Automatic scan prescription for tomographic imaging

A system for determining the orientation and location of standard tomographic scanning planes for automated scan prescription, comprising:

• means for performing at least one initial localizer scan for the object of interest to be imaged;
• means for analyzing the localizer images to extract important structural information about the object of interest to yield an abstract, schematic description of the object of interest;
• means for matching the abstract, schematic description of (the “model”) of the object of interest with a reference template of the abstract, schematic description of the object of interest;
• means for determining optimal spatial locations and scanning parameters for subsequent scans from the information about the object, possible sub-objects, and their relationship to the template;
• means for communicating the locations for a particular scan included in a set of protocols selected by the operator to the scanner in order to automatically drive the scanner;
• and
• means for performing subsequent detailed and radiologically relevant scans using optimal scanning parameters for that patient.