of the processing engine 140 in accordance with techniques described herein. The computer instructions may include, for example, routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, procedures, modules, and functions, which perform particular functions described herein. For example, the processor 210 may process image data obtained from the scanning device 110, the terminal 130, the storage device 150, and/or any other component of the imaging system 100. In some embodiments, the processor 210 may include one or more hardware processors, such as a microcontroller, a microprocessor, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC), an application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), an application-specific instruction-set processor (ASIP), a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a physics processing unit (PPU), a microcontroller unit, a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an advanced RISC machine (ARM), a programmable logic device (PLD), any circuit or processor capable of executing one or more functions, or the like, or any combinations thereof.
Merely for illustration, only one processor is described in the computing device 200. However, it should be noted that the computing device 200 in the present disclosure may also include multiple processors, thus operations and/or method steps that are performed by one processor as described in the present disclosure may also be jointly or separately performed by the multiple processors. For example, if in the present disclosure the processor of the computing device 200 executes both step A and step B, it should be understood that step A and step B may also be performed by two or more different processors jointly or separately in the computing device 200 (e.g., a first processor executes step A and a second processor executes step B, or the first and second processors jointly execute steps A and B).
The storage 220 may store data/information obtained from the scanning device 110, the terminal 130, the storage device 150, and/or any other component of the imaging system 100. In some embodiments, the storage 220 may include a mass storage, a removable storage, a volatile read-and-write memory, a read-only memory (ROM), or the like, or any combination thereof. For example, the mass storage may include a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a solid-state drives, etc. The removable storage may include a flash drive, a floppy disk, an optical disk, a memory card, a zip disk, a magnetic tape, etc. The volatile read-and-write memory may include a random access memory (RAM). The RAM may include a dynamic RAM (DRAM), a double date rate synchronous dynamic RAM (DDR SDRAM), a static RAM (SRAM), a thyristor RAM (T-RAM), and a zero-capacitor RAM (Z-RAM), etc. The ROM may include a mask ROM (MROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a compact disk ROM (CD-ROM), and a digital versatile disk ROM, etc. In some embodiments, the storage 220 may store one or more programs and/or instructions to perform exemplary methods described in the present disclosure. For example, the storage 220 may store a program for the processing engine 140 for determining a regularization item.
The I/O 230 may input and/or output signals, data, information, etc. In some embodiments, the I/O 230 may enable a user interaction with the processing engine 140. In some embodiments, the I/O 230 may include an input device and an output device. Examples of the input device may include a keyboard, a mouse, a touch screen, a microphone, or the like, or a combination thereof. Examples of the output device may include a display device, a loudspeaker, a printer, a projector, or the like, or a combination thereof. Examples of the display device may include a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light-emitting diode (LED)-based display, a flat panel display, a curved screen, a television device, a cathode ray tube (CRT), a touch screen, or the like, or a combination thereof.
The communication port 240 may be connected to a network (e.g., the network 120) to facilitate data communications. The communication port 240 may establish connections between the processing engine 140 and the scanning device 110, the terminal 130, and/or the storage device 150. The connection may be a wired connection, a wireless connection, any other communication connection that can enable data transmission and/or reception, and/or any combination of these connections. The wired connection may include, for example, an electrical cable, an optical cable, a telephone wire, or the like, or any combination thereof. The wireless connection may include, for example, a Bluetooth™ link, a Wi-Fi™ link, a WiMax™ link, a WLAN link, a ZigBee link, a mobile network link (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G, etc.), or the like, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the communication port 240 may be and/or include a standardized communication port, such as RS232, RS485, etc. In some embodiments, the communication port 240 may be a specially designed communication port. For example, the communication port 240 may be designed in accordance with the digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) protocol.
To implement various modules, units, and their functionalities described in the present disclosure, computer hardware platforms may be used as the hardware platform(s) for one or more of the elements described herein. A computer with user interface elements may be used to implement a personal computer (PC) or any other type of work station or terminal device. A computer may also act as a server if appropriately programmed.
The acquisition module 410 may be configured to acquire image data. The image data may include PET data, CT data, MRI data, SPECT data, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the acquisition module 410 may acquire the image data from an external source and/or one or more components of the imaging system 100 (e.g., the storage device 150, the detector 112).
