Moderated Rescan for Motion-Corrupted Medical Imaging
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medical imaging systems face challenges in managing motion-corrupted scans, leading to the need for repeated scans that increase patient radiation exposure and diagnostic complexity.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for performing a moderated rescan that minimizes patient exposure by identifying motion artifacts, adapting rescan parameters, and using motion-compensated reconstruction to generate a single diagnostic image from both initial and rescan data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a repeat scan is performed to obtain diagnostic images free of motion artifacts, then image quality is improved, but patient radiation exposure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the anatomy into multiple regions and identifies only those regions corrupted by motion artifacts. The rescan is then performed only on these specific regions rather than the entire anatomy, thereby maintaining diagnostic image quality for affected areas while minimizing unnecessary radiation exposure to unaffected areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies different quality standards and processing to different regions of the anatomy. Regions with motion artifacts receive enhanced scanning and processing attention, while regions without artifacts use the initial scan data, optimizing the balance between image quality and radiation exposure across different anatomical areas.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a limited region rescan is performed to reduce radiation exposure, then patient radiation exposure is reduced, but diagnostic complexity increases due to multiple image sets
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the initial full-anatomy scan data with the targeted rescan data through automated registration and integration processes. This combines the comprehensive coverage of the initial scan with the enhanced quality of the rescan regions into a single unified image set, reducing both radiation exposure and diagnostic complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary processing layer that automatically registers, aligns, and integrates the initial scan and rescan data. This intermediary process handles the complexity of combining multiple image sets, presenting a single coherent diagnostic image set to the radiologist without requiring manual manipulation of multiple separate images.
3Measurement precision
If a repeat scan is performed to correct motion artifacts, then image quality is improved, but examination time increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of performing a complete repeat scan, the system applies partial action by scanning only the specific regions affected by motion artifacts. This partial rescan approach corrects the motion-corrupted areas while avoiding the time penalty of rescanning the entire anatomy, thereby reducing examination time while maintaining image quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the scanning process into an initial full anatomy scan followed by targeted rescans of only the motion-affected regions. This segmentation allows the majority of the anatomy to be imaged once, while only problematic areas receive additional scanning, significantly reducing total examination time compared to complete repeat scans.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Techniques for performing a rescan of motion-corrupted medical images are disclosed. In some implementations, a device may include performing an initial imaging scan of a patient. In addition, the device may include detecting any patient motion during the initial imaging scan. The device may include identifying one or more regions of the patient's anatomy where motion artifacts are present and determining a rescan is required in at least one of the identified one or more regions. Also, the device may include initiating a procedure for adapting a moderated rescan of the patient in the at least one of the identified one or more regions where the rescan is required and performing the moderated rescan. In addition, the device may include generating a final image reconstruction with coverage and characteristics of the initial imaging scan and reduced motion artifacts based on data from the initial imaging scan and the moderated rescan.