Siemens Medical Solutions Usa, Inc.

Siemens Healthcare Gmbh

Siemens Healthineers Ag

Matthias Wolf

Luca Bogoni

Marcos Salganicoff

Xiang Sean Zhou

Gerardo Hermosillo Valadez

Yiqiang Zhan

Sarang Lakare

Le Lu

Dorin Comaniciu

Adrian Barbu

Anna Jerebko

Jonathan Stoeckel

Shu Liao

Yoshihisa Shinagawa

Christian Tietjen

Jianming Liang

Zhigang Peng

Sven Kohle

Pascal Cathier

Meizhu Liu

Rachid Fahmi

Vikas C Raykar

Yu Zhao

Simon Allen-Raffl

Kevin Brown

Gerardo Hermosillo-Valadez

Zhennan Yan

Zhiyun Xue

Zhen Qian

Tin Man Lee

Grégoire Guétat

Xiangwei Zhang

Katharina Schmidler Burk

Halid Yerebakan

Gregoire Guetat

A computer-implemented method for identifying pathological changes in follow-up medical images is provided. In an embodiment, the method includes: providing reference image data showing a body part of a patient at a first time; providing follow-up image data showing a body part of a patient at a subsequent second time; generating one or more deformation fields for the reference image data and the follow-up image data describing anatomical deformations in the body part between the reference image data and the follow-up image data using at least one image registration; aligning the reference image data and the follow up image data using the one or more deformation fields to generate co-aligned image data; analyzing the co-aligned image data to identify pathological changes in the body part from the reference image data to the follow image data using a machine learned network trained to recognize pathological relevant changes in co-aligned image data.

Method and system for identifying pathological changes in follow-up medical images

A system and method include identification of a plurality of sub-volumes of an image volume, each of the plurality of sub-volumes of the image volume associated with a respective one of a plurality of vertebra, registration of each of the plurality of sub-volumes of the image volume to one of a plurality of reference sub-volumes associated with a same respective vertebra, input of the registered sub-volumes and the image volume to a trained neural network, reception of an output image volume from the trained neural network, the output image volume labeled to associate voxels with respective vertebra, and display of the output image volume.

Spine segmentation system

A framework for patient management based on anatomic measurements is described herein. In accordance with one aspect, patient records are clustered into a set of sub-populations based on first anatomic measurements and characteristics extracted from first patient data associated with a population of patients. A representative sub-population similar to a patient may be determined from the set of sub-populations based on the patient data of the patient. A report that presents the second anatomic measurements associated with the patient in relation to corresponding first anatomic measurements associated with the representative sub-population may then be generated.

Patient management based on anatomic measurements

A framework for selective image reconstruction. In accordance with one aspect, the framework receives at least one first image that is reconstructed based on at least one first reconstruction attribute. At least one region of interest may then be identified in the at least one first image. The framework may selectively reconstruct at least one second image of the region of interest based on at least one second reconstruction attribute, wherein the second reconstruction attribute is different from the first reconstruction attribute. Results may then be generated based on the at least one second image.

Selective image reconstruction

A framework for automatic retrieval of medical images. In accordance with one aspect, the framework detects patches in a query image volume that contain at least a portion of an anatomical region of interest by using a first trained classifier. The framework determines disease probabilities by applying a second trained classifier to the detected patches, and selects, from the patches, a sub-set of informative patches with disease probabilities above a pre-determined threshold value. For a given patch from the sub-set of informative patches, the framework retrieves, from a database, patches that are most similar to the given image. Image volumes associated with the retrieved patches are then retrieved from the database. A report based on the retrieved image volumes may then be generated and presented.

Automatic medical image retrieval

Disclosed herein is a framework for facilitating synchronized image navigation. In accordance with one aspect, at least first and second medical images are received. A non-linear mapping between the first and second medical images is generated. A selection of a given location in the first medical image is received in response to a user's navigational operation. Without deforming the second medical image, a target location in the second medical image is determined by using the non-linear mapping. The target location corresponds to the given location in the first medical image. An optimized deformation-free view of the second medical image is generated based at least in part on the target location. While the user performs navigational operations on the first medical image, the framework repeatedly receives the selection of the given location, determines the target location using the non-linear mapping, and generates the optimized deformation-free view of the second medical image based at least in part on the target location.

Synchronized navigation of medical images

Described herein is a technology for enhanced visualization of medical image data. In one implementation, a region of interest is identified in a first set of images along at least one viewing direction. Based on the first set of images, a second set of images is reconstructed to include at least one selectively enhanced rendering of the region of interest. The selectively enhanced rendering may include a three-dimensional rendering or any other type of enhanced rendering to facilitate detection of abnormalities.

Enhanced visualization of medical image data

Described herein is a framework for multi-view matching of regions of interest in images. According to one aspect, a processor receives first and second digitized images, as well as at least one CAD finding corresponding to a detected region of interest in the first image. The processor determines at least one candidate location in the second image that matches the CAD finding in the first image. The matching is performed based on local appearance features extracted for the CAD finding and the candidate location. In accordance with another aspect, the processor receives digitized training images representative of at least first and second views of one or more regions of interest. Feature selection is performed based on the training images to select a subset of relevant local appearance features to represent instances in the first and second views. A distance metric is then learned based on the subset of local appearance features. The distance metric may be used to perform matching of the regions of interest.

