Automated method for contrast media arrival detection for dynamic contrast enhanced MRI
US8848998B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 10, 2010 |
| Grant date | Sep 30, 2014 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 19, 2031 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T2207/10104
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
This invention provides an automated system and method for determining contrast media arrival in vessels near tissues of interest that have been imaged using a predetermined imaging system that produces a plurality of temporally phased images. The system and method reliably distinguishes between actual contrast arrival and potential false positives that can render basic automated techniques inoperable or unreliable. In an illustrative embodiment, the system and method for determining a contrast arrival phase in a plurality of temporal phases of a medical image dataset of tissue includes an image pre-processor or process that, for each of at least a subset of the temporal phases of the medical image dataset, with at least a subset of the signal intensity values respectively in each of the temporal phases, computes signal intensity frequency distributions. An arrival phase analysis processor or process then determines the contrast arrival phase as a function of a relative change in the signal intensity frequency distributions between each of the temporal phases. The signal intensity frequency distributions can be characterized as histograms in an illustrative embodiment. The arrival …
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.