Robust and efficient decomposition algorithm for digital x-ray de imaging
AssigneeGE Medical Systems Global Technology Company, LLC
InventorGopal B. Avinash
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Abstract
The present technique provides a variety of processing schemes for decomposing soft tissue and bone images more accurately from low and high-energy images acquired from an imaging system, such as a dual-energy digital radiography system using flat-panel technology. In particular, a modified decomposition process is provided to mitigate noise and to reduce contrast artifacts, such as blooming, while decomposing soft tissue and bone images from low and high-energy images.
Claims45
A method of processing first and second images acquired by a digital radiography imaging system at different energy levels and different times, comprising the acts of:
- decomposing soft tissue and bone images from the first and second images;
- and
- mitigating noise amplification at attenuated regions of at least one of the first and second images during decomposition.
A method of producing soft tissue and bone images of the desired anatomy of a patient, comprising the acts of:
- acquiring first and second images of the desired anatomy from a digital radiography imaging system at low and high-energy levels at first and second times, respectively;
- decomposing soft tissue and bone images of the desired anatomy from the first and second images pixel-by-pixel using an image intensity ratio of the second image to the first image;
- and
- mitigating noise amplification at attenuated regions of at least one of the first and second images by weighting intensity of the first image with a noise stabilizing parameter during decomposition.
A computer program for processing image data acquired from a digital radiography imaging system, comprising:
- a tangible medium configured to support machine-readable code;
- and
- machine-readable code supported on the medium and comprising a modified dual-energy decomposition routine for decomposing soft tissue and bone images from first and second images obtained from the digital radiography imaging system at different energy levels and different times, the modified dual-energy decomposition routine comprising:
- a noise mitigation routine adapted to reduce noise amplification at attenuated regions of at least one image of the first and second images by weighting intensity of the first image with a noise stabilizing parameter during decomposition.
A medical imaging system, comprising:
- a digital radiographic imaging system, comprising:
- an x-ray device adapted to generate x-rays;
- a collimator adapted to filter the x-rays in a desired anatomical region of a patient;
- a flat-panel digital x-ray detector adapted to detect x-rays passing through the patient;
- and
- dual-energy control circuitry adapted to acquire first and second images of the desired anatomical region at different energy levels over a time interval;
- and
- an image processing system, comprising:
- a modified dual-energy image decomposition module adapted to mitigate noise amplification and contrast variations associated with decomposing soft tissue and bone images from the first and second images, comprising:
- a noise mitigation module adapted to reduce noise amplification at attenuated regions of at least one image of the first and second images by weighting intensity of the first image with a noise stabilizing parameter during decomposition.
A system for decomposing soft tissue and bone images from first and second energy images acquired by a digital radiography imaging system over a time interval, comprising:
- means for mitigating noise while decomposing the first and second energy images into at least one image of the soft tissue and bone images.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.