Imaging method, apparatus and associated computer program product
AssigneesUniversite De Limoges, Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique
InventorsMohammad OJAROUDI PARCHIN, Stéphane BILA
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Abstract
The present invention relates to an imaging method, an imaging apparatus, and an associated computer program product for creating a three-dimensional image by microwave imaging of the brain of a patient using target detection in the brain to reduce the imaged region in subsequent scans in order to enable real-time monitoring of the history of the target in the brain of the patient.
Claims14
A method for three-dimensional brain imaging by microwave imaging, the method comprising the following steps:
- a—performing, on a patient on whose head is placed a microwave antenna array controlled by a switching network connected to a controllable signal transceiver, a global three-dimensional image of the brain by microwave imaging using all the antennas of the microwave antenna array;
- b—detecting at least one target in the global brain image made in step a;
- c—calculating a position of the at least one target in the global brain image made in step a;
- d—performing a local three-dimensional processing image of the target by microwave imaging using at least one among a subgroup of the microwave antenna array controlled by the switching network associated with the position of the at least one target detected in step a and a reduction in the number of samples made by the antennas;
- e—merging the global image and the local processing image into a global intermediate three-dimensional image;
- f—detecting at least one target in the global intermediate image;
- g—calculating a position of the at least one target in the global intermediate image;
- h—performing a new local three-dimensional processing image of the target by microwave imaging using at least one among a subgroup of the microwave antenna array controlled by the switching network associated with the position of the at least one target detected in step f and a reduction in the number of samples made by the antennas;
- i—merging the global intermediate image and the new local processing image into a new global three-dimensional image also called intermediate image;
- j—repeating steps f to i a predetermined number of times,
- the at least one target being detected by calculating the signal-to-clutter ratio and the signal-to-mean ratio in two-dimensional planes of the three-dimensional image, the at least one target being detected on the surfaces of each two-dimensional plane on which the values of the signal-to-clutter ratio and the signal-to-mean ratio are simultaneously maximal.
A microwave imaging device of the brain, comprising a helmet equipped with a microwave antenna array, a switching network controlling the microwave antenna array, a vector network analyzer connected to the switching network, a processing unit connected to the switching network and the vector network analyzer and controlling the switching network and the vector network analyzer, a human-machine interface connected to the processing unit, the processing unit comprising computing means and memory to perform the following steps:
- a—performing a global three-dimensional image of the brain by microwave imaging using all the antennas of the microwave antenna array;
- b—detecting at least one target in the global brain image made in step a;
- c—calculating a position of the at least one target in the global brain image made in step a;
- d—performing a local three-dimensional processing image of the target by microwave imaging using at least one among a subgroup of the microwave antenna array controlled by the switching network associated with the position of the at least one target detected in step a and a reduction in the number of samples made by the antennas;
- e—merging the global image and the local processing image into a global intermediate three-dimensional image;
- f—detecting at least one target in the global intermediate image;
- g—calculating a position of the at least one target in the global intermediate image;
- h—performing a new local three-dimensional processing image of the target by microwave imaging using at least one among a subgroup of the microwave antenna array controlled by the switching network associated with the position of the at least one target detected in step f and a reduction in the number of samples made by the antennas;
- i—merging the global intermediate image and the new local processing image into a new global three-dimensional image also called intermediate image;
- j—repeating steps f to i a predetermined number of times,
- the at least one target being detected by calculating the signal-to-clutter ratio and the signal-to-mean ratio in two-dimensional planes of the three-dimensional image, the at least one target being detected on the surfaces of each two-dimensional plane on which the values of the signal-to-clutter ratio and the signal-to-mean ratio are simultaneously maximal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.