Medical Imaging Workstation Contour Correction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical imaging technologies face challenges in accurately and efficiently generating organ contours from medical images, requiring significant time and effort for correction, especially when contours overlap or do not adhere to anatomical characteristics.
Innovation Solution
A workstation and medical imaging apparatus with a control unit that receives information about organ contours, performs corrections to ensure they do not cross each other, using anatomical characteristic data to adjust contours of organs and their internal tissues, and includes features for user-input correction based on separation distances.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If automatic contour generation is performed without correction, then productivity is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to crossing contours
Solution Approach 1:
The contour correction unit automatically detects and corrects crossing contours using anatomical characteristic data without requiring manual intervention. The system self-corrects the generated contours by identifying crossings and adjusting them based on predefined anatomical relationships, maintaining both high productivity and precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses anatomical characteristic data as feedback to verify and correct generated contours. By comparing automatically generated contours against known anatomical relationships, the system identifies and corrects errors where contours cross, ensuring precision while maintaining automatic generation speed.
2Manufacturing precision
If manual correction of contours is performed, then manufacturing precision is improved, but loss of time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The contour correction unit automatically performs what would traditionally require manual correction by operators. It detects crossing contours and corrects them using anatomical characteristic data, eliminating the need for time-consuming manual review while maintaining high precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The contour correction unit acts as an intermediary between automatic contour generation and final contour output. It automatically detects and corrects errors using anatomical characteristic data as a reference, providing precise correction without requiring manual intervention.
3Manufacturing precision
If anatomical characteristic data is used for correction, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Anatomical characteristic data is stored and prepared in advance before contour generation. This pre-stored data serves as a reference for the contour correction unit, allowing automatic correction without complex real-time calculations, thus improving precision while limiting complexity increase.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter set used for correction by incorporating anatomical characteristic data with specific parameters (organ names, spatial relationships, separation distances). This provides a structured framework for correction that improves precision while maintaining manageable system complexity through parameterized data.
Data Source
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AI summary
A workstation, a medical imaging apparatus including the same, and a control method for the same includes an input unit that receives information about a contour of an organ in a medical image obtained by imaging a subject and a control unit that corrects the contour of the organ in such a manner that the contour of the organ does not cross contours of one or more other organs located inside or outside the organ.