Medical image processing apparatus and medical image processing method

A medical image processing apparatus, comprising:

• processing circuitry;
• and
• a display,
• wherein the processing circuitry is configured to
• (a) calculate fluid information including flow-velocity vectors based on three-dimensional image data of plural time phases, which are acquired by a phase contrast method of magnetic resonance imaging, and in which fluid flowing inside a lumen is depicted,
• (b) identify a branching position where a second lumen branches from a first lumen, based on change in flow volume of fluid flowing inside the first lumen along an extending direction of the first lumen, and
• (c) cause the display to display an analysis result including fluid information of fluid flowing inside the second lumen, based on the branching position,
• wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to
• identify a second lumen region outside a first lumen region which extends in parallel with a direction of a flow of the fluid in the first lumen,
• divide each of velocity vectors into a component of the extending direction and a component of a vertical direction being perpendicular to the extending direction, and
• identify the branching position based on distribution of the component of a vertical direction inside the second lumen region.

A medical image processing apparatus, comprising:

• processing circuitry;
• and
• a display,
• wherein the processing circuitry is configured to
• (a) calculate fluid information including flow-velocity vectors based on three-dimensional image data of plural time phases in which fluid flowing inside a lumen is depicted,
• (b) identify a branching position where a second lumen branches from a first lumen, based on change in flow volume of fluid flowing inside the first lumen along an extending direction of the first lumen, and
• (c) cause the display to display an analysis result including fluid information of fluid flowing inside the second lumen, based on the branching position and
• wherein the processing circuitry is configured to identify the branching position based on an integral value obtained by calculating in-plane flow volume of fluid in each of plural short-axis cross-sections of the first lumen in parallel with each other along the extending direction and integrating the in-plane flow volume of every short-axis cross-section.

A medical image processing method, comprising:

• calculating fluid information including flow-velocity vectors based on three-dimensional image data of plural time phases, which are acquired by a phase contrast method of magnetic resonance imaging, and in which fluid flowing inside a lumen is depicted;
• identifying a branching position where a second lumen branches from a first lumen, based on change in flow volume of fluid flowing inside the first lumen along an extending direction of the first lumen;
• and
• displaying an analysis result including fluid information of fluid flowing inside the second lumen, based on the branching position,
• wherein the branching position is identified based on an integral value obtained by calculating in-plane flow volume of fluid in each of plural short-axis cross-sections of the first lumen in parallel with each other along the extending direction and integrating the in-plane flow volume of every short-axis cross-section.