阅读说明：本技术 X射线ct装置、医用图像处理装置以及x射线ct系统 (X-ray CT apparatus, medical image processing apparatus, and X-ray CT system ) 是由 关谷浩太郎 久野博文 桧山贵志 桥爪莟 津岛总 塚越伸介 于 2019-09-09 设计创作，主要内容包括：实施方式涉及X射线CT装置、医用图像处理装置以及X射线CT系统。提供提高了组织分辨率的CT图像。实施方式的X射线CT装置具备扫描部和解析部。扫描部通过执行采用了X射线的扫描,对包含被检体的一部分的区域收集与第一X射线能量相对应的第一数据集、以及与不同于所述第一X射线能量的第二X射线能量相对应的第二数据集。解析部根据所述第一数据集和所述第二数据集,生成表示所述区域内的各位置上的多个标准物质各自的含量的散布图,并对所述散布图的至少一部分设定权重,根据所述含量和所述权重生成解析图像。(The embodiment relates to an X-ray CT apparatus, a medical image processing apparatus, and an X-ray CT system. CT images with improved tissue resolution are provided. An X-ray CT apparatus according to an embodiment includes a scanner and an analyzer. The scanning unit performs a scan using X-rays, and collects a first data set corresponding to a first X-ray energy and a second data set corresponding to a second X-ray energy different from the first X-ray energy for a region including a part of the subject. An analysis unit generates a scatter diagram indicating the content of each of a plurality of standard substances at each position in the region from the first data set and the second data set, sets a weight for at least a part of the scatter diagram, and generates an analysis image from the content and the weight.)

1. An X-ray CT apparatus, comprising:

a scanning unit configured to perform a scan using X-rays, and collect, for a region including a part of a subject, a first data set corresponding to a first X-ray energy and a second data set corresponding to a second X-ray energy different from the first X-ray energy; and

and an analysis unit that generates a scatter diagram indicating the content of each of the plurality of standard substances at each position in the region from the first data set and the second data set, sets a weight for at least a part of the scatter diagram, and generates an analysis image from the content and the weight.

2. The X-ray CT apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the analyzer sets different weights for a plurality of regions of interest set on the scatter diagram.

3. The X-ray CT apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the analysis unit sets different weights for a plurality of positions in a region of interest set on the scatter diagram.

4. The X-ray CT apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein,

further comprises a receiving unit for receiving a change operation for changing the region of interest,

the analysis unit sets a weight to the region of interest after the change operation received by the reception unit.

5. The X-ray CT apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein,

further comprises a storage unit for storing information on a region of interest set on the scatter diagram,

the analysis unit sets the region of interest on the newly generated scatter diagram based on the information of the region of interest stored in the storage unit.

6. The X-ray CT apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the analysis unit extracts a center of gravity in a region of interest set on the scatter diagram in the distribution of the content shown on the scatter diagram, and sets a weight according to a distance from the extracted center of gravity.

7. The X-ray CT apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the analysis unit sets the weight so that the weight decreases as the distance from the center of gravity increases.

8. The X-ray CT apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the analysis unit sets the same weight to a range in which a distance from the center of gravity is smaller than a threshold value in the distribution of the content.

9. The X-ray CT apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein,

further comprises a reception unit for receiving a change operation for changing the weight,

the analysis unit generates the analysis image based on the weight and the content after the change operation received by the reception unit.

10. The X-ray CT apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein,

the analysis unit estimates the content of each of the plurality of standard substances for each position in the region,

the analysis unit generates the analysis image by correcting, with the weight, pixel values based on the content estimated for at least a part of the region corresponding to at least a part of the scatter diagram.

11. The X-ray CT apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the analysis unit specifies noise in the scatter diagram and generates an analysis image in which the specified noise is reduced.

12. The X-ray CT apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the analysis section determines the content in the scatter diagram whose appearance frequency is less than a threshold as the noise.

13. A medical image processing apparatus is provided with:

an acquisition unit configured to acquire a first data set corresponding to a first X-ray energy and a second data set corresponding to a second X-ray energy different from the first X-ray energy, which are collected in a region including a part of a subject, by performing a scan using X-rays; and

and an analysis unit that generates a scatter diagram indicating the content of each of the plurality of standard substances at each position in the region from the first data set and the second data set, sets a weight for at least a part of the scatter diagram, and generates an analysis image from the content and the weight.

14. An X-ray CT system, comprising:

an X-ray CT apparatus having a scanning unit that performs a scan using X-rays and collects, for a region including a part of a subject, a first data set corresponding to a first X-ray energy and a second data set corresponding to a second X-ray energy different from the first X-ray energy; and

and a medical image processing apparatus including an analysis unit that generates a scatter diagram indicating a content of each of a plurality of standard substances at each position in the region from the first data set and the second data set, sets a weight for at least a part of the scatter diagram, and generates an analysis image from the content and the weight.

15. An X-ray CT apparatus, comprising:

a scanning unit configured to perform a scan using X-rays, and collect, for a region including a part of a subject, a first data set corresponding to a first X-ray energy and a second data set corresponding to a second X-ray energy different from the first X-ray energy; and

and an analysis unit configured to estimate the content of each of the plurality of standard substances at each position in the region from the first data set and the second data set, set a weight for at least a part of the region, and generate an analysis image from the content and the weight.

Technical Field

Background

Conventionally, there is a method of acquiring images by taking images with an X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) apparatus at different tube voltages. For example, in Dual-Energy (Dual-Energy) collection using two different tube voltages, there is known a technique of separating 2 projection data obtained from the two different tube voltages into projection data (line integral data) of each of 2 standard substances set in advance, and reconstructing an image (standard substance image) based on the existence rate of the standard substance from the separated 2 data. In this technique, various images such as a monochromatic X-ray image, a density image, and an effective atomic number image can be acquired by performing weighting calculation processing using 2 standard substance images.

Disclosure of Invention

The problem to be solved by the invention is to provide a CT image with improved tissue resolution.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a medical image processing system according to a first embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the X-ray CT apparatus according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of display information according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 4 is a diagram for explaining designation of a region of interest on a scatter diagram according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of weighting performed by the analysis function according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an analysis image according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart for explaining a processing flow of the X-ray CT apparatus according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of weighting according to the second embodiment.

Fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of an analysis image according to the second embodiment.

Fig. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an analysis image according to the fourth embodiment.

Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram for explaining processing of an analysis function according to the fifth embodiment.

Fig. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a medical image processing apparatus according to a fifth embodiment.

The embodiment relates to an X-ray CT apparatus, a medical image processing apparatus, and an X-ray CT system.