Siemens Corporate Research, Inc.

Cheng-Chung Liang

Ajit Singh

Ming Fang

Ming-Yee Chiu

Alok Gupta

Thomas Moeller

Dietmar Hentschel

Richard Fisler

Jay Ezrielev

Marie-Pierre Dubuisson-Jolly

The present invention relates to a method and a system for extracting a 3D region of interest from a stack of medical scan slices which is still a challenging task even in this new millennium. One difficulty is that there is no robust automatic algorithm that can handle all the different situations and applications. Human intervention is usually unavoidable for extracting desired area or organs. However, without convenient tools, it is a tedious job for human being to go through hundred or thousand of slices just to extract region of interest. A system combines and modifies several advanced techniques to help a user extract volume of interest very easily and quickly. The technique of livewire for initial-delineate and modify regions of interest from 2D slices is utilized. Then variational interpolation technique is employed to derive a 3D shape from these delineated 2D contours. The 3D shape can be visualized as is or converted to a 3D solid for volume visualization or masking out of the undesirable parts of a data set.

System for interactive 3D object extraction from slice-based medical images

A technique of displaying a segment of a coronary artery in a stabilized cineangiogram. A computer system receives a sequence of images of a conventional cineangiogram. A user displays a first image on a monitor and selects a point on an arterial segment. The computer system invokes an image tracking procedure that employs active optimal polyline contours to locate the arterial segment and a fixed point in each of the image frames of the conventional cineangiogram. The computer system produces a stabilized cineangiogram by translating the images to place the arterial segment in substantially the same viewing location in each one of the image frames.

Motion compensation of an image sequence using optimal polyline tracking

A system for monitoring eyes of an individual includes a human interface for obtaining images of the individual and for providing feedback to the individual and a processor for analyzing the images. The processor transforms an image sequence into a one dimensional signal by extracting relevant features from the images. Analysis of the signal generated then occurs to detect sleepiness. Transformation of the image sequence includes eye localization, eye tracking and eye motion signal generation. The system takes advantage of the relatively high horizontal-contrast density of the eye region to determine eye positions in a greyscale image of a human face.

System for monitoring eyes for detecting sleep behavior

A method for automatically editing a plurality of CT image slices to provide a three dimensional view of a selected object located within a patient's body comprises providing at least one slab of CT image slices produced by CT scanning system and computing a top MIP image of the slab. An undesirable object is automatically removed from the top MIP image by first detecting all the pixels having illuminating intensity values which represent the undesirable object. Then all the pixels of the object to be removed are set to a substantially zero illuminating intensity value in order to remove the object from the top MIP image of the slab. After the undesirable object is removed from the top MIP image, the edits made thereto are applied to each CT image slice in the slab. The present invention also includes apparatus for performing a 3D reconstruction of CT angiographic images to visualize a selected object located within a patient's body. The apparatus comprises an x-ray tube for projecting energy into a layer of interest in the patient's body and a detector for detecting changes in the projected energy as it exits the layer of interest. The changes detected in the projected energy are indicative of various objects including the selected object that are located within the layer of interest of the patient's body. Moreover, the x-ray tube and detector operate in conjunction to provide at least one slab of CT image slices.

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W. Windsor, NJ, United States of America

Cheng-Chung Liang