CT Water Equivalent Diameter Correction for Miscentered Patients
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Solution Overview
Problem
Computed Tomography (CT) scans face challenges in accurately measuring patient size when patients are miscentered, leading to either excessive radiation exposure or suboptimal image quality due to overestimation or underestimation of patient size.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a patient size characteristic corrector module that calculates correction factors based on miscentering distances for axial slices along the patient's height, applying these factors to accurately modulate X-ray current and control radiation dose during CT scans.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If patient size measurement is performed without correction for miscentering, then the measurement process is simple and fast, but the measurement precision deteriorates leading to inaccurate patient size assessment
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of patient miscentering by analyzing the position of the patient's center of mass relative to the CT scanner's rotational axis before the actual scan. This preliminary action enables calculation of correction factors that are applied to the patient size measurements, thereby improving measurement accuracy without significantly increasing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical centering adjustment mechanisms with a computational approach. Instead of requiring precise mechanical positioning of the patient, the system uses software algorithms to detect miscentering and mathematically correct the measurements, substituting mechanical complexity with computational processing.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If uncorrected patient size measurements are used for radiation dose calculation, then the dose administration process is simple and fast, but the harmful effects increase due to excessive radiation exposure or suboptimal image quality
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where patient size measurements are continuously refined through correction factors derived from miscentering detection. The corrected measurements feed back into the radiation dose calculation process, ensuring optimal dose administration while maintaining efficient scan preparation through automated computational correction.
3Measurement precision
If correction factors are calculated and applied for miscentered patients, then the measurement precision improves, but the device complexity increases due to additional calculation modules
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces correction factors as an intermediary element between the raw patient size measurement and the final diagnostic output. These correction factors serve as a mathematical mediator that adjusts for miscentering effects without requiring fundamental changes to the CT scanner hardware or core imaging algorithms, thereby limiting the increase in overall system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture to correct the measurement of water equivalent diameter in Computed Tomography (CT) imaging when patients are miscentered are disclosed. A disclosed example apparatus includes a patient size characteristic calculator to calculate a set of patient size characteristics for a set of axial slices along a height of the patient. The apparatus further includes a patient size characteristic corrector module to calculate a set of correction factors for the set of patient size characteristics and apply the set of correction factors to the set of patient size characteristics. The apparatus further includes a computation manager to utilize a set of corrected patient size characteristics for the set of axial slices along the height of the patient to perform a CT scan on the patient by modulating an X-ray current to control a radiation dose applied to the patient.