The reconstruction module 420 may be configured to reconstruct an image, such as a PET image, a CT image, an MRI image, or the like, or any combination thereof. The reconstruction module 420 may reconstruct an image according to a reconstruction algorithm. Exemplary reconstruction algorithm may include an analytic reconstruction algorithm, an iterative reconstruction algorithm, or a Fourier-based reconstruction algorithm. Exemplary analytic reconstruction algorithms may include a filter back projection (FBP) algorithm, a back-projection filter (BFP) algorithm, a ρ-filtered layer gram, or the like, or a combination thereof. Exemplary iterative reconstruction algorithms may include a maximum likelihood expectation maximization (ML-EM), an ordered subset expectation maximization (OSEM), a row-action maximum likelihood algorithm (RAMLA), a dynamic row-action maximum likelihood algorithm (DRAMA), or the like, or a combination thereof. Exemplary Fourier-based reconstruction algorithm may include a classical direct Fourier algorithm, a non-uniform fast Fourier transform (NUFFT) algorithm, or the like, or a combination thereof.
In some embodiments, the reconstruction module 420 may correct an image or image data. For example, the reconstruction module 420 may perform an attenuation correction and/or a scatter correction on PET image data based on a maximum likelihood reconstruction of attenuation and activity (MLAA) algorithm. As another example, the reconstruction module 420 may perform an attenuation correction of a PET image based on a CT image.
The dose planning module 430 may be configured to generate a dose plan of a scan (e.g., a CT scan). The dose plan may include information as to how the radiation is delivered to the subject during the scan. For example, the dose plan may include one or more parameters, such as a radiation dose distribution, a radiation duration, a position of a target portion to be radiated, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the dose module 430 may generate a dose plan of a CT scan of a subject based on functional data of the subject. For example, the dose planning module 430 may generate the dose plan based on a PET image, a SPET image, or an MRI image of the subject.
The image fusion module 440 may be configured to fuse a plurality of images. For example, the image fusion module 440 may fuse a functional image (e.g., a PET image, a SPET image, an MRI image) and an anatomical image (e.g., a CT image). The fused image may include both anatomical data and functional data of a subject, may provide more detailed information for diseases diagnose.
In some embodiments, one or more modules illustrated in
It should be noted that the above description is merely provided for the purposes of illustration, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. For persons having ordinary skills in the art, multiple variations or modifications may be made under the teachings of the present disclosure. However, those variations and modifications do not depart from the scope of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the processing engine 140 may include one or more additional modules. For example, the processing engine 140 may further include a control module. The control module may control operations of the acquisition module 410, the reconstruction module 420, the dose planning module 430, and/or the image fusion module 440 (e.g., by generating one or more control parameters). In some embodiments, one or more modules of the processing engine 140 described above may be omitted. For example, the image fusion module 440 may be omitted.
In 510, the acquisition module 410 may obtain first image data of a subject related to a first scan of the subject. The first scan may be of a first type of scan. The subject may be a phantom, a patient, an organ, tissue, or any body part (e.g., a head, a neck, a breast, or an abdomen) of a patient to be scanned. In some embodiments, the first image data may include functional data (e.g., metabolic data) of the subject. The first type of scan may be any type of scan that can be used to collect functional data of the subject. For example, the first image data may include but is not limited to PET data, SPECT data, MRI data, etc. The first type of scan may include but is not limited to a PET scan, a SPECT scan, an MRI scan, etc. In some embodiments, the acquisition module 410 may acquire the first image data from an external source and/or one or more components in the imaging system 100 (e.g., the storage device 150, the detector 112).
In 520, the reconstruction module 420 may reconstruct a first image of the subject based on the first image data. The first image may be a PET image, an SPECT image, an MRI image, or any image including functional data of the subject. The reconstruction module 420 may reconstruct the first image according to a reconstruction algorithm. Exemplary reconstruction algorithm may include an analytic reconstruction algorithm, an iterative reconstruction algorithm, or a Fourier-based reconstruction algorithm. Exemplary analytic reconstruction algorithms may include a filter back projection (FBP) algorithm, a back-projection filter (BFP) algorithm, a p-filtered layer gram, or the like, or a combination thereof. Exemplary iterative reconstruction algorithms may include a maximum likelihood expectation maximization (ML-EM), an ordered subset expectation maximization (OSEM), a row-action maximum likelihood algorithm (RAMLA), a dynamic row-action maximum likelihood algorithm (DRAMA), or the like, or a combination thereof. Exemplary Fourier-based reconstruction algorithm may include a classical direct Fourier algorithm, a non-uniform fast Fourier transform (NUFFT) algorithm, or the like, or a combination thereof.
