US-12622652-B2 - Method for providing trigger information in medical radiology

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for providing trigger information in medical radiology, comprises: receiving a first portion of breathing signal data; generating movement trigger information regarding a movement of a patient support structure relative to a radiological interaction area based on the first portion of the breathing signal data; providing the movement trigger information; receiving, after providing the movement trigger information, a second portion of the breathing signal data; generating radiation trigger information regarding a release of radiation towards the radiological interaction area based on the second portion of the breathing signal data; and providing the radiation trigger information.

Inventors

• Christian Hofmann

Assignees

• Siemens Healthineers Ag

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20240326

Priority Date

20230331

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A computer-implemented method for providing trigger information in medical radiology, the computer-implemented method comprising: receiving a first portion of breathing signal data; generating, based on the first portion, movement trigger information regarding a movement of a patient support structure relative to a radiological interaction area; providing the movement trigger information; receiving, after providing the movement trigger information, a second portion of the breathing signal data; generating, based on the second portion, radiation trigger information regarding a release of radiation towards the radiological interaction area; and providing the radiation trigger information.
2. 2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the breathing signal data is indicative of a breathing of a patient, and the patient is located on the patient support structure.
3. 3 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein the second portion of the breathing signal data is indicative of the breathing of the patient during the movement of the patient support structure relative to the radiological interaction area.
4. 4 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein a first check result is generated by checking the first portion of the breathing signal data against a first criterion, wherein the movement trigger information is generated based on the first check result, wherein a second check result is generated by checking the second portion of the breathing signal data against a second criterion, and wherein the radiation trigger information is generated based on the second check result.
5. 5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein a first check result is generated by checking the first portion of the breathing signal data against a first criterion, wherein the movement trigger information is generated based on the first check result, wherein a second check result is generated by checking the second portion of the breathing signal data against a second criterion, and wherein the radiation trigger information is generated based on the second check result.
6. 6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the first criterion is related to a first breathing state region, the first breathing state region preceding a target breathing state by a first delay time, the first delay time being related to the movement of the patient support structure relative to the radiological interaction area, and the second criterion is related to a second breathing state region, the second breathing state region preceding the target breathing state by a second delay time, the second delay time being related to the release of radiation towards the radiological interaction area.
7. 7 . The method according to claim 6 , wherein the target breathing state is a maximum inhalation state or a maximum exhalation state.
8. 8 . The method according to claim 6 , wherein the first criterion is further related to a first tangential region in a velocity-amplitude phase space for the breathing signal data, and the second criterion is further related to a second tangential region in the velocity-amplitude phase space for the breathing signal data.
9. 9 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein the first criterion is further related to a first tangential region in a velocity-amplitude phase space for the breathing signal data, and the second criterion is further related to a second tangential region in the velocity-amplitude phase space for the breathing signal data.
10. 10 . The method according to claim 6 , further comprising: receiving an initial portion of the breathing signal data; calculating a representative breathing curve based on the initial portion of the breathing signal data; and calculating the first criterion and the second criterion based on the representative breathing curve.
11. 11 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the first criterion is further related to a first tangential region in a velocity-amplitude phase space for the breathing signal data, and the second criterion is further related to a second tangential region in the velocity-amplitude phase space for the breathing signal data.
12. 12 . The method according to claim 11 , further comprising: receiving an initial portion of the breathing signal data; calculating a representative breathing curve based on the initial portion of the breathing signal data; and calculating the first criterion and the second criterion based on the representative breathing curve.
13. 13 . The method according to claim 4 , further comprising: receiving an initial portion of the breathing signal data; calculating a representative breathing curve based on the initial portion of the breathing signal data; and calculating the first criterion and the second criterion based on the representative breathing curve.
14. 14 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the computer-implemented method of claim 1 .
15. 15 . A data processing system, comprising a data interface and a processor, the data processing system being configured to carry out the computer-implemented method of claim 1 .
16. 16 . A medical system, comprising: the data processing system of claim 15 ; a breathing signal measurement system configured to measure the breathing signal data; and a radiological device including the patient support structure and the radiological interaction area.
