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EP-2984630-B1 - RECONSTRUCTED IMAGE DATA VISUALIZATION

EP2984630B1EP 2984630 B1EP2984630 B1EP 2984630B1EP-2984630-B1

Inventors

  • DHANANTWARI, AMAR
  • JOSHI, Mukta
  • NAE, Yael

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20140328

Claims (15)

  1. A method for reconstructed image data visualization in computed tomography (CT), comprising: processing projection data with a first reconstruction algorithm and reconstructing first reconstructed volumetric image data, wherein the first reconstructed volumetric image data has a first 3D noise function; processing the same projection data with a second different reconstruction algorithm and reconstructing second reconstructed volumetric image data, wherein the second reconstructed volumetric image data has a second 3D noise function, which is different from the first 3d noise function; determining a physical mapping between voxels of the first reconstructed volumetric image data and voxels of the second reconstructed volumetric image data; visually presenting the first or the second reconstructed volumetric image data in a main viewport; and visually presenting a sub-portion of the other of the first or the second reconstructed volumetric image data in a region of interest, ROI, overlaid and superimposed over a sub-portion of the main viewport, wherein said other of the first or the second reconstructed volumetric image data visually presented in the ROI overlay corresponds to a same location within the first or second reconstructed volumetric image data as the first or second reconstructed volumetric image data behind the ROI overlay, wherein a mapping between the two in said region of interest is provided by said determined physical mapping.
  2. The method of claim 1, wherein the region of interest overlay has a first viewing area, and further comprising: visually presenting a pop up viewport with a second viewing area, which is larger than the first viewing area, wherein the pop up viewport visually presents that same sub-portion the other of the first or the second reconstructed volumetric image data visually presented in the region of interest, but magnified based on a ratio of the second viewing area to the first viewing area.
  3. The method of any of claims 1 to 2, wherein the first reconstructed volumetric image data is non-reduced noise reconstructed volumetric image data, and the second reconstructed volumetric image data is reduced noise reconstructed volumetric image data.
  4. The method of any of claims 1 to 2, wherein the first reconstructed volumetric image data is non-reduced noise reconstructed volumetric image data, and the second reconstructed volumetric image data is a combination of the non-reduced noise reconstructed volumetric image data and reduced noise reconstructed volumetric image data.
  5. The method of any of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: receiving a signal indicating a change in position of the region of interest overlay; moving the region of interest overlay to the position indicated in the signal; and updating the volumetric image data displayed in the region of interest overlay based on the position.
  6. The method of any of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: switching the volumetric image data displayed in the region of interest overlay between the first reconstructed volumetric image data and the second reconstructed volumetric image data.
  7. The method of any of claims 1 to 6, further comprising: identifying a noise level of interest based on the volumetric image data displayed in the region of interest overlay.
  8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: combining the first and second volumetric imaged data, creating combined volumetric image data, based on the identified a noise level of interest; and visually displaying the combined volumetric image data.
  9. The method of any of claims 1 to 7, further comprising: receiving a noise level of interest; combining the first and second volumetric imaged data, creating combine volumetric image data, based on the noise level of interest; and visually displaying the combined volumetric image data.
  10. The method of claim 9, further comprising: receiving a change in the noise level of interest; re-combining the first and second volumetric imaged data, creating second combined volumetric image data, based on the changed noise level of interest; and visually displaying the second combined volumetric image data.
  11. A system (100) for reconstructed image data visualization in computed tomography (CT), comprising: a processor configured to process data with a first reconstruction algorithm and reconstruct first reconstructed volumetric image data, wherein the first reconstructed volumetric image data has a first 3D noise function, process the same projection data with a second different reconstruction algorithm and reconstruct second reconstructed volumetric image data, wherein the second reconstructed volumetric image data has a second 3D noise function, which is different from the first 3d noise function, and determine a physical mapping between voxels of the first reconstructed volumetric image data and voxels of the second reconstructed volumetric image data; a display configured to visually present the first or the second reconstructed volumetric image data in a main viewport; and configured to visually present a sub-portion the other of the first or the second reconstructed volumetric image data in a region of interest, ROI, overlaid and superimposed over a sub-portion of the main viewport, wherein said other of the first or the second reconstructed volumetric image data visually presented in the ROI overlay corresponds to a same location within the first or second reconstructed volumetric image data as the first or second reconstructed volumetric image data behind the ROI overlay, wherein a mapping between the two in said region of interest is provided by said determined physical mapping.
  12. The system of claim 11, wherein the display is configured to visually display a pop up viewport with a magnified view of the sub-portion of the de-noised reconstructed image data in the overlay.
  13. The system of claim 11, wherein the overlay is moveable, and the processor is configured to update the data in the overlay and in the pop up viewport in response to the overlay being moved to a different location over the visually displayed image data.
  14. The system of any of claims 11 to 13, wherein the processor is configured to receive a noise level of interest as a user input and combines the first and the second reconstructed image data based on the received noise level of interest.
  15. The system of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured to receive a change in the noise level of interest as a subsequent user input and combines the first and the second reconstructed image data based on the change in the noise level of interest.

