# US 2022/0044052 A1 · Matching apparatus, matching method, and matching program > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2022/0044052 A1 - Document ID: US20220044052A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 17/505,632 - Filed: 2021-10-20 - Published: 2022-02-10 - Earliest claimed: 2019-05-28 - Assignees: FUJIFILM Corporation - Applicants: FUJIFILM Corporation - Inventors: Teck Chuan BEH - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20220044052A1 ## CPC - G06T 7/0016: {involving temporal comparison} - G06V 10/443: {by matching or filtering} - A61B 6/03: Computed tomography [CT] - G01T 1/161: Applications in the field of nuclear medicine, e.g. in vivo counting {(apparatus for radiation diagnosis A61B6/00)} - G06F 18/22: Matching criteria, e.g. proximity measures - G06T 7/0014: {using an image reference approach} - G06T 7/74: {involving reference images or patches} - G06T 2207/10081: Computed x-ray tomography [CT] - G06T 2207/10088: Magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] - G06T 2207/10104: Positron emission tomography [PET] - G06T 2207/20224: Image subtraction - G06T 2207/30012: Spine; Backbone - G06T 2207/30056: Liver; Hepatic - G06T 2207/30096: Tumor; Lesion - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) - G01T: MEASUREMENT OF NUCLEAR OR X-RADIATION (radiation analysis of materials, mass spectrometry G01N23/00; tubes for determining the presence, intensity, density or energy of radiation or particles H01J47/00) - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract A reference part extracting unit extracts at least one reference part that is common in a first image and a second image, from each of the first image and the second image. A first position information deriving unit derives first position information indicating a relative position of at least one abnormal part specified in the first image, relative to the at least one reference part in the first image. A second position information deriving unit derives second position information indicating a relative position of at least one abnormal part specified in the second image, relative to the at least one reference part in the second image. A matching unit associates, on the basis of a difference between the first position information and the second position information, the abnormal part included in the first image and the abnormal part included in the second image with each other. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A matching apparatus comprising a processor that is configured to: extract at least one reference part that is common in a first image and a second image, from each of the first image and the second image, the first image and the second image being images of a photographic subject at different imaging times; derive first position information indicating a relative position of at least one abnormal part specified in the first image, relative to the at least one reference part in the first image; derive second position information indicating a relative position of at least one abnormal part specified in the second image, relative to the at least one reference part in the second image; derive, on the basis of the first position information and the second position information, as a difference, a distance between the abnormal part included in the first image and the abnormal part included in the second image; and associate, on the basis of the difference between the first position information and the second position information, the abnormal part included in the first image and the abnormal part included in the second image with each other. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The matching apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to derive, as the first position information, a vector from the reference part toward the abnormal part included in the first image, and derive, as the second position information, a vector from the reference part toward the abnormal part included in the second image. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The matching apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to associate the abnormal part included in the first image and the abnormal part included in the second image with each other for which the difference is less than a predetermined threshold. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The matching apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to extract a plurality of reference parts. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The matching apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reference part is a bone. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The matching apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the bone is a vertebra. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The matching apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to extract the at least one abnormal part from each of the first image and the second image. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The matching apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to make a size of the reference part included in the first image and a size of the reference part included in the second image correspond to each other in a case where the size of the reference part included in the first image and the size of the reference part included in the second image are different from each other. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The matching apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to display, on a display, the first image and the second image in which the associated abnormal parts are emphasized. ### Claim 10 A matching method comprising: extracting at least one reference part that is common in a first image and a second image, from each of the first image and the second image, the first image and the second image being images of a photographic subject at different imaging times; deriving first position information indicating a relative position of at least one abnormal part specified in the first image, relative to the at least one reference part in the first image; deriving second position information indicating a relative position of at least one abnormal part specified in the second image, relative to the at least one reference part in the second image; deriving, on the basis of the first position information and the second position information, as a difference, a distance between the abnormal part included in the first image and the abnormal part included in the second image; and associating, on the basis of the difference between the first position information and the second position information, the abnormal part included in the first image and the abnormal part included in the second image with each other. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The matching method according to claim 10, wherein the abnormal part included in the first image and the abnormal part included in the second image are associated with each other for which the difference is less than a predetermined threshold. ### Claim 12 A non-transitory computer readable recording medium storing a matching program causing a computer to execute: extracting at least one reference part that is common in a first image and a second image, from each of the first image and the second image, the first image and the second image being images of a photographic subject at different imaging times; deriving first position information indicating a relative position of at least one abnormal part specified in the first image, relative to the at least one reference part in the first image; deriving second position information indicating a relative position of at least one abnormal part specified in the second image, relative to the at least one reference part in the second image; deriving, on the basis of the first position information and the second position information, as a difference, a distance between the abnormal part included in the first image and the abnormal part included in the second image; and associating, on the basis of a difference between the first position information and the second position information, the abnormal part included in the first image and the abnormal part included in the second image with each other. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The non-transitory computer readable recording medium storing the matching program according to claim 12, wherein the abnormal part included in the first image and the abnormal part included in the second image are associated with each other for which the difference is less than a predetermined threshold.