Bolus-Tracked Fluoroscopy Frame Rate Control for Lower Radiation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Fluoroscopy systems face challenges in balancing frame rate to minimize radiation exposure while ensuring smooth visualization of moving structures, often leading to unnecessary increased radiation due to conservative settings.
Innovation Solution
A system that automatically adapts frame rate by detecting events, such as the entry and exit of a bolus, using entropy-based metrics to adjust frame rate dynamically during imaging, minimizing high frame rates to specific time spans where movement occurs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the frame rate is increased to capture moving structures smoothly, then the visualization quality is improved, but the radiation exposure of the patient increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adapts the frame rate based on real-time detection of moving structures. Instead of using a fixed high frame rate throughout the examination, the system adjusts the frame rate up or down depending on whether motion is detected, thereby maintaining visualization quality only when necessary and reducing radiation exposure during static phases
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the frame rate parameter adaptively based on detected motion characteristics. By monitoring image content and detecting changes, the system modifies the frame rate parameter to match the actual needs of the examination, using higher rates only when movement is present and lower rates when the scene is stable
2Reliability
If the frame rate is manually set to a high value for conservative time spans, then the capturing of moving structures is ensured, but the radiation exposure is unnecessarily increased
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses feedback from real-time image analysis to control the frame rate. By continuously analyzing acquired images for motion detection and using this information to adjust the frame rate, the system ensures reliable capture of moving structures only when actually needed, rather than using conservative high frame rates for extended predetermined periods
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-adjustment of the frame rate based on its own image analysis capabilities. The automated detection and adaptation mechanism eliminates the need for manual conservative settings, allowing the system to serve itself by intelligently determining when high frame rates are actually necessary
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a system for smart frame rate adaptation by tracking bolus agent flow in fluoroscopy, a method for using said system, and a computer program product. A system for acquiring a number of medical images of a patient is suggested. The system comprises: a medical imaging unit for acquiring the number of medical images with a certain value of a frame rate; an image analysis unit for analyzing the acquired number of medical images; an event detection unit for detecting at least one event based on the analyzing of the acquired number of medical images; and a frame rate determination unit for determining a modified value of the frame rate based on the detected at least one event and the certain value of the frame rate. The system can minimize the radiation exposure of the patient.