Abstract: A method, system and apparatus for manufacturing anatomically and functionally accurate soft tissue phantoms with multimodality characteristics for imaging studies is disclosed. The organ/tissue phantom is constructed by filling a container containing an organ having inner vasculature therein with a molten elastomeric material; inserting a plurality of rods with bumps thereupon through the container and the organ; allowing the molten elastomeric material to harden and cure; removing the organ; replacing the organ with a plurality of elastomeric segments; and removing an elastomeric segment and replacing the void created thereupon with molten PVA to create a PVA segment; allowing the molten PVA segment to harden and cure; and repeating the creation of PVA segments until all the elastomeric segments have been removed, such that each successive molten PVA segment adheres to and fuses with the previous hardened PVA segment so as to form an approximately complete organ phantom cast.

Abstract: A tracking system for a target anatomy of a patient can include a medical device having a magnetic source (299) integrally connected thereto and positionable in the target anatomy, a plurality of Optical Atomic Magnetometer (OAM) sensors (210) for detecting a magnetic field from the magnetic source, and a processor (120) for determining a position of the medical device based on one or more parameters associated with the detected magnetic field. Other embodiments can include connecting a magnetic source with the medical device and having the OAM sensors positionable in proximity to the target anatomy.

Abstract: It is described a method for acquiring a series of two-dimensional X-ray attenuation data of an object under examination (310) by means of an X-ray imaging apparatus (100) having a rotatable scanning unit (301). In order to increase the angular range of the scanning unit (301), when a region of interest (HOa) located not in the center of the object (310) is examined the object under examination (310) is shifted such that the region of interest is temporarily positioned outside the center of rotation. By coupling the rotational movement of the scanning unit (301) with the translative movement of the object (310) in a synchronized manner a collision between the scanning unit (301) and the object (310) can be effectively avoided. By employing an automated motorized object table (312) a precise pre-determined movement of the object (310) can be achieved during the data acquisition.

Abstract: A tissue ablation device employs one or more energy emitters (21) and one or more photoacoustic sensors (22) in a cooperative arrangement for applying a tissue ablation therapy to a tissue (60). In operation, the energy emitters (21) emit a tissue ablation beam (TA) into a target portion of the tissue (60) to form a lesion (61) therein, and alternatively or concurrently emit a photoexcitation beam (PE) into the target portion of the tissue (60) to excite a photoacoustic response from the tissue (60). The photoacoustic sensor(s) (22) sense the photoacoustic response of the tissue (60).

Abstract: Coronary artery segmentation is a crucial task in cardiac CT image processing. This is often a tedious task performed manually by an operator. According to the present invention, a method is provided which combines data from multiple cardiac phases during the segmentation process in order to deliver a complete and continuous coronary vessel tree. Advantageously, this may allow for an improved visualization and segmentation of vessels, for example, in coronary CTA.

Abstract: A ventricular epicardium registration method (60) involves three phases. The first phase (P62) is an identification of one or more anatomical features invisible within ultrasound images (41) of a ventricular epicardium of a heart (10). The second phase (P61) is a representation of the anatomical feature(s) visible within X-ray images (31) of the ventricular epicardium of the heart. The third phase (P63) is a registration of the ultrasound images (41) and the X-ray images (31) of the ventricular epicardium of the heart based on the representation of the anatomical feature(s) invisible in the ultrasound images (41) and on the identification of the anatomical feature(s) visible within the X-ray images (31). Examples of the anatomical feature(s) include, but are not limited to, a portion or an entirety of an epicardial surface (11, 12) and a coronary sinus vein (13).

Abstract: Minimizing the temporal width of the gating window during calculation of the gating function in cardiac CT may not result in best image quality with a maximum of signal-to-noise ratio and minimal artifacts. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the widths of the gating windows in cardiac CT are selected on the basis of a motion model describing the motion of the heart. According to an aspect of the present invention, the widths of the gating windows are determined by considering the duration of stationary cardiac phases. Thus, artifacts, such as motion artifacts or noise, are minimized.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a system (1) for determining a functional property of a moving object (2), wherein the system (1) comprises a tag (3) contactable to the object (2) such that the tag (3) follows the movement of the object (2) and movement determination device (4) for determining the movement of the tag (3). The system (1) comprises further a functional property determination device (5) for determining a functional property of the object (2) from the determined movement of the tag (3).

Abstract: A method for identifying a structure in a volume of interest is provided. The method comprises acquiring a plurality of points related to the structure in a continuous mode, and subsequently registering at least one of the points to a previously acquired imaging dataset of the structure. An apparatus, system and a computer-readable medium are also provided. The present invention provides faster acquisition of EAM points by modifying the mapping system so that catheter tip locations are automatically and continuously recorded without requiring explicit navigation to and annotation of fiducial landmarks on the endocardium.

Abstract: A method, system and apparatus for manufacturing anatomically and functionally accurate soft tissue phantoms with multimodality characteristics for imaging studies is disclosed. The organ/tissue phantom is constructed by filling a container containing an organ having inner vasculature therein with a molten elastomeric material; inserting a plurality of rods with bumps thereupon through the container and the organ; allowing the molten elastomeric material to harden and cure; removing the organ; replacing the organ with a plurality of elastomeric segments; and removing an elastomeric segment and replacing the void created thereupon with molten PVA to create a PVA segment; allowing the molten PVA segment to harden and cure; and repeating the creation of PVA segments until all the elastomeric segments have been removed, such that each successive molten PVA segment adheres to and fuses with the previous hardened PVA segment so as to form an approximately complete organ phantom cast.