17. 17 . The medical system according to claim 16 , wherein the radiological device is a computed tomography device.
18. 18 . A method for respiratory triggering in medical radiology, the method comprising: receiving a first portion of breathing signal data; generating, based on the first portion, movement trigger information regarding a movement of a patient support structure relative to a radiological interaction area; providing the movement trigger information; triggering the movement of the patient support structure relative to the radiological interaction area, based on the movement trigger information; receiving, after providing the movement trigger information, a second portion of the breathing signal data; generating, based on the second portion, radiation trigger information regarding a release of radiation towards the radiological interaction area; providing the radiation trigger information; and triggering the release of radiation towards the radiological interaction area based on the radiation trigger information.
19. 19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the second portion of the breathing signal data is measured during the movement of the patient support structure relative to the radiological interaction area.
20. 20 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the release of radiation towards the radiological interaction area is triggered during the movement of the patient support structure relative to the radiological interaction area.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to European Patent Application No. 23165937.6, filed Mar. 31, 2023, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference. FIELD In one aspect, one or more example embodiments of the present invention relate to a computer-implemented method for providing trigger information in medical radiology. In other aspects, one or more example embodiments of the present invention relate to a data processing system, to a computed tomography device, to a non-transitory computer program product and to a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. BACKGROUND Breathhold computed tomography (CT) scans can be used in the diagnosis of lung diseases, in particular with regard to pulmonary emphysema, pulmonary fibrosis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Breathhold, in particular deep inspiration breathhold or deep expiration breathhold, can help to better examine anatomical structures and pathologies. However, breathhold CT is not appropriate for certain groups of patients who are unable to follow instructions, for example infants, young children, unconscious patients or mentally impaired patients. For some of these patients, breathhold may only be achieved by preventing breathing with the help of anesthesia. US 2017/0238895 A1 discloses a method for respiration-correlated computed tomography (CT) imaging. US 2020/0121266 A1 discloses a method for carrying out an imaging scan of a patient in a computed tomography system, wherein a respiratory cycle of the patient is acquired. CT scans, in particular high pitch CT scans, that are performed under free breathing may result in lower image quality, for example due to artifacts caused by uncertainty and/or inconsistency regarding the breathing states being imaged. SUMMARY An underlying technical problem of one or more embodiments of the present invention is to facilitate a respiratory triggering in medical radiology that is improved in particular with regard to radiation dose and image quality. Independent of the grammatical term usage, individuals with male, female or other gender identities are included within the term. An embodiment of the present invention relates to a computer-implemented method for providing trigger information in medical radiology, the method comprising: receiving a first portion of breathing signal data,generating movement trigger information regarding a movement of a patient support structure relative to a radiological interaction area based on the first portion of the breathing signal data,providing the movement trigger information,receiving, after providing the movement trigger information, a second portion of the breathing signal data,generating radiation trigger information regarding a release of radiation towards the radiological interaction area based on the second portion of the breathing signal data,providing the radiation trigger information. The movement of the patient support structure may be translational movement and/or may comprise, for example, an acceleration movement and/or a scan movement, the scan movement occurring later in time than the acceleration movement. The movement of the patient support structure may be parallel to a system axis of the radiological interaction area. The patient support structure may be, for example, a patient table board that is movably mounted on a patient table socket. The radiation towards the radiological interaction area could be released, for example, by irradiating the radiation by a radiation source and/or by unblocking the radiation by a collimator. The movement trigger information may indicate a start time of the movement of the patient support structure. The radiation trigger information may indicate a start time of the release of the radiation. The breathing signal data may be indicative of a breathing of a patient, in particular a free breathing of the patient. The patient may be located on the patient support structure. The second portion of the breathing signal data may be indicative of the breathing of the patient during the movement of the patient support structure relative to the radiological interaction area. In particular, the second portion of the breathing signal data may be indicative of the breathing of the patient during the movement of the patient relative to the radiological interaction area, the patient following the movement of the patient support structure. In particular, the first portion of the breathing signal data may be indicative of the breathing of the patient before the movement of the patient relative to the radiological interaction area, the patient following the movement of the patient support structure. The first portion of breathing signal data may comprise a first time series of breathing signal values, in particular breathing amplitude values. The second portion of breathing signal data may comprise a second time series of breathing sign