System and method of determining a center of mass of an imaging subject for x-ray flux management control
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsThomas L. Toth, David M. Hoffman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and method of diagnostic imaging is provided that includes positioning a subject in a scanning bay, comparing a center of mass of the subject to a reference point, and repositioning the subject in the scanning bay to reduce a difference in position between the center of mass of the subject and the reference point. The present invention automatically selects a proper attenuation filter configuration, corrects patient centering, and corrects noise prediction errors, thereby increasing dose efficiency and tube output.
Claims26
A method of centering a subject in a medical imaging device comprising the steps of:
- positioning a subject in a scanning bay;
- determining a center of mass of the subject from at least one scout scan and an elevational profile of the subject;
- comparing a center of mass of the subject to a reference point;
- and
- repositioning the subject in the scanning bay to reduce a difference in position between the center of mass of the subject and the reference point.
A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program representing a set of instructions, which when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to:
- determine a centroid of a subject;
- determine a value of mis-centering of the centroid of the subject within a medical imaging device;
- and
- adjust a position of the subject within the imaging device to compensate for the value of mis-centering;
- wherein the at least one processor is further caused to determine the centroid of the subject from at least one of:
- at least two scout scans;
- and
- at least one scout scan and an elevational profile of the subject.
A method of medical imaging comprising the steps of:
- positioning a subject in a medical imaging device;
- determining a relative position of a centroid of the subject;
- performing at least one scout scan from which to determine the centroid of the subject;
- determining a value of mis-elevation of the subject from the relative position of the centroid of the subject;
- and
- automatically adjusting an elevation of the subject to reduce the value of mis-elevation.
A tomographic system comprising:
- a rotatable gantry having a bore centrally disposed therein;
- a table movable within the bore and configured to position a subject for tomographic data acquisition within the bore;
- a high frequency electromagnetic energy projection source positioned within the rotatable gantry and configured to project high frequency electromagnetic energy toward the subject;
- a detector array disposed within the rotatable gantry and configured to detect high frequency electromagnetic energy projected by the projection source and impinged on the subject;
- and
- a computer programmed to:
- determine a centroid of the subject;
- and
- adjust an elevation of the subject to align the centroid with a reference position;
- wherein the computer is further programmed to perform at least one scout scan from which to determine the centroid of the subject.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.