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US 2024/0354936 A1Published application
Automated CT Contrast Detection
AssigneeWisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
InventorsJohn W. Garrett, Perry J. Pickhardt, B. Dustin Pooler, MD
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for automatically determining whether a CT image was taken with or without contrast media uses a segmentation to isolate voxels of a vascularized structure and simple statistical thresholding of the attenuation values of the isolated voxels to provide transparent and robust discrimination. In some embodiments, the phase of the contrast injection can be deduced from a degree of variation in attenuation of the isolated organ voxels.
Claims19
A system for CT contrast detection comprising:
- an electronic computer executing a program stored in non-transitory memory to:
- receive a digitized CT image describing a volume of voxels having x-ray attenuation values;
- perform a segmentation of the voxels to isolate voxels of at least one predetermined vascularized structure capable of receiving an injected contrast medium from surrounding tissue;
- extract a statistical measure of the x-ray attenuation values of the isolated voxels;
- compare the extracted statistical measure to a predetermined threshold adapted to distinguish digitized CT images taken with a contrast medium and digitized CT images taken without a contrast medium;
- and
- provide an output indicating a result of the comparison.
4 more elements
A method of automatic CT contrast detection comprising:
- executing a program stored in non-transitory memory with an electronic processor to:
- receive a digitized CT image describing a volume of voxels having x-ray attenuation values;
- perform a segmentation of the voxels to isolate voxels of at least one predetermined vascularized structure capable of receiving an injected contrast medium;
- extract a statistical measure of the x-ray attenuation values of the isolated voxels;
- compare the extracted statistical measure to a predetermined threshold adapted to distinguish digitized CT images taken with a contrast medium and digitized CT images taken without a contrast medium;
- and
- provide an output indicating a result of the comparison.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.