# US 10,946,214 B2 · Automated anatomy delineation for image guided therapy planning

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- Number: US 10,946,214 B2
- Document ID: US10946214B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/638,914
- Filed: 2017-06-30
- Published: 2017-10-19
- Granted: 2021-03-16
- Earliest claimed: 2009-04-02
- Assignees: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
- Applicants: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
- Inventors: Vladimir Pekar; Daniel Bystrov
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10946214B2

## CPC

- A61N 5/103: {Treatment planning systems}
- G06T 7/12: Edge-based segmentation
- G06T 7/149: involving deformable models, e.g. active contour models
- G06T 7/174: involving the use of two or more images
- G06T 7/33: using feature-based methods
- G16H 20/40: relating to mechanical, radiation or invasive therapies, e.g. surgery, laser therapy, dialysis or acupuncture
- G16H 30/20: for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
- G16H 30/40: for processing medical images, e.g. editing
- G06T 2200/04: involving 3D image data
- G06T 2207/10081: Computed x-ray tomography [CT]
- G06T 2207/30016: Brain
- G06T 2210/41: Medical
- G06T 2219/2021: Shape modification
- A61N: ELECTROTHERAPY; MAGNETOTHERAPY; RADIATION THERAPY; ULTRASOUND THERAPY (measurement of bioelectric currents A61B; surgical instruments, devices or methods for transferring non-mechanical forms of energy to or from the body A61B18/00; anaesthetic apparatus in general A61M; incandescent lamps H01K; infrared radiators for heating H05B)
- G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL
- G16H: HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE HANDLING OR PROCESSING OF MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE DATA

## Abstract

When delineating anatomical structures in a medical image of a patient for radiotherapy planning, a processor (18) detects landmarks (24) in a low-resolution image (e.g., MRI or low-dose CT) and maps the detected landmarks to reference landmarks (28) in a reference contour of the anatomical structure. The mapped landmarks facilitate adjusting the reference contour to fit the anatomical structure. The adjusted reference contour data is transformed and applied to a second image using a thin-plate spline, and the adjusted high-resolution image is used for radiotherapy planning.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A system that facilitates delineating anatomical features in images used for image-guided therapy planning, including:
an imaging device;
a therapy planning processor; and
an electronic processor programmed to:
map anatomical landmarks detected in an initial image received from the imaging device to reference landmarks in a reference contour corresponding to the anatomical structure;
adjust the reference contour to the anatomical structure based on mapped landmark pairs;
adjust a contour of the anatomical structure in a second image, received from the imaging device, of the anatomical structure using the adjusted reference contour; and
provide the adjusted second image to the therapy planning processor.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system according to claim 1, wherein the reference contour is adjusted using a thin-plate spline.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The system according to claim 1, wherein the initial image is a low-dose computerized tomography (CT) image generated by a CT scanner.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The system according to claim 3, wherein the detected landmarks are hard-tissue landmarks.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The system according to claim 1, wherein the initial image is a low-resolution magnetic resonance (MR) image generated by an MR imaging (MRI) device.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The system according to claim 5, wherein the detected landmarks are soft-tissue landmarks.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The system according to claim 1, wherein the detected landmark position information is exported using a DICOM data transfer protocol.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The system according to claim 1, wherein the therapy planning processor is programmed to generate at least one of a radiotherapy plan, an ultrasound therapy plan, a particle therapy plan, an ablation therapy plan, and a physical therapy plan based at least in part on information contained in the adjusted second image.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The system according to claim 1, wherein the initial image and the second image are generated using different imaging modalities.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The system according to claim 9, wherein the initial image is generated using at least one of a computed tomography (CT) scanner and a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device, and wherein the second image is generated using at least one of the CT scanner, the MRI device, and a nuclear imaging device.

### Claim 11

A method of delineating anatomical features in images used for image-guided therapy planning, including, with at least one computer processor:
mapping detected anatomical landmarks detected in an initial image to reference landmarks in a reference contour corresponding to the anatomical structure;
adjusting the reference contour to the anatomical structure based on the mapped landmark pairs;
adjusting a contour of the anatomical structure in a second image using the adjusted reference contour; and
generating a therapy plan based at least in part on the adjusted second image.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The method according to claim 11, further including at least one of:
displaying at least one of the initial image and the second image on a display;
storing at least one of the initial image and the second image to a memory; and
storing the therapy plan to the memory.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The method according to claim 11, further including:
adjusting the reference contour using a thin-plate spline.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

The method according to claim 11, further including:
generating the initial image with a CT scanner, wherein the detected landmarks are soft-tissue landmarks.

### Claim 15 (depends on 11)

The method according to claim 11, further including:
generating the initial image with an MRI device, wherein the detected landmarks are soft-tissue landmarks.

### Claim 16 (depends on 11)

The method according to claim 11, further including:
generating at least one of a radiotherapy plan, an ultrasound plan, a particle beam therapy plan, an ablation therapy plan, and a physical therapy plan based at least in part on information contained in the adjusted second image.

### Claim 17 (depends on 11)

A non-transitory computer-readable medium carrying a computer program that controls one or more computers to perform the method according to claim 11.

### Claim 18 (depends on 11)

A therapy-planning workstation including a processor programmed to perform the method according to claim 11.

### Claim 19

A non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores computer-executable instructions for generating a therapy plan for a patient, for execution by a processor, the instructions including:
mapping detected landmarks in a low-resolution image of the patient using at least one of a magnetic resonance imagine (MRI) device and a computed tomography (CT) scanner to reference landmarks in a reference contour stored in a memory;
employing one or more thin-plate splines to adjust the reference contour to fit a contour of the anatomical structure using the mapped landmarks;
applying the adjusted reference contour to a second image of the anatomical structure to adjust the second image; and
generating a radiotherapy plan based at least in part on the adjusted second image.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 19, the instructions further comprising:
generating the second image using at least one of the CT scanner, the MRI device, and a nuclear scanner;
wherein the second image is generated using a different imaging modality than the low-resolution image.