Siemens Aktiengesellschaft

Siemens Healthcare Gmbh

Karl Barth

Rainer Graumann

Gerd Wessels

Helmut Barfuss

Karl Wiesent

Gerhard Kleinszig

Wei Wei

Thomas Mertelmeier

Manfred Pfeiler

Wolfgang Haerer

Helmut Ermert

Michael Scheuering

Alexander Gemmel

Matthias Mitschke

Thomas Brunner

Markus Weiten

Wolfgang Härer

Christian Schmidgunst

Clemens Bulitta

Adrian John

Adrian Egli

Armin Schneider

An apparatus and a method for determining the position of a medical instrument, particularly for the purpose of medical navigation. In order to use a simple system to provide a relatively inexpensive technique for determining positional information, the position and/or orientation of the medical instrument is determined by ascertaining the same on the basis of position finding operations. Electromagnetic fields are first measured and the results of relative field strength measurements are taken as a basis for ascertaining the direction of a line from a transmitter to a receiver. After this direction information is known, it is used to determine the positional information of the medical instrument.

Apparatus and method for determining positional information for a medical instrument

A navigation aid for introducing an elongate medical penetration element into a patient. An X-ray image, containing a target region for the penetration element in a desired target position in a patient, is superimposed in alignment with video sequence images, containing at least in part the penetration element, to form a combination image sequence. The penetration element is captured in a start position and a desired penetration course of the penetration element at least to the target region of the penetration element in a desired target position, is visually displayed in the combination image sequence. A penetration element, such as a medical implant and/or instrument, in particular a K-wire (Kirschner wire), may carry a number of markers, such as additional bodies, coatings, elevations, and/or depressions, said markers altering a light reflection, are situated on and/or at and/or in the penetration element.

Navigation aid for introducing an elongate medical penetration element into a patient

A system for displaying an image includes at least one x-ray source for emitting radiation, a detector for acquiring the radiation emitted by the radiation source for generating an x-ray image, the detector being disposed opposite the radiation source in relation to an object to be examined, a computer unit for performing computational operations, a display device for displaying x-ray images acquired by the detector and at least one data acquisition unit for acquiring surface information of the object to be examined. The data acquisition unit is disposed on the detector side and the computer unit is configured to correlate the data acquired by the detector-side data acquisition unit with the x-ray image.

System and method for correlating object information with X-ray images

A method and a system for determining an angle between two parts of a bone that are twisted relative to one another about the axis of a bone shaft. The system is particularly suitable for determining the antetorsion angle of a femur. In order to determine an antetorsion angle of a bone easily intraoperatively, a method with the following steps is proposed: establishing the position of a first orientation feature assigned to a first part of the bone, in particular a femoral neck axis, using an imaging method, establishing the position of a second orientation feature assigned to a second part of the bone, in particular a condyle tangent or a condyle plane, using an imaging method, and determining the angle, in particular the femoral antetorsion angle, from the positions of the two orientation features.

Method and system for determining an angle between two parts of a bone

An X-ray device has a detector which is arranged on a mobile unit and is assigned to a first positioning unit. An X-ray source is arranged on an arcuate second positioning unit. The positioning of the first and second positioning units can be matched to one another in the course of their movements. The first positioning unit has at least one articulated arm and the second positioning unit has a first and a second arc-shaped positioning element. The first and second positioning units are arranged separately from one another on a movable unit.

X-ray device

Artifacts caused by at least one metal object in a target region to be imaged are corrected during the reconstruction of a three-dimensional image dataset from a number of two-dimensional projection images of the target region recorded from different projection directions with an x-ray device. An orientation and position of a three-dimensional model of the known metal object is determined in the coordinate system of the x-ray device via a 2D-3D registration with at least one two-dimensional projection image, after which, for each radiation path of the projection images running through the metal object, on the basis of attenuation information through the metal object assigned to the model, an attenuation portion through the metal object is calculated for the projection image data assigned to the radiation path and is obtained by computation for determining modified projection images from the projection image data. The three-dimensional image dataset is determined from the modified projection images.

Method for correcting metal artifacts in x-ray imaging, and x-ray device

An imaging apparatus has a capture device for capturing 1D or 2D image data. A position and/or orientation for a moving section of an examination object is captured, for example using a measuring device, for a plurality of capture times for the image data. A computation device reconstructs 3D volume data from the image data based on projection parameters and based on the position and/or orientation of the moving section of the examination object.

