Scan Region Determination Using Surgical Device Pose

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current medical imaging techniques often require imaging large areas of the patient's body, leading to time-consuming procedures and excessive radiation exposure for both patients and staff, as they lack precision in defining the scan region.

Innovation Solution

A method using a processor to determine a scan region based on the pose of surgical devices relative to anatomical elements, selecting relevant anatomical features from previous medical image data, and defining a virtual bounding box to optimize the imaging area, which can include or exclude specific elements and zones, minimizing unnecessary exposure.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If large areas are imaged to cover most or all portions of the patient's body, then completeness of image data is improved, but scanning time increases and radiation exposure increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecompleteness of image dataVSAvoidscanning time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by determining a specific scan region based on the pose of surgical devices and selected anatomical elements, rather than imaging the entire body. The processor identifies relevant anatomical regions and defines a bounded scan volume that covers only the necessary areas, providing locally optimized imaging quality where needed while avoiding unnecessary imaging of other regions.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments the patient's body into relevant and irrelevant regions for imaging. By using the pose information of surgical devices and anatomical element data, the system divides the body volume into a specific scan region that contains only the necessary anatomical structures, separating it from other areas that do not require imaging.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Reliability

If large areas are imaged to cover most or all portions of the patient's body, then completeness of image data is improved, but radiation exposure increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecompleteness of image dataVSAvoidradiation exposure
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by determining a specific scan region based on the pose of surgical devices and selected anatomical elements, rather than imaging the entire body. The processor identifies relevant anatomical regions and defines a bounded scan volume that covers only the necessary areas, providing locally optimized imaging quality where needed while avoiding unnecessary imaging of other regions.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The patent extracts the essential scan region from the entire body volume by using pose information of surgical devices and anatomical element data. The system isolates and defines only the necessary imaging area, removing unnecessary regions from the scan plan, thereby reducing radiation exposure while maintaining completeness of required image data.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Productivity

If precise scan regions are determined based on surgical device poses and anatomical elements, then scanning time is reduced and radiation exposure is reduced, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvescanning efficiencyVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by obtaining pose information of surgical devices and anatomical element data before determining the scan region. The system performs preliminary processing of this data to identify relevant anatomical regions, so that when imaging is required, the scan region is already precisely defined, reducing actual scanning time and improving efficiency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses an intermediary processing step where the processor acts as a mediator between the surgical device pose data/anatomical elements and the final scan region definition. This intermediary layer processes the input data, applies the determination criteria, and outputs the optimized scan region, managing system complexity through structured intermediate processing.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentEP4197475B1Technique of determining a scan region to be imaged by a medical image acquisition device
Publication Date: 2023.11.01 STRYKER EUROPEAN OPERATIONS LIMITED
  • EP4197475B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4197475B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4197475B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A method for determining a scan region to be imaged by a medical image acquisition device is disclosed. The method is performed by at least one processor and comprises obtaining, for each of at least one surgical device, information indicative of one or more poses thereof. The method further comprises selecting, based on the one or more poses, at least one anatomical element of a patient's body. The method further comprises determining, based on the selected at least one anatomical element, a scan region to be imaged by a medical image acquisition device. An apparatus, a medical imaging system and a computer program product are also disclosed.