In some embodiments, the reconstruction module 420 may correct the first image data before reconstructing the first image. The correction of the first image data may include an attenuation correction, a scatter correction, a normalization correction, or the like, or any combination thereof. For example, the reconstruction module 420 may perform an attenuation correction and a scatter correction on the first image data based on a maximum likelihood reconstruction of attenuation and activity (MLAA) algorithm.
In 530, the dose planning module 430 may generate a dose plan of a second scan based on the first image. The second scan may be of a second type of scan. The second type of scan may be any type of scan that can be used to collect anatomical data. For example, the second type of scan may be a CT scan. In some embodiments, the anatomical data collected by the second scan may be applied in an attenuation correction of the first image (or the first image data).
The dose plan may include information as to how the radiation is delivered to the subject during the second scan. For example, the dose plan may include one or more parameters, such as a radiation dose distribution, a radiation duration, a position of a target portion to be radiated, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the dose planning module 430 may analyze the first image to determine radiation doses to be delivered to different portions of the subject during the second scan. For example, the dose planning module 430 may determine at least one region of interest (ROI) enclosing one or more lesions (or potential lesions) in the first image. The dose planning module 430 may also determine the dose plan based on the at least one ROI. The dose plan may include various doses corresponding to the at least one ROI and the region outside the at least one ROI. A dose corresponding to a region (e.g., an ROI) in an image may refer to a dose of the radiation that is planned to be delivered to the portion of the subject corresponding (or substantially corresponding) to the region in the image.
For example, the dose plan may include a low dose corresponding to the region outside the at least one ROI and a high dose corresponding to the at least one ROI. The portion of the subject corresponding to at least one ROI may need a higher dose than the region outside the at least one ROI during the second scan, so that the at least one ROI may have a higher resolution in an image reconstructed based on the second scan to provide more detailed anatomical data related to the lesions. Compared to the at least one ROI, the portion of the subject corresponding to the region outside the at least one ROI may need a relatively lower dose. As such, the portion of the subject corresponding to the region outside the at least one ROI may be prevented from receiving unnecessary radiations. More descriptions regarding the generation of the dose plan may be found elsewhere in the present disclosure (e.g., see
In 540, the acquisition module 410 may obtain second image data of the subject related to the second scan of the subject. The second image data may include anatomical data of the subject. The second scan (e.g., a CT scan) may be performed according to the dose plan. For example, as described in connection with 530, the dose plan may include one or more parameters, such as a radiation dose distribution, a radiation duration, a position of a target region to be radiated, etc. The scanning device 110 may perform the second scan according to the one or more parameters. In some embodiments, the dose plan may include a high dose corresponding to the at least one ROI and a low dose corresponding to the region outside the at least one ROI. The scanning device 110 may deliver a higher dose radiation to the portion of the subject corresponding to the at least one ROI than that the portion corresponding to the region outside the at least one ROI. In some embodiments, the high dose corresponding to at least one ROI may be a dose suitable for a diagnostic CT, and the low dose corresponding to the region outside the at least one ROI may be a dose suitable for obtaining anatomical data.
In some embodiments, the acquisition module 410 may acquire the second image data from an external source and/or one or more components in the imaging system 100 (e.g., the storage device 150, the detector 112).
In 550, a fourth image may be generated based on the first image and the second image data. In some embodiments, the fourth image may be a corrected first image generated based on the second image data. For example, the reconstruction module 420 may reconstruct a second image (e.g., a CT image) based on the second image data (e.g., CT data), and correct the first image (e.g., a PET image) based on the second image. Alternatively, the image fusion module 440 may further generate a fused image based on the corrected first image and the second image. The fused image may be designated as the fourth image by the reconstruction module 420 or the image fusion module 440. More descriptions regarding the generation of the corrected first image and/or the fused image may be found elsewhere in the present disclosure (e.g., see
It should be noted that the above description of the process 500 is merely provided for the purposes of illustration, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. For persons having ordinary skills in the art, multiple variations or modifications may be made under the teachings of the present disclosure. However, those variations and modifications do not depart from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, operation 550 may be omitted.
