Synthetic Radiologic Image Generation With Slice-Based Diffusion

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing 2D and 2.5D diffusion models in medical imaging suffer from stripe and streaking artifacts in sagittal and coronal views, and 3D denoising diffusion models face high computational resource requirements and overfitting risks due to limited 3D volume availability.

Innovation Solution

A trained conditional generative model generates synthetic radiologic images using a series of seeds, combining them to reduce artifacts and optimize computational efficiency, employing diffusion models like Latent Diffusion Models (LDMs) and Denoising Diffusion Implicit Models (DDIMs) with conditional inputs and image embeddings.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Manufacturing precision

If 3D denoising diffusion probability models or 3D latent diffusion models are used directly, then stripe and streaking artifacts are reduced, but computational resource requirements increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveimage qualityVSAvoidcomputational resource requirements
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the 3D volume into multiple 2D axial slices for independent processing by the diffusion model. Instead of processing the entire 3D volume at once, each slice is generated separately and then assembled into the complete 3D reconstruction, significantly reducing computational memory requirements while maintaining diagnostic quality

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent transforms the 3D reconstruction problem into a series of 2D generation problems. By processing axial slices in 2D space and then reconstructing the 3D volume through assembly, the method achieves efficient computation while preserving three-dimensional anatomical information

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Loss of information

If 3D volumes are used for training autoencoders and diffusion models, then comprehensive anatomical information is captured, but the scarcity of available 3D volumes poses the risk of overfitting

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveanatomical informationVSAvoidmodel generalization
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent enables training on 2D axial slices instead of requiring scarce 3D volumes. This dimensionality transformation expands the available training data pool significantly, allowing models to learn from numerous 2D slices while maintaining the ability to reconstruct 3D anatomy, thereby preventing overfitting

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

3Productivity

If 2D or 2.5D diffusion models are used, then computational efficiency is improved, but stripe or streaking artifacts occur in sagittal and coronal views

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecomputational efficiencyVSAvoidimage quality
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent processes the 3D volume by segmenting it into multiple axial slices that are independently generated by the diffusion model. This segmentation approach maintains computational efficiency while the subsequent assembly process ensures complete anatomical coverage without artifacts

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent merges multiple independently generated axial slices into a complete 3D volume reconstruction. This combining process restores the full anatomical information and eliminates artifacts by integrating information from all slices coherently

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentEP4672132A1Generating synthetic radiologic images
Publication Date: 2025.12.31 BAYER AG
  • EP4672132A1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP4672132A1 patent drawingFigure 3~4
  • EP4672132A1 patent drawingFigure 5

AI summary

Systems, methods, and computer programs disclosed herein relate to generating synthetic radiologic images.