Method and system for the automated temporal subtraction of medical images

a technology of medical images and temporal subtraction, applied in the field of temporal analysis of medical images, can solve the problems of difficult and time-consuming for radiologists to compare current and previous, difficult to keep these positions unchanged in a clinical environment, and difficulty in viewing several images

Inactive Publication Date: 2002-07-25
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
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Problems solved by technology

However, it is difficult and time-consuming for radiologists to compare current and previous (temporally sequential) thoracic CT scans to identify new findings or to assess the effects of treatments on known lesions, because this requires a systematic visual search and correlation of a large number of images (sections) in both current and previous scans.
Viewing several images c...

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  • Method and system for the automated temporal subtraction of medical images
  • Method and system for the automated temporal subtraction of medical images
  • Method and system for the automated temporal subtraction of medical images

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Embodiment Construction

[0071] A total of 14 cases (14 pairs of temporally sequential thoracic CT scans) were used to demonstrated the method according to the invention. The time interval between the current and previous thoracic CT scans was varied from two to seven months. The truth of the presence or absence of interval changes was obtained by an experienced radiologist reading the images. Two cases were reported to have interval changes, and the other cases had no interval changes, according to the radiologists.

[0072] FIGS. 11A-11C show the case in which an anterior mediastinal mass (at the left side in the section images) increased in size from 3 cm in the previous scan to 4 cm in the current scan. On the subtracted section images (FIG. 11C), the dark area surrounding the mass indicates that the mass is increased in size. The dark area is indicated by the arrows. With the method according to the invention, the new findings or interval changes in the current sections are shown as dark patterns on the s...

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Abstract

Method and system for the detection of interval change in medical images. Three dimensional images, such as previous and current section images in CT scans, are obtained. An anatomic feature, such as the lungs, is used to select sections containing lung by a gray-level thresholding technique. The section correspondence between the current and previous scans is determined automatically. The initial registration of the corresponding sections in the two scans is achieved by a rotation correction and a cross-correlation technique. A more accurate registration between the corresponding current and previous section images is achieved by local matching. A nonlinear warping process which is also based on the cross-correlation technique is applied to the previous image to yield a warped image after the matching. The final subtracted section images were derived by subtracting of the previous section images from the corresponding current section images. Interval changes such as a change in tumor size and a newly developed pleural effusion are enhanced significantly.

Description

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention[0002] The present invention is related to temporal analysis of medical images and, in particular, to the analysis of computed tomographic images using automated temporal subtraction.[0003] 2. Discussion of the Background[0004] The application of a temporal subtraction technique to radiographic images such as chest images can significantly enhance some subtle interval changes existing in sequentially obtained images which might be missed by radiologists. These interval changes may be very important in enabling radiologists to detect some diseases, such as early lung cancer, or to assess the effects of treatment on known lesions. Difazio et al., in Digital chest radiography: Effect of temporal subtraction images on detection accuracy, Radiology, 202:447-452 (1997) reported that the use of the temporal subtraction technique for sequential chest images can significantly increase radiologists' diagnostic accuracy in identifying interval changes.[0005] Whe...

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): G06T5/50G06T7/20
CPCG06T5/50G06T7/2053A61B6/027G06T7/254
Inventor XU, XIN-WEIDOI, KUNIO
Owner UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
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