CT surrogate by auto-segmentation of magnetic resonance images

US8787648B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• KONINIKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V. · NL

Inventors

• Heinrich Schulz · Hamburg, DE
• Michael Kaus · Hamburg, DE
• Vladimir Pekar · Toronto, CA
• Torbjoern Vik · Hamburg, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Feb 25, 2009
• Grant date: Jul 22, 2014
• Expiry date: Apr 12, 2031

Classification

• Technology area (CPC A): Human Necessities
• CPC primary: A61B6/4417
• WIPO field: Medical technology
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

When modeling anatomical structures in a patient for diagnosis or therapeutic planning, an atlas (26) of segmented co-registered CT and MRI anatomical structure reference images can be accessed, and an image of one or more such structures can be selected and overlaid with an MRI image of corresponding structure(s) in a clinical image of a patient. A user can click and drag landmarks or segment edges on the reference MRI image to deform the reference MRI image to align with the patient MRI image. Registration of a landmark in the patient MRI image to the reference MRI image also registers the patient MRI image landmark with a corresponding landmark in the co-registered reference CT image, and electron density information from the reference CT image landmark is automatically attributed to the corresponding registered patient MRI landmark.