In 610, the dose planning module 430 may determine one or more lesions in the first image. A lesion may refer to an abnormal damage (or potential abnormal damage) or a change (or potential change) in the tissue of a subject. The dose planning module 430 may determine the one or more lesions based on the first image or a Maximum Intensity Projection (MIP) of the first image. For example, the dose planning module 430 may automatically identify and/or mark one or more lesions in the first image (or the MIP of the first image) based on a lesion identification technique. Exemplary lesion identification technique may include a lesion identification technique based on image segmentation, a lesion identification technique based on data clustering, a lesion identification technique based on neighborhood data analysis, or the like, or any combination thereof. Additionally or alternatively, the one or more lesions may be identified and/or marked by a user (e.g., a nurse, a radiologist, a doctor) via a user interface implemented on, e.g., a terminal 130 or a mobile device 300 as illustrated in
In 620, the dose planning module 430 may determine at least one ROI in the first image based on the identified one or more lesions. An ROI may be a region enclosing at least one lesion. Different ROIs may include the same or different numbers of lesions. An ROI may have any regular shape (e.g., a rectangle, an ellipse, or a circle) or an irregular shape. An ROI may have any size.
In some embodiments, the dose planning module 430 may determine one or more candidate ROIs in the first image based on the identified one or more lesions. A candidate ROI may be a region enclosing at least one lesion. The dose planning module 430 may determine one or more ROIs based on the candidate ROIs. For example, the dose planning module 430 may determine a region enclosing a plurality of candidate ROIs, and the region may further be designated as an ROI. As another example, the dose planning module 430 may determine a coordinate range of voxels (or pixels) in a candidate ROI along a certain direction (e.g., the X-axis, the Y-axis, or the Z-axis as illustrated in
In 630, the dose planning module 430 may determine the dose plan of the second scan based on the at least one ROI in the first image. The dose plan may include information as to how radiation is delivered to the subject during the second scan. For example, the dose plan may include one or more radiation dose corresponding to the at least one ROI. For example, the dose plan may include a first dose corresponding to the at least one ROI and a second dose corresponding to the region outside the ROI. The first dose may be higher than the second dose. In some embodiments, the second scan may be a CT scan, a first dose may be a dose suitable for a diagnostic CT, and a second dose corresponding to the region outside the at least one ROI may be a dose suitable for obtaining anatomical data.
In some embodiments, the dose planning module 430 may determine a plurality of ROIs in 620. The dose planning module 430 may determine a plurality of first doses corresponding to the ROIs and a second dose corresponding to the region outside the ROIs. The second dose may be lower than the any of the plurality of first doses. The first doses corresponding to different ROIs may be the same or different. Additionally or alternatively, the dose planning module 430 may determine a plurality of second doses corresponding to different sub-regions in the region outside the ROIs.
In some embodiments, the dose planning module 430 may determine the dose plan (e.g., the first dose and the second dose) based on default settings stored in a storage device (e.g., the storage device 150), or parameters inputted by a user via a terminal 130. Additionally or alternatively, the dose planning module 430 may determine the dose plan based on data analysis. For example, the dose planning module 430 may determine a first dose corresponding to an ROI based on, such as the position of the ROI in the subject, the size of the ROI, the condition of lesions in the ROI, or the like, or any combination thereof.
It should be noted that the above description of the process 600 is merely provided for the purposes of illustration, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. For persons having ordinary skills in the art, multiple variations or modifications may be made under the teachings of the present disclosure. However, those variations and modifications do not depart from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, 610 and 620 may be combined into one operation.
In 710, the reconstruction module 420 may reconstruct a second image of the subject based on the second image data. The second image data may include anatomical data of the subject as described in connection with operation 540. In some embodiments, the second image data may be CT data and the second image may be a CT image.
In some embodiments, the reconstruction module 420 may reconstruct the second image based on a reconstruction algorithm. Exemplary reconstruction algorithms may include an iterative reconstruction algorithm (e.g., a statistical reconstruction algorithm), a Fourier slice theorem algorithm, a filtered back projection (FBP) algorithm, a fan-beam reconstruction algorithm, an analytic reconstruction algorithm, or the like, or any combination thereof.
In 720, the reconstruction module 420 may correct the first image based on the second image. The first image may be a PET image, a SPECT image, an MRI image, or any image including functional data of the subject as described in connection with
In 730, the image fusion module 440 may generate a fused image based on the corrected first image and the second image by fusing the corrected first image with the second image. For example, the first image may be a PET image and the second image may be a CT image. The fused image may be generated by fusing the corrected PET image and the CT image. The fused image may include both anatomical data and attenuation corrected functional data of the subject, and thereby can provide more detailed information for diseases diagnose.
