Vessel Propagation Simulation for Medical Imaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical imaging techniques, such as X-ray imaging, fail to provide accurate and dynamic visualization of blood vessel mapping and propagation in the human or animal body, leading to inaccurate planning of surgical treatments and medicinal product injections due to the small diameter of vessels and limited resolution.
Innovation Solution
A method and device that determine the probability of each pixel belonging to a vessel based on intensity, simulate fluid propagation with velocities corresponding to these probabilities, and infer propagation times between pixels to enhance vessel mapping and dynamics visualization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If X-ray imaging with contrast agents is used to visualize vessels, then vessel mapping is improved, but small diameter vessels (capillaries) remain invisible due to limited resolution
Solution Approach 1:
The method performs preliminary actions by simulating fluid propagation through the vessel network before actual treatment planning. The simulation pre-computes propagation times and paths through the vascular tree, allowing practitioners to anticipate which vessels will be reached by injected substances and plan accordingly, compensating for the inability to directly visualize all vessels.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates a virtual copy of the vessel propagation dynamics through simulation. Instead of relying solely on static images that fail to show small vessels, the system generates a dynamic model that replicates how fluid would actually travel through the vascular network, including capillaries that are invisible in conventional images.
2Ease of manufacture
If static images are used for treatment planning, then image acquisition is simple, but propagation dynamics information is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The invention transforms static vessel images into dynamic propagation simulations. By computing propagation times and simulating fluid movement through the vascular network, the system adds the dimension of time and motion to previously static data, enabling practitioners to understand how substances will move through vessels during actual procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The simulation performs preliminary computation of propagation dynamics before treatment execution. This allows the system to predict fluid behavior in advance, providing dynamic information without requiring complex real-time measurement during the actual medical procedure.
3Productivity
If conventional imaging resolution is used, then imaging is feasible, but accurate treatment planning is compromised due to invisible small vessels
Solution Approach 1:
The invention introduces simulation as an intermediary between conventional imaging and treatment planning. The simulation acts as a bridge that takes the limited information from low-resolution images and generates additional predictive information about fluid propagation, enabling accurate treatment planning without requiring higher imaging resolution.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary simulation of treatment outcomes before actual treatment execution. By computing propagation times and predicting fluid distribution in advance, the system enables accurate treatment planning based on conventional images, compensating for their limited resolution through predictive modeling.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for processing an image of a body region is provided, the region comprising a plurality of vessels capable of propagating a fluid of the body, the image comprising a plurality of pixels each being associated with an intensity. The method comprising determining, for each pixel, a probability that the pixel belongs to a vessel, based on the intensity of the pixel; simulating a propagation of the fluid from at least one source pixel towards the pixels of the image, the propagation being simulated to have a velocity that is function of the probability that the pixels of the image belong to a vessel; and inferring from the simulation a propagation time between the source pixel and each of the pixels of the image.