Matching of regions of interest across multiple views

A method and system for polyp segmentation in computed tomography colonogrphy (CTC) volumes is disclosed. The polyp segmentation method utilizes a three-staged probabilistic binary classification approach for automatically segmenting polyp voxels from surrounding tissue in CTC volumes. Based on an input initial polyp position, a polyp tip is detected in a CTC volume using a trained 3D point detector. A local polar coordinate system is then fit to the colon surface in the CTC volume with the origin at the detected polyp tip. Polyp interior voxels and polyp exterior voxels are detected along each axis of the local polar coordinate system using a trained 3D box. A boundary voxel is detected on each axis of the local polar coordinate system based on the detected polyp interior voxels and polyp exterior voxels by boosted 1D curve parsing using a trained classifier. This results in a segmented polyp boundary.

Method and system for polyp segmentation for 3D computed tomography colonography

A computer-implemented method for identifying an object of interest includes providing input data including an image and a candidate for the object of interest in the image, extracting a boundary of the candidate, and extracting a segment of a region of interest containing the candidate. The method further includes determining a plurality of features of an extracted segment of the region of interest containing the candidate, and outputting the object of interest, wherein the object of interest is characterized by the plurality of features, wherein the object of interest and the plurality of features are stored as computer-readable code.

Reducing false positives for automatic computerized detection of objects

A method for segmenting organs in digitized medical images includes providing a set of segmented training images of an organ, computing a surface mesh having a plurality of mesh cells that approximates a border of the organ, extracting positive examples of all mesh cells and negative examples in the neighborhood of each mesh cell which do not belong to the organ surface, training from the positive examples and negative examples a plurality of classifiers for outputting a probability of a point being a center of a particular mesh cell, computing an active shape model using a subset of center points in the mesh cells, generating a new shape by iteratively deforming the active shape model to fit a test image, and using the classifiers to calculate a probability of each center point of the new shape being a center of a mesh cell which the classifier was trained to recognize.

System and method for organ segmentation using surface patch classification in 2D and 3D images

A method and system for providing a user interface for polyp annotation, segmentation, and measurement in computer tomography colonography (CTC) volumes is disclosed. The interface receives an initial polyp position in a CTC volume, and automatically segments the polyp based on the initial polyp position. In order to segment the polyp, a polyp tip is detected in the CTC volume using a trained 3D point detector. A local polar coordinate system is then fit to the colon surface in the CTC volume with the origin at the detected polyp tip. Polyp interior voxels and polyp exterior voxels are detected along each axis of the local polar coordinate system using a trained 3D box. A boundary voxel is detected on each axis of the local polar coordinate system based on the detected polyp interior voxels and polyp exterior voxels by boosted 1D curve parsing using a trained classifier. This results in a segmented polyp boundary. The segmented polyp is displayed in the user interface, and a user can modify the segmented polyp boundary using the interface. The interface can measure the size of the segmented polyp in three dimensions. The user can also use the interface for polyp annotation in CTC volumes.

User interface for polyp annotation, segmentation, and measurement in 3D computed tomography colonography

A method for segmenting a tubular structure includes providing a three-dimensional image containing the tubular structure, providing at least one seed point within the tubular structure, fitting an initial cylinder into the tubular structure at the seed point, adding cylinder segments to the initial cylinder in forward and backward directions within the three-dimensional image of the tubular structure by tracking the cylinder model over the tubular structure, modeling each cylinder segment using parameters to account for a three-dimensional orientation, a radius, a length and a curvature, describing an intensity image of the tubular structure using a second model to represent an edge and intensity distribution of the tubular structure, fitting the parameters as the cylinder segment is added to the intensity image, and outputting cylinder segments as a segmentation of the tube.

3D segmentation of the colon in MR colonography

A method for segmenting tubular structures in medical images includes providing at least a start point and an end point in a digital image volume, minimizing an action surface U(p) which, at each image point p, corresponds to a minimal energy integrated along a path that starts at start point pand ends at p, sliding back on the minimal action surface from an end point to the start point to find a minimal path connecting the terminal points, initializing a level set function with points on the minimal path, and evolving the level set function to find a surface of a structure about the minimal path, wherein the level set function is constrained to be close to a signed distance function and wherein the level set function is prevented from growing wider than a predetermined diameter R, wherein the surface about the minimal path defines a tubular structure.

System and method for robust segmentation of tubular structures in 2D and 3D images

A method for computer-aided object classification, soft segmentation and layer extraction in computed tomographic colonography includes providing a contrast enhanced computed tomography (CT) digital image of the colon, finding a foreground region of voxels with an intensity higher than a pre-defined foreground threshold, creating a 3D trimap of the colon where the image is segmented into the foreground region, a background region, and an unknown region between the foreground and background, starting from the background, extracting successive layers of the unknown region until the foreground region is reached, and classifying each extracted layer as background or foreground, and generating a foreground matte, a background matte, and an alpha matte, where alpha indicates a mixing ration of foreground and background voxels.

Growing community of inventors

Coatesville, PA, United States of America

Matthias Wolf