Description

The following generally relates to reconstructed image data visualization and is described with particular application to computed tomography (CT). However, the following is also amenable to other modalities. Radiologists have been trained to read images that have a certain appearance due to noise, which has been used as an indicator of certain properties of the image. For example, the noise may provide a reviewer with a confidence level for structures, shapes and/or contours in the image. By way of example, higher visible noise may indicate a lower probability that the visualized structures, shapes and contours represent the true structures, shapes and contours, and lower visible noise may indicate a higher probability that the visualized structures, shapes and contours represent the true structures, shapes and contours. In another example, the texture of the image provides an indication of the underlying spatial resolution of the image. By way of example, blotchy noise may indicate lower resolution, and fine noise may indicate higher resolution. In another example, the appearance of noise in a sub-portion of a region of tissue visualized with a same gray scale range may indicate that the region includes different tissues. By way of example, the range may be just within the noise of one tissue, resulting in some gray pixels, and outside the noise of another tissue allowing the reviewer to discriminate between the two tissues without needing to shift the gray scale range. De-noising algorithms (projection and/or image domain) and advanced reconstruction techniques have been used to reduce noise in the reconstructed image data. However, the reduction of noise also removes (in part or in full, dependent on the de-noising algorithm) the visual clues discussed above that image reviewers use to determine the confidence level and/or the resolution, and/or distinguish different tissue. Unfortunately, this may lead to a reluctance of a radiologist to employ a de-noising reconstruction algorithm since the resulting reconstructed images may have different characteristics compared to images they have been trained to review. Aspects described herein address the above-referenced problems and others. The following describes an approach in which reconstructed image data, reduced noise (or de-noised) reconstructed image, and/or a combination thereof is concurrently visually presented to an observer, which allows for visually presenting and/or observing the visual clues noise provides and/or observing noise reduced (default or user defined) image data, which may better show features of interest that could otherwise be obscured by the removed noise. In one aspect, a method includes processing projection data with a first reconstruction algorithm and reconstructing first reconstructed volumetric image data, wherein the first reconstructed volumetric image data has a first 3D noise function. The method further includes processing the same projection data with a second different reconstruction algorithm and reconstructing second reconstructed volumetric image data, wherein the second reconstructed volumetric image data has a second 3D noise function, which is different from the first 3D noise function. The method further includes visually presenting the first or the second reconstructed volumetric image data in a main viewport. The method further includes visually presenting a sub-portion the other of the first or the second reconstructed volumetric image data in a region of interest overlaid over a sub-portion of the main viewport. In another aspect, a method includes processing projection data with a first reconstruction algorithm and reconstructing first reconstructed volumetric image data, wherein the first reconstructed volumetric image data has a first 3D noise function. The method further includes processing the same projection data with a second different reconstruction algorithm and reconstructing second reconstructed volumetric image data, wherein the second reconstructed volumetric image data has a second 3D noise function, which is different from the first noise function. The method further includes obtaining a noise level of interest. The method further includes combining the first and second volumetric imaged data, creating combined volumetric image data, based on the noise level of interest. The method further includes visually displaying the combined volumetric image data. In another aspect, a system includes a reconstruction apparatus that reconstructs a same set of projection data with different reconstruction algorithms, generating first and second reconstructed image data. One of the reconstruction algorithms is a de-noising reconstruction algorithm. The reconstruction apparatus, at least one of: visually displays the first or second reconstructed image data with an overlay including a sub-portion of the de-noised reconstructed image data and superimposed over a sub-portion of the visually displayed image da