# US 9,437,016 B2 · Image domain pansharpening method and system for spectral CT with large pixel energy discriminating detectors

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- Number: US 9,437,016 B2
- Document ID: US9437016B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 13/960,819
- Filed: 2013-08-07
- Published: 2015-02-12
- Granted: 2016-09-06
- Earliest claimed: 2013-08-07
- Assignees: Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation; The University of Chicago
- Applicants: The University of Chicago; Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation
- Inventors: David Rigie; Patrick La Riviere; Adam Petschke
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9437016B2

## CPC

- G06T 12/30: Image post-processing, e.g. metal artefact correction
- A61B 6/4241: {using energy resolving detectors, e.g. photon counting}
- G06T 3/4061: by injecting details from different spectral ranges
- G06T 5/50: using two or more images, e.g. averaging or subtraction
- G06T 5/73: Deblurring; Sharpening
- G06T 2207/10081: Computed x-ray tomography [CT]
- G06T 2207/10108: Single photon emission computed tomography [SPECT]
- G06T 2210/41: Medical
- G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL
- A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D)

## Abstract

A hybrid CT dataset is obtained from a combination of a integrating detector and a photon-counting detector. The hybrid CT dataset contains low-resolution photon-counting data and high-resolution integrating data. High-resolution panchromatic images are generated from the high-resolution integrating data, and low-resolution spectral images are generated from the low-resolution photon-counting data. The high-resolution panchromatic images inherit the resolution properties of the integrating detector while the low-resolution spectral images inherit the spectral information of the photon-counting detector. Subsequently, the low resolution spectral images are pansharpened based upon at least one high resolution panchromatic image that lacks spectral information according to a pansharpening algorithm.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of improving a spectral image, comprising;
reconstructing a whole high-resolution panchromatic image based upon energy integration data from energy integrating detectors;
reconstructing at least one whole low-resolution spectral image based upon spectral energy data from photon counting detectors; and
pansharpening at least the one whole low-resolution spectral image using the whole high-resolution panchromatic image to generate a high-resolution spectral image as a pansharpened image, wherein a first flux rate of X ray entering the photon counting detectors is lower than a second flux rate of X ray entering the energy integrating detectors.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of improving a spectral image according to claim 1 further comprising an additional steps of:
acquiring the energy integration data at the energy integrating detectors having a second detector element size;
acquiring the spectral energy data at the photon counting detectors having a first detector element size that is larger than the second detector element size.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of improving a spectral image according to claim 2 wherein said acquiring the spectral energy data and said acquiring the energy integration data utilize two separate sources.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of improving a spectral image according to claim 1 further comprising an additional step of iteratively reconstructing an image using the high-resolution spectral image as a seed image.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of improving a spectral image according to claim 1 wherein said pansharpening uses a predetermined algorithm as described by
E(ƒi)=λ1∫Ω∥∇ƒi−α(∇Ipam)∥2dxdy+λ2∫Ω(ƒi−Mi)2dxdy
where Ipan is the panchromatic image, Mi is i'th channel of the whole low-resolution spectral image, fi is the i'th channel of the pansharpened image, E is minimizing energy functional, λ1 is predetermined first coefficient value for weighing the gradient matching term for resolution recovery, λ2 is predetermined second coefficient value for keeping gray level faithful, Ω just means the area to integrate over, ∇ is gradient, dx is a location along a predetermined x axis, dy is a location along a predetermined y axis.

### Claim 6

A system for improving a spectral image, comprising;
energy integrating detectors for acquiring energy integration data;
photon counting detectors for acquiring spectral energy data;
a data storing unit for storing the energy integration data and the spectral energy data, wherein a first flux rate of X ray entering said photon counting detectors is lower than a second flux rate of X ray entering said energy integrating detectors;
an image reconstruction unit connected to said data storing unit for reconstructing a high-resolution panchromatic image from the energy integration data and reconstructing at least one whole low-resolution spectral image from the spectral energy data; and
an image pansharpening unit connected to said image reconstruction unit for pansharpening the whole low-resolution spectral image using the whole high-resolution panchromatic image to generate at least one high-resolution spectral image.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The system for improving a spectral image according to claim 6 wherein said photon counting detectors have a first detector element size that is smaller than a second detector element size of said energy integrating detectors, the first detector element size being effectively combined to have a third element size that is larger than the second detector element size.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The system for improving a spectral image according to claim 6 wherein said photon counting detectors have a first detector element size that is larger than a second detector element size of said energy integrating detectors.

### Claim 9 (depends on 6)

The system for improving a spectral image according to claim 6 further comprising a first source for said photon counting detectors and a second source for energy integration detectors.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The system for improving a spectral image according to claim 9 wherein said first source and said second source are located at a predetermined angle along the predetermined trajectory.

### Claim 11 (depends on 6)

The system for improving a spectral image according to claim 6 wherein said image reconstruction unit iteratively reconstructs an image using the whole high-resolution spectral image as a seed image.

### Claim 12 (depends on 6)

The system for improving a spectral image according to claim 6 wherein said image pansharpening unit for pansharpening according to a predetermined algorithm as described by
E(ƒi)=λ1∫Ω∥∇ƒi−α(∇Ipam)∥2dxdy+λ2∫Ω(ƒi−Mi)2dxdy
where Ipan is the panchromatic image, Mi is i'th channel of the whole low-resolution spectral image, fi is the i'th channel of the pansharpened image, E is minimizing energy functional, λ1 is predetermined first coefficient value for weighing the gradient matching term for resolution recovery, λ2 is predetermined second coefficient value for keeping gray level faithful, Ω just means the area to integrate over, ∇ is gradient, dx is a location along a predetermined x axis, dy is a location along a predetermined y axis.

### Claim 13

A system for improving a spectral image, comprising;
energy integrating detectors in a first predetermined detector size for acquiring energy integration data;
photon counting detectors in with a second predetermined detector size with thick anti-scatter grids for acquiring spectral energy data, the second predetermined detector size being substantially larger than the first predetermined detector size, wherein a first flux rate of X ray entering said photon counting detectors is lower than a second flux rate of X ray entering said energy integrating detectors;
a data storing unit for storing the energy integration data and the spectral energy data;
an image reconstruction unit connected to said data storing unit for reconstructing a whole high-resolution panchromatic image from the energy integration data and reconstructing at least one whole low-resolution spectral image from the spectral energy data; and
an image pansharpening unit connected to said image reconstruction unit for pansharpening the whole low-resolution spectral image using the whole high-resolution panchromatic image to generate at least one high-resolution spectral image.