Static CT Blood Vessel Monitoring for Contrast Peak Timing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for blood vessel recognition in CT enhancement scanning face challenges due to individual patient differences and inconsistent peak times of contrast agents, leading to inaccurate ROI delineation and missed optimal scanning times, which can result in unnecessary radiation exposure.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize subtraction images of blood vessels, divided into region blocks for calculating P values, to accurately determine the time to peak of contrast agent concentration, ensuring precise monitoring and reducing radiation exposure by terminating scanning when the concentration decreases.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a doctor directly sets the time to peak by using an empirical value, then the scanning process is simple and quick, but an optimal time for third-phase scanning is easily missed
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs a preliminary small-dose scanning phase before the actual third-phase scanning. This preliminary action includes injecting a small dose of contrast agent, performing CT scanning at multiple time points, and calculating the time to peak based on the contrast agent concentration curve. This preliminary measurement allows the system to determine the optimal scanning time for each patient individually, avoiding the need to rely on empirical values while ensuring the optimal time is not missed during the actual scanning phase.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If small dose augmented scanning mode is used to obtain the time to peak, then the radiation dose is reduced, but the scanning process becomes complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The scanning process is segmented into distinct phases: a preliminary small-dose scanning phase with multiple time points to determine the time to peak, and an actual third-phase scanning phase using the determined optimal time. This segmentation allows the system to use low-dose scanning only when necessary (during the preliminary phase to determine individual patient parameters) and then proceed with the actual scanning at the optimal time, reducing overall radiation exposure while maintaining process organization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by using the results from the preliminary small-dose scanning (the calculated time to peak based on contrast agent concentration curve) to optimize the timing of the actual third-phase scanning. This feedback mechanism ensures that the actual scanning is performed at the optimal time for each patient, maximizing the diagnostic value while minimizing radiation exposure. The system continuously monitors contrast agent concentration and adjusts the scanning timing accordingly.
3Ease of operation
If the position of the ROI delineated by the doctor deviates from the original blood vessel, then the delineation process is flexible, but the change of contrast agent in the blood vessel becomes inaccurate
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring the contrast agent concentration in the blood vessel over time and comparing it with the expected concentration curve. If the ROI position has deviated from the original blood vessel, the measured concentration changes will not match the expected pattern. The system uses this feedback to detect positioning errors and can alert the operator to reposition the ROI, ensuring accurate measurement of contrast agent concentration even when initial delineation is not perfect.
Data Source
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AI summary
Disclosed in the present invention are a blood vessel recognition monitoring method and system based on static CT enhancement scanning. The method comprises the following steps: acquiring subtraction images of all regions of a blood vessel to be monitored of a patient; performing image processing on the subtraction images to equally divide each subtraction image into a plurality of region blocks of a preset size; calculating a mean value and a standard deviation for each region block of each subtraction image, and calculating P values of the region blocks; arranging the P values of the same region blocks of the subtraction images in chronological order, and drawing a P-value change curve of the region blocks; and drawing a concentration change curve of a contrast agent on the basis of the P-value change curve of the region blocks to determine the time to peak of the contrast agent.