# US 10,368,827 B2 · X-ray imaging apparatus and control method thereof > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,368,827 B2 - Document ID: US10368827B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/354,207 - Filed: 2016-11-17 - Published: 2017-03-09 - Granted: 2019-08-06 - Earliest claimed: 2012-06-20 - Assignees: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Duhgoon Lee; Phill Gu Jung; Myung Jin Chung - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10368827B2 ## CPC - A61B 6/545: {involving automatic set-up of acquisition parameters} - A61B 6/4452: {the source unit and the detector unit being able to move relative to each other} - A61B 6/469: {for selecting a region of interest [ROI]} - A61B 6/5241: {combining overlapping images of the same imaging modality, e.g. by stitching} - A61B 6/504: {for diagnosis of blood vessels, e.g. by angiography} - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) ## Abstract An X-ray imaging apparatus and control method thereof precisely designates an imaging region and reduces user fatigue by designating a segmentation imaging region using an image of a target object captured by a camera and automatically controlling an X-ray generator according to the designated segmentation imaging region. The X-ray imaging apparatus includes an X-ray generator to perform X-ray imaging of a target object by generating and irradiating X-rays, an image capturer to capture an image of the target object, an image display to display the image captured by the image capturer, an input part to receive designation of a region for which segmentation imaging is to be performed on the image displayed on the image display, and a controller to control the X-ray generator to perform segmentation imaging with respect to the designated region. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An X-ray imaging apparatus, comprising: an X-ray generator configured to generate X-rays and irradiate the generated X-rays toward a target object; an image display configured to display an image of the target object captured by a camera; an input part configured to receive an input with respect to a first sub-region and a second sub-region on the image of the target object displayed by the image display, the first sub-region and the second sub-region being included in a segmentation region; and a controller configured to control movement of the X-ray generator to perform segmentation imaging based on the segmentation region. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The X-ray imaging apparatus according claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to control the image display to display the first sub-region and the second sub-region on the image of the target object. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The X-ray imaging apparatus according claim 1, the controller is configured to control the image display to display a boundary between the first sub-region and the second sub-region on the image of the target object. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The X-ray imaging apparatus according claim 3, wherein the input is configured to receive an input adjusting a position of the boundary on the image of the target object. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The X-ray imaging apparatus according claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to control an angle of the X-ray generator to perform segmentation imaging based on the first sub-region and the second sub-region. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The X-ray imaging apparatus according claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to control a position of the X-ray generator to perform segmentation imaging based on the first sub-region and the second sub-region. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The X-ray imaging apparatus according claim 1, further comprising: the camera configured to capture the image of the target object, and wherein the camera is mounted on the X-ray generator. ### Claim 8 An X-ray imaging apparatus, comprising: an X-ray generator configured to generate X-rays and irradiate the generated X-rays toward a target object; an image capturer configured to capture an image of the target object; an image display configured to display the image of the target object captured by the image capturer; an input part configured to receive an input with respect to the image of the target object displayed by the image display, the input defining a segmentation region corresponding to a portion of the target object for which segmentation imaging is to be performed; and a controller configured to divide the segmentation region into a first sub-region and a second sub-region and control the image display to display a boundary between the first sub-region and the second sub-region on the image of the target object. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The X-ray imaging apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to control movement of the X-ray generator to perform segmentation imaging based on the first sub-region of the segmentation region and based on the second sub-region of the segmentation region. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The X-ray imaging apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the input defines a start position and an end position with respect to the image of the target object displayed by the image display, the segmentation region corresponds to the image of the target object displayed by the image display between the start position and the end position, and the first sub-region of the segmentation region and the second sub-region of the segmentation region are determined by the controller. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The X-ray imaging apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to calculate a number of sub-regions of the segmentation region based on a size of the segmentation region. ### Claim 12 (depends on 8) The X-ray imaging apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the first sub-region of the segmentation region and the second sub-region of the segmentation region partially overlap with one another. ### Claim 13 (depends on 8) The X-ray imaging apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising: an X-ray detector configured to detect X-rays which pass through the target object, wherein the controller is configured to control a location of the X-ray detector based on the first sub-region of the segmentation region and based on the second sub-region of the segmentation region. ### Claim 14 (depends on 8) The X-ray imaging apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the image display includes a touch screen and the touch screen is configured to be operated as the input part. ### Claim 15 (depends on 8) The X-ray imaging apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the image capturer includes a camera. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The X-ray imaging apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the camera is installed at the x-ray generator facing in a direction of the irradiating X-rays of the X-ray generator. ### Claim 17 (depends on 8) The X-ray imaging apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to generate a segmentation X-ray image by using a first X-ray image generated based on the first sub-region of the segmentation region and a second X-ray image generated based on the second sub-region of the segmentation region, and the segmentation X-ray image corresponds to a two-dimensional X-ray image corresponding to the portion of the target object. ### Claim 18 (depends on 8) The X-ray imaging apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to calibrate a location relationship between the image of the target object captured by the image capturer and an X-ray image of the target object prior to X-ray imaging of the target object. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The X-ray imaging apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the controller is configured to calculate a first location at which the first sub-region of the segmentation region is irradiated with X-rays and a second location at which the second sub-region of the segmentation region is irradiated with X-rays based on the calibrated location relationship. ### Claim 20 The X-ray imaging apparatus according to 8, wherein the input part receives a start position on the image of the target object displayed by the image display to define the segmentation region. ### Claim 21 The X-ray imaging apparatus according to 8, wherein, the input part is further configured to receive an input adjusting an overlap region between the first sub-region of the segmentation region and the second sub-region of the segmentation region to reduce exposure of X-rays to a body part of the target object. ### Claim 22 An X-ray imaging apparatus, comprising: an X-ray generator configured to generate X-rays and irradiate the generated X-rays toward a target object; an image capturer configured to capture an image of the target object; an touch screen configured to display the image captured by the image capturer and to receive an input with respect to the image of the target object displayed by the image display, the input defining a segmentation region corresponding to a portion of the target object for which segmentation imaging is to be performed; and a controller configured to divide the segmentation region into a first sub-region and a second sub-region and control the image display to display a boundary between the first sub-region and the second sub-region on the image of the target object. ### Claim 23 (depends on 22) The X-ray imaging apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the input includes a first position and an second position, the segmentation region corresponds to the image of the target object displayed by the image display between the first position and the second position. ### Claim 24 (depends on 23) The X-ray imaging apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the controller is further configured to determine a third position and a fourth position, the first sub-region of the segmentation region corresponds to the image of the target object displayed by the image display between the first position and the third position, the second sub-region of the segmentation region corresponds to the image of the target object displayed by the image display between the second position and the fourth position. ### Claim 25 The X-ray imaging apparatus according to 22, wherein, the touch screen is further configured to receive an input adjusting an overlap region between the first sub-region of the segmentation region and the second sub-region of the segmentation region to reduce exposure of X-rays to a body part of the target object.