Digital Cleansing of CT Colonography Images Using Shape Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current electronic cleansing techniques for CT colonography images fail to accurately remove all bowel contents, leading to artifacts such as pseudo-polyps, under-cleansing artifacts, and degraded folds, which limit the diagnostic accuracy of virtual colonoscopy.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that employs local shape signatures and a shape-based speed function in level-set segmentation to electronically cleanse tagged bowel contents from CT colonography images, allowing for accurate detection of polyps and tumors without affecting the colon's anatomy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional electronic cleansing techniques are used to remove tagged bowel contents, then some bowel contents are removed from CT colonography images, but artifacts such as pseudo-polyps, under-cleansing artifacts, and degraded folds remain, limiting diagnostic accuracy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameter of bowel content tagging by using oral contrast material with specific radiodensity characteristics that differ from both bowel contents and potential polyps. This parameter change allows the cleansing algorithm to distinguish tagged bowel contents from actual polyps more accurately, reducing pseudo-polyp artifacts while maintaining diagnostic accuracy for real lesions
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces conventional mechanical/subtractive cleansing methods with an algorithm-based approach that uses local shape signature analysis. Instead of simply subtracting tagged regions, the system uses computational algorithms to analyze shape characteristics and selectively remove only tagged bowel contents while preserving fold structures and avoiding pseudo-polyp creation
2Measurement precision
If thorough patient preparation including purgatives and enemas is performed before CT colonography, then bowel contents are reduced for better imaging, but patient discomfort and procedure complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes tagged bowel contents from the CT colonography images through electronic cleansing algorithms. By tagging bowel contents with oral contrast material and then algorithmically removing them, the system achieves the bowel clearance effect of traditional preparation methods without requiring patients to undergo purgatives or enemas, significantly improving ease of operation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a virtual model of the colon by reconstructing 3D images from CT data and then applies electronic cleansing to this digital copy. This allows bowel content removal in the digital domain without affecting the actual patient preparation process, enabling simplified patient protocols while maintaining diagnostic image quality
3Measurement precision
If a large number of CT images are generated for virtual colonoscopy examination, then comprehensive colon visualization is achieved, but the time required for medical examiner review increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes tagged bowel contents from the large set of CT colonography images through automated electronic cleansing algorithms. This extraction process cleanses multiple images simultaneously, reducing the visual clutter that would require manual review and thereby decreasing examination time while maintaining complete colon visualization
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements automated electronic cleansing that operates without continuous human intervention. The algorithm automatically processes the series of CT images, identifies tagged bowel contents, and removes them systematically. This self-service capability handles the large volume of images efficiently, reducing the time burden on medical examiners while maintaining comprehensive visualization
Data Source
AI summary
A system, method, software arrangement and computer-accessible medium for performing electronic cleansing of CT colonography images are provided. In this system, method, software arrangement and computer-accessible medium, the digital bowel cleansing can be performed to remove tagged bowel contents from the images. The digital bowel cleansing can apply a local shape analysis throughout the images and use a shape-based speed function to detect the folds and polyps structures while removing the tagged bowel contents region. The system, method, software arrangement and computer-accessible medium can enable a medical examiner to perform an accurate virtual colonoscopy on a patient, without the need for thorough patient preparation.