Abstract: It is described a method for acquiring a series of two-dimensional X-ray attenuation data of an object under examination (310) by means of an X-ray imaging apparatus (100) having a rotatable scanning unit (301). In order to increase the angular range of the scanning unit (301), when a region of interest (HOa) located not in the center of the object (310) is examined the object under examination (310) is shifted such that the region of interest is temporarily positioned outside the center of rotation. By coupling the rotational movement of the scanning unit (301) with the translative movement of the object (310) in a synchronized manner a collision between the scanning unit (301) and the object (310) can be effectively avoided. By employing an automated motorized object table (312) a precise pre-determined movement of the object (310) can be achieved during the data acquisition.

Abstract: According to the invention, there is provided a method of recording images of the heart in computer tomography, in which, in order to prevent movement artifacts, the images are reconstructed on the basis of similar movement states of the heart and different radiation intensities are used for different movement states. Also provided is a computer tomograph for recording images of the heart in computer tomography by means of time windows which exhibit similar movement states of the heart in order to prevent movement artifacts, said computer tomograph comprising a control device which controls a radiation source with different radiation intensities for different movement states.

Abstract: This invention discloses an improved method for the calibration and tracking of an electromagnetic or acoustic based catheter within a catheter tracking space for use in cardiac intervention for a specific patient, utilizing prior-acquired medical imaging data for the patient.

Abstract: The invention relates to a computer tomography method, in which a periodically moving object, especially a heart, is irradiated by a beam bundle. In that process, intermediate images of one and the same subregion of the object are reconstructed using measured values from time intervals from different periods. That is, in each case exactly one period can be allocated to each intermediate image. The time intervals in the individual periods are adjusted in such a way that, after a reconstruction of the intermediate images using measured values that lie in the adjusted time intervals, a similarity measure applied to the intermediate images of the same subregion is minimized. This method can be applied to one, several or all subregions of the object that are reconstructable using measured values from time intervals from different periods. Finally, a computer tomography image is reconstructed, wherein exclusively measured values from the adjusted time intervals are used.

Abstract: System and method for enabling intra-operative selection of an image registration transformation for use in displaying a first image dataset and a second image dataset in correspondence with one another. Image dataset acquisition devices (12, 14) obtain the first and second image datasets. A similarity function indicative of a likelihood that the first and second image datasets are in correspondence with one another is computed by a processor (16) and then a ranking of each of a plurality of local maxima of the similarity function is determined. Registration transformations derived from a plurality of the local maxima are displayed on a display (18), and using a user-interface (22), a physician can select each registration transformation to ascertain visually whether it is the clinically-optimal registration transformation for subsequent use.

Abstract: The invention relates to a computer tomography method in which a bundle of rays passes through an object that is moving periodically, in particular a heart. During the acquisition of measured values, a movement signal dependent on the movement of the object is sensed. From this movement signal are determined periodically repeated phases of movement, after which a plurality of intermediate images of a region of the object are reconstructed, in particular at a low resolution, using measured values whose times of acquisition were situated in different phases of movement, thus enabling each intermediate image to be assigned to a phase of movement. The phase of movement in which the object moved least in the region is then identified by determining the intermediate image having the fewest motion artifacts.

Abstract: The invention relates to a computer tomography scanner comprising a gantry, on the rotor of which one or more displaceable masses are arranged. During rotation of the rotor about a rotation axis, the position of each mass can be changed perpendicular to the rotation axis by means of an adjustment unit. By retaining the rotary momentum of the rotor, the rotational speed is increased when the masses are moved toward the rotation axis, and vice versa. As a result, it is possible to maintain a specific ratio between the heart rate of the examined patient and the rotational speed even if the heart rate of the patient changes during the examination.

Abstract: The reconstruction of computer tomography data is very often based on a parallel rebinning step of the projection data prior to the filtered back projection. In case of cardiac reconstruction, a gating technique is applied to select appropriate projections for a time-dependent image reconstruction. Usually, the gating window is a function of the fan-beam/cone-beam projection only. According to the present invention, a function corresponding to the location on the detector surface, where the respective projection was detected is used to further verify whether the respective projection is truly within the selected gating window or not.

Abstract: Minimizing the temporal width of the gating window during calculation of the gating function in cardiac CT may not result in best image quality with a maximum of signal-to-noise ratio and minimal artifacts. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the widths of the gating windows in cardiac CT are selected on the basis of a motion model describing the motion of the heart. According to an aspect of the present invention, the widths of the gating windows are determined by considering the duration of stationary cardiac phases. Thus, artifacts, such as motion artifacts or noise, are minimized.

Abstract: Coronary artery segmentation is a crucial task in cardiac CT image processing. This is often a tedious task performed manually by an operator. According to the present invention, a method is provided which combines data from multiple cardiac phases during the segmentation process in order to deliver a complete and continuous coronary vessel tree. Advantageously, this may allow for an improved visualization and segmentation of vessels, for example, in coronary CTA.