The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 02, 2016
Filed:
Mar. 14, 2013
Agfa Healthcare NV, Mortsel, BE;
Vrvis Zentrum Für Virtual Reality Und Visualisierung Forschungs-gmbh, Vienna, AT;
Avl List Gmbh, Graz, AT;
Imp Forschunginstitut Für Molekulare Pathologie Gmbh, Vienna, AT;
AGFA HEALTHCARE NV, Mortsel, BE;
VRVIS FORSCHUNGS GMBH, Vienna, AT;
IMP FORSCHUNGINSTITUT FÜR MOLEKULARE PATHOLOGIE, Vienna, AT;
Abstract
A method and a corresponding apparatus and system localizes a spine in an image, in particular a computed tomography (CT) image, of a human or animal body, allowing for a reduced need for computational power and/or memory on the one hand and assuring a reliable localization of the spine on the other hand. The method includes a) acquiring a plurality of slice images of at least a part of a human or animal body, and b) automatically selecting slice images and/or parts of slice images from the acquired plurality of slice images by considering at least one parameter (μ, ν, σ, Λ) characterizing a distribution of bones in the acquired slice images, wherein the selected slice images and/or parts of the slice images includes image information about the spine.