US 2015/0091562 A1 · PHANTOM FOR CALIBRATION OF IMAGING SYSTEM

Abstract

A phantom for a medical imaging system with a matrix of spherical hollow elements is provided, with adjacent ones of the elements of a same row being interconnected by and in fluid communication through a hollow tube extending therebetween, with each element being filled with a contrasting solution. Also, a phantom is provided having a plurality of groups of interconnected hollow elements received within a sealed enclosure with the elements of a same one of the groups being in fluid communication with one another and the elements of different ones of the groups being sealed from one another, and the elements of at least one of the groups being filled with a fluid more contrasting than the fluid filling the elements of at least another one of the groups. A method of correcting patient images is also provided.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A phantom for a medical imaging system using a coil, the phantom comprising:

a casing having at least one open end sealingly closed by a first removable cover and defining a sealed enclosure filled with a fluid, the casing being adapted to fit within an opening of the coil;
and
a matrix of spherical hollow elements having a fixed position relative to one another and received within the enclosure, the matrix being defined by a plurality of interconnected rows of the elements, adjacent ones of the elements of a same one of the rows being interconnected by and in fluid communication through a hollow tube extending therebetween, each row defining at least one open end in fluid communication with the elements thereof, the at least one open end being sealingly closed by a second removable closing member, each element being filled with a solution having a different contrast than that of the fluid.

A method of correcting tridimensional patient data from a medical imaging system, the method comprising:

scanning a body portion of a patient received within an opening of a coil to create patient images, the coil having a given position in the imaging system;
inserting a phantom within the opening of the coil at the given position before or after scanning the body portion and with the opening being free of the body portion;
scanning the phantom to create phantom images of a plurality of elements of the phantom, each element having a center point with a respective known position with respect to a reference coordinate system of the phantom;
determining a position of the center point of each element in the phantom images with respect to the reference coordinate system;
computing a difference between the position of the center point of each element in the phantom images and the corresponding known position to create a distortion map;
and
applying a correction to tridimensional patient data based on the distortion map, the tridimensional patient data corresponding to the patient images or to subsequent data created from the patient images.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Phantom for calibration of imaging system

Life of this patent

Phantom for calibration of imaging system

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20