# US 2018/0025491 A1 · Medical image processing apparatus

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- Number: US 2018/0025491 A1
- Document ID: US20180025491A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 15/645,225
- Filed: 2017-07-10
- Published: 2018-01-25
- Earliest claimed: 2016-07-25
- Assignees: Konica Minolta, Inc.
- Applicants: Konica Minolta, Inc.
- Inventors: Shinsuke KATSUHARA
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20180025491A1

## CPC

- G06T 7/0012: {Biomedical image inspection}
- G06T 7/12: Edge-based segmentation
- G06T 7/149: involving deformable models, e.g. active contour models
- G06T 7/60: Analysis of geometric attributes
- G06T 2207/10116: X-ray image
- G06T 2207/20116: Active contour; Active surface; Snakes
- G06T 2207/30008: Bone
- G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL

## Abstract

A medical image processing apparatus which processes a medical image including a plurality of structures, the apparatus including: a memory in which a previous shape model including a set of contours of a specific structure based on an anatomical position is stored as previous information; and a hardware processor that: locates the previous shape model in the medical image; calculates, for the medical image, image feature amounts at positions which overlap the contours in the located previous shape model; and extracts contours of the specific structure by detecting candidate points of the specific structure based on the contours in the previous shape model and the image feature amounts.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A medical image processing apparatus which processes a medical image including a plurality of structures, the apparatus comprising:
a memory in which a previous shape model including a set of contours of a specific structure based on an anatomical position is stored as previous information; and
a hardware processor that:
locates the previous shape model in the medical image;
calculates, for the medical image, image feature amounts at positions which overlap the contours in the located previous shape model; and
extracts contours of the specific structure by detecting candidate points of the specific structure based on the contours in the previous shape model and the image feature amounts.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the contours in the previous shape model are obtained by modelling and statistically processing a photographed image of the specific structure.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein
the previous shape model is prepared for each age, and
the contours in the previous shape model for each age are obtained by modelling and statistically processing the photographed image of the specific structure for each age.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein
the previous shape model is prepared for each sex, and
the contours in the previous shape model for each sex are obtained by modelling and statistically processing the photographed image of the specific structure for each sex.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
the hardware processor updates the previous shape model stored in the memory to a new previous shape model in which the contours are corrected based on the specific structure extracted by the hardware processor, and
after update by the hardware processor, the hardware processor uses the new previous shape model.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the hardware processor corrects the contours in the previous shape model based on a positional difference between the previous shape model stored in the memory and the specific structure extracted by the hardware processor.

### Claim 7 (depends on 5)

The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the hardware processor corrects the contours in the previous shape model based on the specific structure which is extracted by the hardware processor and matches, with a high degree, a predetermined contour in the previous shape model stored in the memory.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the medical image is a simple chest X-ray image.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the specific structure is a bone.