Automatic technique for localizing externally attached fiducial markers in volume images of the head
US6052477A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 6, 1998 |
| Grant date | Apr 18, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 6, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T2207/30204
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An automatic computer implemented technique which may be used for identifying markers and determining the centroids of fiducial markers (e.g., cylindrical fiducial markers) attached to the head in magnetic resonance (MR) and X-ray computed tomography (CT) volume images is disclosed. This technique may be referred to as image space localization. A first portion of the technique identifies many candidate voxel points included in a bright area of the image which may correspond to candidate markers. A second portion of the technique selects from the identified candidate voxels a predetermined number of candidate points of the image volume that are most likely to lie within an actual fiducial marker. The centroid for each of these markers is then determined. The method finds markers whose images are of a higher intensity than their surroundings and which have a given shape and size.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.