Siemens Aktiengesellschaft

Jörg Hausleiter

Carsten Thierfelder

Thomas Allmendinger

Fernando Vega-Higuera

Dominik Bernhardt

Johann Uebler

Heiko Mehldau

A method and a data-processing system are disclosed for determining the proportion of calcium in coronary arteries using image data from CT angiography. In at least one embodiment of the method, anatomical landmarks are detected in the image data in the region of the heart and coronary arteries are segmented taking into account the detected landmarks. Regions with an increased HU value compared to a contrast agent surroundings are segmented in the segmented coronary arteries. A proportion of calcium respectively is calculated from the segmented regions for one or more of the segmented coronary arteries. At least the last two steps are carried out fully automatically by a data-processing system. Weighting factors for the individual regions are used when calculating the proportion of calcium, which weighting factors depend on both the threshold for segmenting the respective region and the volume of said region. The method and the data-processing system of at least one embodiment allow the dose exposure of the patient to be reduced and reduce the time expenditure of the user for determining the proportion of calcium.

Method and data-processing system for determining the proportion of calcium in coronary arteries

A method is disclosed for scanning a cyclically moved examination object using a contrast agent within the scope of a preliminary examination by way of a CT scanner, in which measurement data is recorded at a sequence of recording times. A first image is reconstructed at every recording time from the measurement data, from which a time profile of a concentration of the contrast agent is established. The recording times for respectively recording a certain phase of the motion are synchronized with a motion signal from the examination object. A second image with a time offset with respect to the first image is reconstructed from the measurement data at each recording time. A motion curve representing a time profile of an intensity of the cyclical motion is established by comparing the first image and the second image at each recording time.

Scanning of a cyclically moved examination object using a contrast agent within the scope of a preliminary examination by means of a CT scanner

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Munich, Germany

Jörg Hausleiter