# US 10,863,962 B2 · X-ray computed tomography apparatus and contrast medium inflow amount detection method

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- Number: US 10,863,962 B2
- Document ID: US10863962B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 14/976,754
- Filed: 2015-12-21
- Published: 2016-04-14
- Granted: 2020-12-15
- Earliest claimed: 2013-07-08
- Assignees: Canon Medical Systems Corporation
- Applicants: Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation
- Inventors: Kazuki Gatayama; Tatsuya Watanabe; Katsuhiko Ishida; Shinya Kawanabe
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10863962B2

## CPC

- A61B 6/54: {Control of apparatus or devices for radiation diagnosis}
- A61B 6/032: {Transmission computed tomography [CT]}
- A61B 6/481: {involving the use of contrast agents}
- A61B 6/486: {involving generating temporal series of image data}
- A61B 6/488: {involving pre-scan acquisition}
- A61B 6/507: {for determination of haemodynamic parameters, e.g. perfusion CT}
- A61B 6/5217: {extracting a diagnostic or physiological parameter from medical diagnostic data}
- A61B 6/541: {involving acquisition triggered by a physiological signal}
- A61B 6/545: {involving automatic set-up of acquisition parameters}
- A61M 5/007: {for contrast media}
- G16H 50/30: for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment
- A61B 6/5205: {involving processing of raw data to produce diagnostic data}
- A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D)
- A61M: DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY (introducing media into or onto the bodies of animals A61D7/00; means for inserting tampons A61F13/26; devices for administering food or medicines orally A61J; containers for collecting, storing or administering blood or medical fluids A61J1/05); DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY (surgery A61B; chemical aspects of surgical articles A61L); DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR {(Electrotherapy, e.g. producing anaesthesia by the use of alternating or intermittent currents A61N1/36021)}
- G16H: HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE HANDLING OR PROCESSING OF MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE DATA

## Abstract

According to an embodiment, an X-ray computed tomography apparatus includes reconstruction circuitry and control circuitry. The reconstruction circuitry is configured to, at the time of the monitoring scan, based on an output of an X-ray detector for detecting X-rays having passed through the object, reconstruct a first image concerning the object at the time of administration of the contrast medium and a second image concerning the object after a predetermined period elapses since administration of the contrast medium. The control circuitry is configured to shift from the monitoring scan to the actual scan based on a change amount of a CT value obtained when the entire reconstructed first image is compared with the entire reconstructed second image.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An X-ray computed tomography (CT) apparatus comprising:
an imaging unit that executes an actual scan, and a monitoring scan for imaging a range including an imaging portion of the actual scan before start of the actual scan;
reconstruction circuitry configured to, at a time of the monitoring scan not setting a region of interest, based on an output of an X-ray detector for detecting X-rays having passed through an object, reconstruct a first image concerning object at a time of administration of a contrast medium and a second image concerning the object after a predetermined period elapses since administration of the contrast medium; and
control circuitry configured to
generate a first histogram representing a pixel count corresponding to each CT value in the entirety of the first image,
generate, for every predetermined period, a second histogram representing a pixel count corresponding to each CT value in the entirety of the second image,
sequentially acquire a difference histogram corresponding to a difference between the first histogram and the second histogram for which a pixel count increases with respect to the first histogram, and sequentially acquire a CT value corresponding to a largest pixel count in the difference histogram, and
control at least one of stopping the monitoring scan or starting the actual scan when the acquired CT value exceeds a predetermined threshold,
the imaging unit executing no registration scan for setting the region of interest.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The X-ray computed tomography apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to acquire the CT value corresponding to the largest pixel count in the difference histogram within a predetermined CT value range.

### Claim 3

An X-ray computed tomography (CT) apparatus, comprising:
an imaging unit that executes a monitoring scan for detecting an inflow amount of a contrast medium administered to an object and, after the monitoring scan, an actual scan under a scan condition different from that of the monitoring scan;
reconstruction circuitry configured to, at a time of the monitoring scan not setting a region of interest, based on an output of an X-ray detector for detecting X-rays having passed through the object, reconstruct a first image concerning the object at a time of administration of the contrast medium and a second image concerning the object after a predetermined period elapses since administration of the contrast medium; and
control circuitry configured to generate a first histogram representing a pixel count corresponding to each CT value in the entirety of the first image, sequentially generate a second histogram and a third histogram each representing a pixel count corresponding to each CT value in the entirety of the second image, and shift from the monitoring scan to the actual scan based on whether a peak value of a pixel value corresponding to a predetermined CT value range exceeds a threshold in a cumulative histogram obtained by accumulating a difference between the first histogram at a first point of time and the second histogram at a second point of time after the first point of time, and a difference between the second histogram at the second point of time and the third histogram at a third point of time after the second point of time, within the predetermined CT value range,
the imaging unit executing no registration scan for setting the region of interest.