In some embodiments, the first image and the second image may be acquired by two single scanning device respectively (e.g., a PET device and a CT device). The image fusion module 440 may preprocess the corrected first image and the second image (e.g., registering the two images) before fusing the two images. Alternatively, the first image and the second image may be acquired by a combined scanning device (e.g., a PET/CT device). The image fusion module 440 may generate the fused image without preprocessing the two images. In some embodiments, the fused image may be designated as the fourth image as described in connection with operation 550.
It should be noted that the above description of the process 700 is merely provided for the purposes of illustration, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. For persons having ordinary skills in the art, multiple variations or modifications may be made under the teachings of the present disclosure. However, those variations and modifications do not depart from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, operation 730 may be omitted and the process 700 may be performed to generate the corrected first image (e.g., a corrected PET image).
In 810, the acquisition module 410 may obtain first image data of a subject related to a first scan of the subject. The first scan may be of a first type of scan and have a first scan duration. The first image data may include functional data and the first scan may be any type of scan that can be used to collect functional data of the subject.
In some embodiments, a first image may be reconstructed based on the first image data. The first image may be used to generate a dose plan for a second scan as described in connection with
In 820, the reconstruction module 420 may reconstruct the first image of the subject based on the first image data. In 830, the dose planning module 430 may generate a dose plan of a second scan based on the first image. The second scan may be of a second type of scan configured to acquire anatomical data of the subject. In 840, the acquisition module 410 may obtain second image data of the subject related to the second scan of the subject. The second scan may be performed according to the dose plan. Operations 820 to 840 may be performed in a similar manner to operations 520 to 540 respectively, and the descriptions thereof are not repeated here.
In 850, the acquisition module 410 may obtain third image data of the subject related to a third scan of the subject. The third scan may be of the same type of scan as the first scan, that is, the first type of scan used to acquire functional data of the subject. The second scan duration of the third scan may be longer than the first scan duration, so that the third image data may be reconstructed to generate a higher quality image for diagnoses.
In 860, the reconstruction module 420 may reconstruct a third image based on the third image data. Operation 860 may be performed in a similar manner with operations 820, and the descriptions thereof are not repeated here.
In 870, a fourth image may be generated based on the third image and the second image data. In some embodiments, the fourth image may be a corrected third image or a fused image. The generation of the fourth image based on the third image and the second image data may be similar to that based on the first image and the second image data as described in connection with operation 550 and
It should be noted that the above description of the process 800 is merely provided for the purposes of illustration, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. For persons having ordinary skills in the art, multiple variations or modifications may be made under the teachings of the present disclosure. However, those variations and modifications do not depart from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, operation 870 may be omitted.
In 910, the scanning device 110 may perform a first type of scan on a subject to obtain first image data of the subject. In some embodiments, the first image data may be obtained by the acquisition module 410. The first image data may include functional data of the subject and the first type of scan may be any type of scan that can be used to collect functional data of the subject.
In 920, the reconstruction module 420 may reconstruct a first image based on the first data. The first image may be a PET image, an SPECT image, an MRI image, or any image including functional data of the subject. In 930, the dose planning module 430 may determine a dose plan of a second type of scan based on the first image. The second type of scan may be any type of scan that can be used to collect anatomical data of the subject. For example, the second type of scan may be a CT scan. In 940, the scanning device 110 may perform the second type of scan on the subject according to the dose plan to obtain second image data of the subject. In some embodiments, the second image data may be obtained by the acquisition module 410. The second image data may include anatomical data of the subject. For example, the second image data may be CT image data. Operations 920 to 940 may be performed in a similar manner with operations 520 to 540 respectively, and the descriptions thereof are not repeated here.
In 950, the reconstruction module 420 may correct the first image based on a second image. The reconstruction module 420 may reconstruct the second image based on the second image data, and correct the first image based on the second image. More descriptions regarding the reconstruction of the second image and the correction of the first image may be found elsewhere in the present disclosure. See, e.g.,
In 960, the image fusion module 440 may generate a fused image based on the corrected first image and the second image by fusing the corrected first image with the second image. The fused image may include both anatomical data and attenuation corrected functional data of the subject, and thereby can provide more detailed information for diseases diagnose.