Method for ascertaining the three-dimensional volume data, and imaging apparatus

In a device and associated method for reconstruction and visualization of projection data, projection data are stored per slice and are subjected to an image reconstruction procedure in parallel within arbitrary slice planes in a processor-controlled filtering process that is executed n times, wherein volume data that are created can already be made available (loaded) for a direct visualization.

Device and method for reconstruction and visualization of projection data

In a method for virtual adaptation of an object to be medically inserted in a patient, to a body part of the patient, the object is shown in a desired view on a monitor, the body part is shown in 3D on the monitor, the body part in its unchanged 3D-imaging context, is automatically displaced relative to the object until the object is adapted to the body part with the orientation of the object relative to the monitor remaining unchanged.

Method for virtual adaptation of an implant to a body part of a patient

In a system for the producing and displaying a virtual access channel in medical images, having a computer with a monitor, and a position and orientation-capturing operating unit and a method for producing and displaying such a virtual access channel in medical 3D images, the computer contains a preoperatively obtained 3D data record of a patient to be examined and can display this as a 3D image and is connected with the operating unit such that a virtual optical channel of the 3D data record is excised from the data record based on a registration between the operating unit and the data record as well as based on different channel parameters, and is displayed on the monitor of the computer.

System and method for the creation of a virtual observation and access channel in medical 3D images

In a tomosynthetic image reconstruction method and diagnostic device operating with such a method, a tomosynthetic 3D x-ray image is reconstructed by a discrete filtered back projection from a number of individual digital projection data recorded from different project angles within a restricted angular range, in which at least one filtering is performed with a convolution kernel that, in the local area outside of its central value, corresponds to an exponential function.

Tomosynthetic image reconstruction method, and diagnostic device operating according to the method

In a method for expanding the display of a volume image of an object region, in particular in medical applications, in which at least one first image data set of a larger object region is made available, at least one second image data set of a smaller object region is acquired, the smaller object region lying within the larger object region, and the first 3D image data set is brought into registration with the second 3D image data set. A synthesized 3D image data set is generated from the first and second 3D image data sets and visualized in a display. The first 3D image data in the first 3D image data set represent the smaller object region, if necessary after a suitable adaptation of the first and/or of the second 3D image data set, are replaced by second 3D image data of the second 3D image data set with identical scaling and alignment of the image data sets. An overview of the larger object region thus is possible, and the smaller object region of interest the image can be represented with up-to-date data as well as a higher resolution and/or a higher contrast.

Method for expanding the display of a volume image of an object region

In a method to extend the display range of 2D image recordings of an object region, particularly in medical applications, first 2D or 3D image data are acquired from a larger object region, and at least one additional set for 2D image data of a smaller object region is acquired that lies within the larger object region The first 2D or 3D image data are brought into registration with the additional 2D image data with a projection geometry. From the first 2D or 3D image data, an image data set is generated for an image display of the first object region, which is suitable for combination with the additional 2D image data. In the image display of the larger object region, at least temporarily, at least one display of the additional 2D image data is integrated, by image data in the first image data set, for the image display of the larger object region, being replaced with image data from the additional 2D image data representing the smaller image region. An overview of the larger object region is thus enabled, with the smaller object region of interest being displayed within the image in a more up-to-date fashion, as well as with higher resolution and/or higher contrast.

Method for extending the display of a 2D image of an object region

A method is provided for depicting an object displayed in a first volume data set. A second volume data set is firstly produced by modulating, according to depth, the volume elements of the first volume data set along a main viewing direction that passes into the first volume data set. Afterwards, the second volume data set undergoes a volume rendering.

Method for depicting an object displayed in a volume data set

A method is for automatic object marking in medical imaging. The method includes coupled displaying of different display modes of at least one image data record containing at least one object to be marked, in different display windows on at least one computer screen. The method further includes transferring the position of an initial point, selected by the user as part of an object-determining first marking, to the computer. Then, pattern recognition techniques are applied to the environment of the initial point of the first marking, resulting in a detailed high-resolution second marking of the object. Thereafter, reversible coding of the second marking of the image data records present in the computer takes place. Finally, the marked object is accentuated relative to its environment in the image data records on the screen.

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Hoechstadt, Germany

Karl Barth