Imaging Apparatus for Resection Margin Assessment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for assessing the margin of excised tissue samples are time-consuming and inefficient, requiring multiple steps to determine if cancerous tissue remains after resection procedures.
Innovation Solution
An imaging apparatus and method that register pre-operative and post-operative images to identify the smallest margin region between the resection and resected parts, allowing for rapid determination of potential cancerous tissue presence using deformable image registration and object type determination devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional multi-step methods are used to assess resection margins, then comprehensive tissue evaluation is achieved, but the assessment procedure takes relatively long time
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and focuses only on the critical margin regions for assessment by registering pre-operative and post-operative images to identify where margins are smallest. This selective approach eliminates the need to examine entire tissue samples, reducing assessment time while maintaining accuracy for the most suspicious areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention performs preliminary image registration and margin identification before physical tissue examination. By pre-identifying suspicious margin regions through image analysis, the system prepares assessment priorities in advance, allowing rapid focused examination rather than comprehensive slow analysis.
2Reliability
If the entire resected part is investigated to ensure complete cancer removal, then comprehensive cancer detection is achieved, but the investigation process becomes time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies different assessment intensities to different regions: suspicious margin regions identified through image registration receive detailed examination, while other areas receive minimal or no examination. This localized quality approach ensures cancer detection reliability where needed while maximizing assessment speed overall.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of examining the entire resected part equally, the invention performs partial action by focusing only on the smallest margin regions that pose the highest risk of containing residual cancer. This partial examination of critical areas achieves sufficient reliability without the time cost of complete examination.
3Loss of information
If high quality images of the entire resected part are provided for analysis, then comprehensive diagnostic information is obtained, but the image processing and analysis becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The invention segments the resected part into distinct regions based on image registration, identifying specific areas with smallest margins. This segmentation divides the complex task of analyzing entire high-quality images into simpler tasks of analyzing only the segmented suspicious regions, reducing processing complexity while preserving essential diagnostic information.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to an imaging apparatus (1). First and second image providing units (2, 9) provide a first image showing a region of an object, which includes a resection part to be resected, and a second image showing the region of the object, after the resection procedure has been performed, or showing a resected part, which has been resected. A smallest margin determination unit (13) determines a smallest margin region being a region where a margin between the resection part and the resected part is smallest based on the first and second images. The smallest margin region is the region which most likely contains a part of the object, which should have been resected, like a cancerous part. An optionally following investigation of the resected part or of the remaining object can be more focused by considering this region, thereby allowing for faster corresponding assessing procedures.