It should be noted that the above description of the process 900 is merely provided for the purposes of illustration, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. For persons having ordinary skills in the art, multiple variations or modifications may be made under the teachings of the present disclosure. However, those variations and modifications do not depart from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, operation 960 may be omitted.
In 1010, the scanning device 110 may perform a first type of scan on a subject to obtain first image data of the subject. In some embodiments, the first image data may be obtained by the acquisition module 410. The first image data may include functional data of the subject and the first type of scan may be any type of scan that can be used to collect functional data of the subject. Operation 1010 may be performed in a similar manner with operation 810, and the scanning device 110 may perform the first type of scan on the subject with a shorter scan duration than a normal first scan for diagnoses.
In 1020, the reconstruction module 420 may reconstruct a first image based on the first data. In 1030, the dose planning module 430 may determine a dose plan of a second type of scan based on the first image. In 1040, the scanning device 110 may obtain second image data of the subject by performing the second type of scan on the subject according to the dose plan. Operations 1020 to 1040 may be performed in a similar manner with operations 920 to 940 respectively, and the descriptions thereof are not repeated here.
In 1050, the scanning device 110 may perform the first type of scan on the subject again to obtain third image data of the subject. Compared with operation 1010, the scanning device 110 may perform the first type of scan on the subject for a longer scan duration to acquire high quality image data suitable for diagnoses. Operation 1050 may be performed in a similar manner with operation 850, and the descriptions thereof are not repeated here.
In 1060, the reconstruction module 420 may correct a third image based on a second image. In 1070, the image fusion module 440 may generate a fused image based on the corrected third image and the second image by fusing the corrected third image and the second image. Operations 1060 and 1070 may be performed in a similar manner with operations 950 and 960, and the descriptions thereof are not repeated here.
It should be noted that the above description of the process 1000 is merely provided for the purposes of illustration, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. For persons having ordinary skills in the art, multiple variations or modifications may be made under the teachings of the present disclosure. However, those variations and modifications do not depart from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, operation 1070 may be omitted.
It should be noted that the examples illustrated in
As shown in
In some embodiments, the first data 1201 may include surface information of the subject acquired by one or more optical cameras 1202. The surface information of the subject may include any data that can indicate a position, shape, and/or other features of the body surface of the subject. For example, the surface information of the subject may include a three-dimension (3D) image or data set (e.g., 3D space information, point could data) of the body surface of the subject. In some embodiments, the optical camera(s) 1202 may include a 3D camera configured to obtain a 3D image of the body surface of the target object. Exemplary optical cameras 1202 may include a structured light camera, a depth camera, a laser camera, a laser radar, a point cloud camera, etc.
In some embodiments, the first data 1201 may include first image data (e.g., a medical image or raw data) acquired by a scan 1203. For example, the scan 1203 may be a functional scan (e.g., a PET scan, a SPECT scan, and an MRI scan), and the first data 1201 may include functional data of the subject. Merely by way of example, the scan 1203 may be a PET scan, and the first data 1201 may include PET data collected in the PET scan. The PET data may relate to PET events (e.g., a single event, a coincidence event, a random event, a scatter event) occur in the PET scan. More descriptions regarding the first image data may be found elsewhere in the present disclosure. See, e.g., operation 510 and relevant descriptions thereof. In some embodiments, the scan 1203 may have a first scan duration. More descriptions regarding the first scan duration may be found elsewhere in the present disclosure. See, e.g., operation 810 and relevant descriptions thereof.
The processing engine 140 (e.g., the dose planning module 430) may then generate a dose plan 1204 of a scan 1205 based on the first data 1201.
The dose plan 1204 may include information as to how the radiation is delivered to the subject during the scan 1205. The dose plan 1204 of the scan 1205 may be similar to the dose plan of the second scan as described in connection with operation 530. In some embodiments, the first data 1201 may include first image data of the subject, and the processing engine 140 may perform operations 520 and 530 to generate the dose plan 1204 based on the first image data.
In some embodiments, the first data 1201 may include PET data collected in a PET scan of the subject. The processing engine 140 may determine a count rate distribution in the subject based on the PET data, and generate the dose plan 1204 of the first scan based on the count rate distribution. The count rate distribution refers to the distribution of a count rate in different portions of the subject, and the count rate refers to the count of PET events (e.g., coincident events) occurred in the PET scan. The count rate distribution may be used to evaluate the functions of different portions of the subject.
