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EP-4734849-A1 - QUALITY CONTROL OF CONTRAST AGENT USE THROUGH DUAL ENERGY X-RAY IMAGING

EP4734849A1EP 4734849 A1EP4734849 A1EP 4734849A1EP-4734849-A1

Abstract

A System (SYS) and related method for quantifying efficiency of use of contrast agent in an imaging procedure. The system (SYS) comprises an input interface (IN) through which is receivable input data comprising spectral projection imagery (λ) of an object (PAT) obtainable by a spectral X-ray imagining apparatus (IA) in an imaging procedure at a field of view, FOV, with contrast agent (CA) present in the FOV. An efficiency quantifier (EQ) computes, based on an amount of contrast agent estimable from the spectral projection imagery, a metric (m) indicative of the said efficiency of the said contrast agent use.

Inventors

  • HAASE, CHRISTIAN
  • GRASS, MICHAEL

Assignees

  • Koninklijke Philips N.V.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240625

Claims (14)

  1. 1. System (FS) for quantifying efficiency of use of contrast agent in an imaging procedure, comprising: an input interface (IN) through which is receivable input data comprising spectral projection imagery (X) of an object (PAT) obtainable by a spectral X-ray imaging apparatus (IA) in an imaging procedure at at least one field of view, FOV, with contrast agent (CA) present at least at times in the FOV; and an efficiency quantifier (EQ) configured to estimate an amount of the contrast agent from the spectral projection imagery and compute a metric (m) indicative of said efficiency of use of contrast agent, wherein the metric is computed based on comparing the estimated amount against a predetermined amount of contrast agent, the predetermined amount being provided by a contrast agent administering device configured to measure an amount of contrast agent being administered.
  2. 2. System of claim 1, wherein the metric is based on the total amount of contrast agent used in a part or the whole of the imaging procedure.
  3. 3 System of any claim 1 or 2, wherein estimating the amount of the contrast agent includes integrating, spatially and/or temporally, over pixel values in one or more contrast agent-only-images derived from the spectral projection imagery acquired of the region of interest.
  4. 4. System of any one of preceding claims, wherein the metric is based on the amount used locally in at least one subset of the FOV, or in the whole of the FOV, as captured in the spectral projection imagery.
  5. 5. System of any one of preceding claims, wherein the efficiency metric (m) is computed based on a segmented portion (s) in the spectral imagery, and the said amount is estimable relative to the said segmented portion.
  6. 6. System of claim 5, wherein segmenting the segmented portion distinguishes between a first region of interest (ROI, RG_R) for the current imaging procedure and a second region different from the first region (RG_I), and wherein the efficiency metric is based on a first contrast agent amount in the first region of interest and a second contrast agent amount in the second region of interest.
  7. 7. System of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the metric is computed based on a filing curve that traces the amount of contrast agent over time.
  8. 8. System of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the contrast agent is passable through a conduit (CN) being at least a part of a vascular, urinary or lymphatic system of a mammal, such as a human patient.
  9. 9. System of any one of the previous claims, wherein the spectral X-ray imaging apparatus is a C-arm type X-ray apparatus comprising a dual-layer X-ray detector.
  10. 10. System of any one of the previous claims, wherein the computed metric (m) is provided for processing, wherein the processing includes any one or more of: i) displaying on a display device an indication of the metric, ii) storing same in a data storage, iii) controlling operation of medical equipment, and iv) processing by a quality control system (QCS).
  11. 11. An imaging arrangement (MIA) comprising the system of any one of the previous claims, and including the spectral X-ray imaging apparatus.
  12. 12. Method of image processing, comprising: receiving (S820) input data comprising spectral projection imagery (X) of an object (PAT) obtainable by a spectral X-ray imagining apparatus (IA) in an imaging procedure at at least one field of view, FOV, with contrast agent (CA) present at least at times in the FOV; and computing (S830) a metric (m) indicative of said efficiency of use of said contrast agent, including: estimating an amount of the contrast agent from the spectral projection imagery;. comparing the estimated amount against a predetermined amount of contrast agent, the predetermined amount being provided by a contrast agent administering device configured to measure an amount of contrast agent being administered
  13. 13. A computer program element, which, when being executed by at least one processing unit (FS), is adapted to cause the processing unit to perform the method as per claim 12.
  14. 14. At least one computer readable medium having stored thereon the program element of claim 13.

