X-ray Image Grading Compensation for Positioning Errors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Deviations in patient positioning from optimal positioning during radiological examinations, such as X-rays, can affect the quality of the image and lead to errors in diagnosis, particularly for less experienced radiologists.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method and system that acquires current image studies, measures patient positioning parameters indicating deviations from optimal positioning, and analyzes these parameters to determine their impact on diagnostic findings, including severity and certainty classifications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If patient positioning deviates from optimal positioning, then image quality deteriorates and diagnostic accuracy decreases, but the system cannot automatically compensate for these errors
Solution Approach 1:
The system measures actual patient positioning parameters from the image study and compares them against optimal positioning values. Based on this feedback, the system automatically adjusts the grading of diagnostic findings to compensate for positioning deviations, ensuring consistent diagnostic accuracy regardless of positioning errors.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual radiologist judgment with an automated computer-based system that objectively measures positioning parameters and algorithmically determines compensation factors. This substitution of mechanical/automated systems for human expertise enables consistent application of compensation rules without subjectivity.
2Reliability
If experienced radiologists manually compensate for positioning errors, then diagnostic certainty is maintained, but this requires high expertise and is not scalable
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-service by automatically measuring positioning parameters from the image data itself and generating appropriate compensation factors without requiring external intervention. The system serves its own purpose of compensating for positioning errors, eliminating the need for experienced radiologists to manually assess and adjust each case.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of diagnostic grading based on measured positioning deviations. By algorithmically determining compensation factors that adjust grading thresholds and severity assessments, the system maintains diagnostic certainty across varying positioning conditions without requiring human expertise.
3Measurement precision
If positioning parameters are measured and compensation is applied, then diagnostic findings become more accurate, but the process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the compensation process into distinct measurable components: positioning parameter extraction, deviation calculation, and grading adjustment. By breaking down the complex task of positioning compensation into separate, manageable steps, the system achieves precise measurement while keeping processing complexity organized and manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces positioning parameters as intermediary measurements that mediate between the raw image data and the final diagnostic grading. These intermediate parameters serve as a bridge, allowing the system to objectively quantify positioning deviations and translate them into appropriate compensation factors without directly complicating the entire diagnostic process.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer-implemented method of compensating for image quality issue in an image study. The method includes acquiring a current image study, measuring, via a processor, a patient positioning parameter indicating a deviation of a patient position in the current image study to an optimal patient position for an image exam type of the current image study and analyzing, via an analysis module, the current image study and the determined patient positioning parameter to determine a relationship between positioning errors and a grading of a diagnostic finding for the current image study, wherein the grading of the diagnostic finding includes one of a severity of the diagnostic finding or a certainty classification of the diagnostic finding.