For example, the processing engine 140 may identify at least one region of interest (ROI) of the subject based on the count rate distribution. Merely by way of example, at least one ROI of the subject that have a count rate higher than a reference value (e.g., an empirical threshold value, an average count rate of the subject) may be identified based on the count rate distribution, and these identified ROIs may have a high possibility of including lesions. The processing engine 140 may determine the dose plan 1204 of the scan 1205 based on the at least one ROI, the dose plan 1204 including a first dose corresponding to the ROI and a second dose corresponding to a region outside the ROI, and the first dose being higher than the second dose. In some embodiments, one or more lesions of the subject may be determined from a PET image based on the count rate distribution, the one or more ROIs may then be determined in the PET image based on the one or more lesions. The determination of the ROI(s) in the PET image may be performed in as similar manner as the determination of the ROI(s) in the first image as described in connection with operation 620.
In some embodiments, the first data 1201 may include the surface information acquired by the optical camera(s) 1202. The processing engine 140 may generate the dose plan based on the surface information. For example, different body parts of the subject may be identified from a 3D optical image of the subject, and the dose plan may include different doses corresponding to different body parts of the subject. Merely by way of example, the trunk and the legs of the subject may be identified, and the dose plan may include a dose corresponding to the trunk and a dose corresponding to the legs, wherein the dose corresponding to the trunk may be higher than the dose corresponding to the legs.
After the dose plan 1204 is generated, the scan 1205 may be performed according to the dose plan 1204 to acquire second data 1206 of the subject.
The scan 1205 and the scan 1203 may be of different types of scans. For example, the scan 1205 may be a CT scan, while the scan 1203 may be a PET scan or an MRI scan. The second data 1206 may include second image data collected in the scan 1205. For example, the second image data may include anatomical data of the subject collected in the CT scan. The scan 1205 may be performed according to the dose plan 1204 in a similar manner as how the second scan is performed according to a dose plan as described in connection with operation 540.
Further, the processing engine 140 (e.g., the acquisition module 410) may obtain third data 1208 collected in a scan 1207.
The third data 1208 may include third image data collected in the scan 1207. In some embodiments, the scan 1207 and the scan 1203 may be of the same type, and the type of the scan 1207 and the scan 1203 may be different from the type of the scan 1205. For example, the scan 1205 may be a CT scan, and both the scan 1203 and the scan 1207 may be PET scans, or MRI scans, or SPECT scans.
The processing engine 140 (e.g., the reconstruction module 420) may generate a target image 1209 based on the second data 1206 (e.g., the second image data) and the third data 1208 (e.g., the third image data).
In some embodiments, the scan 1207 may be a complementary scan of the scan 1203. The complementary scan may be performed to collect additional image data (i.e., the third image data) used together with the first data 1201 collected in the scan 1203 (i.e., the first image data) for generating the target image 1209 of the subject. For example, an image A of the subject may be generated based on a combination of the first data 1201 collected in the scan 1203 (i.e., the first image data) and the third data 1208 collected in the scan 1207 (i.e., the third image data). An image B may be generated based on the second data 1206 collected in the scan 1205 (i.e., the second image data). The processing engine 140 may generate the target image 1209 based on the image A and the image B. Merely by way of example, the image A may be corrected based on the image B to generate a corrected image A, and the corrected image A may be designated as the target image 1209. As another example, the corrected image A and the image B may be fused to generate a fusion image, and the fusion image may be designated as the target image 1209.
For illustration purposes, an exemplary process of generating a target image 1209 is provided. The first data may include first PET data collected in a PET scan, the second data may include CT data collected in a CT scan, and the third data may include second PET data collected in a complementary PET scan. The processing engine 140 may generate a PET image based on the first PET data and the second PET data. The processing engine 140 may also generate a CT image based on the CT data. Then, the processing engine 140 may generate a corrected PET image by performing attenuation correction on the PET image based on the CT image. Optionally, the processing engine 140 may generate a fusion image by fusing the corrected PET image and the CT image. The corrected PET image and/or the fusion image may be regarded as the target image.
In some embodiments, the scan 1207 may have a second scan duration longer than the first scan duration of the scan 1203, and only the third data 1208 may be used to generate the target image 1209. For example, the image A of the subject may be generated only based on the third data collected in the scan 1207 (i.e., the third image data), and the target image 1209 may be generated based on the image A and the image B as aforementioned.