Description

QUALITY CONTROL OF CONTRAST AGENT USE THROUGH DUAL ENERGY X-RAY IMAGING FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a system for quantifying efficiency of use of contrast agent in an imaging procedure, to a related method, to an imaging arrangement, to a computer program element, and to a computer readable medium. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Spectral X-ray systems, like a C-arm system with a dual layer detector for example, enable more advanced imaging methods, in particular, but not only, during minimally invasive procedures. When imaging for structures of poor radio-opacity, such as blood vessels, for example heart coronaries, etc., contrast agent is used to achieve better image contrast in respect of those structures. Contrast agent quantification, blood to contrast dilution measurement, and the dynamic behavior of contrast agent are measures that can help extract quantitative information of blood flow from X-ray images. For example, blood flow volume, velocity, and distribution have broad physiological significance for vascular diseases like coronary artery disease and peripheral artery disease, etc. Such flow related diagnostic quantities/measures may be used to diagnose disease, plan procedures, and evaluate outcomes, etc. Use of spectral imaging systems, such as dual energy X-ray alone already provides improved options for contrast agent-based analysis of X-ray images. For the above or other imaging purposes, contrast agent is widely used to image vascular structures during endovascular procedures for example or other structures of poor radio-opacity. Useful as contrast agent administration for the above-mentioned purposes is, there are risks: too liberal a use may lead to kidney damage or health problems. For patient safety, unnecessary and inefficient use of contrast agent is best avoided. An example of such inefficient use is contrast agent flowing to different parts of the body, which are not of interest for the current procedure. Also, too high or too low a contrast agent (such as Iodine) concentration in vessel areas of interest is inefficient in that it may cause resulting images to be unusable, requiring new images to be required with further additional contrast agent administration. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION There may therefore be a need for improved contrast agent-based imaging with improved utility, in particular for enhanced and safe use of contrast agent in imaging procedures. An object of the present invention is achieved by the subject matter of the independent claims where further embodiments are incorporated in the dependent claims. It should be noted that the following described aspects of the invention equally apply to the related method, to the imaging arrangement, to the computer program element and to the computer readable medium. According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a system for quantifying efficiency of use of contrast agent in an imaging procedure, comprising: an input interface through which is receivable input data comprising spectral projection imagery of an object obtainable by a spectral X-ray imagining apparatus in an imaging procedure at at least one field of view, FOV, with contrast agent present at least at times in the FOV; and an efficiency quantifier configured to estimate an amount of the contrast agent from the spectral projection imagery and compute a metric indicative of said efficiency of use of contrast agent, based on the estimated amount, wherein the metric is based on comparing the estimated amount against a predetermined amount of contrast agent. The predetermined amount may be provided by an automated or manually operable contrast agent adminstering device (pump, etc) which is configured to measure the amount of contrast agent so released or administered. In embodiments the system may be operable whilst such imaging procedure is on-going. In embodiments estimating the amount of the contrast agent includes integrating, spatially and/or temporally, over pixel values in one or more contrast agent-only-images derived from the spectral projection imagery acquired of the region of interest. In embodiments the metric is based on the total amount of contrast agent used in a part of the imaging procedure, or in the whole of the imaging procedure. In embodiments the metric is based on the amount used locally in at least one subset of the FOV, or in the whole of the FOV, as captured in the spectral projection imagery. In embodiments the said metric measures a suitability for the imaging procedure of the amount of contrast agent. In embodiments the said metric measures a concurrency of a time period of the imaging procedure versus a time period in which contract agent is released into the FOV. In embodiments the said metric is based on the number of times contrast agent is releasable in the imaging procedure. In embodiments the said metric s configured to account for an imaging geometry for the imaging procedure. In embodiments the e