In some embodiments, when the scan 1207 is a complementary scan of the scan 1203, the sum of the first scan duration of the scan 1203 and the second scan duration of the scan 1207 may be longer than a scan duration of the scan 1205.
Having thus described the basic concepts, it may be rather apparent to those skilled in the art after reading this detailed disclosure that the foregoing detailed disclosure is intended to be presented by way of example only and is not limiting. Various alterations, improvements, and modifications may occur and are intended to those skilled in the art, though not expressly stated herein. These alterations, improvements, and modifications are intended to be suggested by this disclosure, and are within the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure.
Moreover, certain terminology has been used to describe embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the terms “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” and/or “some embodiments” mean that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Therefore, it is emphasized and should be appreciated that two or more references to “an embodiment” or “one embodiment” or “an alternative embodiment” in various portions of this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined as suitable in one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.
Further, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present disclosure may be illustrated and described herein in any of a number of patentable classes or context including any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof. Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented entirely hardware, entirely software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or combining software and hardware implementation that may all generally be referred to herein as a “unit,” “module,” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable media having computer readable program code embodied thereon.
A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including electro-magnetic, optical, or the like, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that may communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program code embodied on a computer readable signal medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, or the like, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Scala, Smalltalk, Eiffel, JADE, Emerald, C++, C #, VB. NET, Python or the like, conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language, Visual Basic, Fortran 2103, Perl, COBOL 2102, PHP, ABAP, dynamic programming languages such as Python, Ruby and Groovy, or other programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, 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) or in a cloud computing environment or offered as a service such as a Software as a Service (SaaS).
Furthermore, the recited order of processing elements or sequences, or the use of numbers, letters, or other designations therefore, is not intended to limit the claimed processes and methods to any order except as may be specified in the claims. Although the above disclosure discusses through various examples what is currently considered to be a variety of useful embodiments of the disclosure, it is to be understood that such detail is solely for that purpose, and that the appended claims are not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, are intended to cover modifications and equivalent arrangements that are within the spirit and scope of the disclosed embodiments. For example, although the implementation of various components described above may be embodied in a hardware device, it may also be implemented as a software only solution, for example, an installation on an existing server or mobile device.
Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the foregoing description of embodiments of the present disclosure, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive embodiments. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed subject matter requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, inventive embodiments lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment.
In some embodiments, the numbers expressing quantities or properties used to describe and claim certain embodiments of the application are to be understood as being modified in some instances by the term “about,” “approximate,” or “substantially.” For example, “about,” “approximate,” or “substantially” may indicate ±20% variation of the value it describes, unless otherwise stated. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the numerical parameters set forth in the written description and attached claims are approximations that may vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by a particular embodiment. In some embodiments, the numerical parameters should be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of some embodiments of the application are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as practicable.
Each of the patents, patent applications, publications of patent applications, and other material, such as articles, books, specifications, publications, documents, things, and/or the like, referenced herein is hereby incorporated herein by this reference in its entirety for all purposes, excepting any prosecution file history associated with same, any of same that is inconsistent with or in conflict with the present document, or any of same that may have a limiting affect as to the broadest scope of the claims now or later associated with the present document. By way of example, should there be any inconsistency or conflict between the description, definition, and/or the use of a term associated with any of the incorporated material and that associated with the present document, the description, definition, and/or the use of the term in the present document shall prevail.
In closing, it is to be understood that the embodiments of the application disclosed herein are illustrative of the principles of the embodiments of the application. Other modifications that may be employed may be within the scope of the application. Thus, by way of example, but not of limitation, alternative configurations of the embodiments of the application may be utilized in accordance with the teachings herein. Accordingly, embodiments of the present application are not limited to that precisely as shown and described.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201610937258.3 | Oct 2016 | CN | national |
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/184,669, filed on Feb. 25, 2021, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/236,459 (now U.S. Pat. No. 10,932,745), filed on Dec. 29, 2018, which is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/CN2017/107373, filed on Oct. 23, 2017, which claims priority of Chinese Application No. 201610937258.3, filed on Oct. 25, 2016, the contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference to its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 16236459 | Dec 2018 | US |
| Child | 17184669 | US | |
| Parent | PCT/CN2017/107373 | Oct 2017 | US |
| Child | 16236459 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 17184669 | Feb 2021 | US |
| Child | 18321264 | US |
