CT surrogate by auto-segmentation of magnetic resonance images

摘要

When modeling anatomical structures in a patient for diagnosis or therapeutic planning, an atlas (26) of segmented co-registered CT and MRI anatomical structure reference images can be accessed, and an image of one or more such structures can be selected and overlaid with an MRI image of corresponding structure(s) in a clinical image of a patient. A user can click and drag landmarks or segment edges on the reference MRI image to deform the reference MRI image to align with the patient MRI image. Registration of a landmark in the patient MRI image to the reference MRI image also registers the patient MRI image landmark with a corresponding landmark in the co-registered reference CT image, and electron density information from the reference CT image landmark is automatically attributed to the corresponding registered patient MRI landmark.

主权项

1. A system that provides electron density information in a magnetic resonance image (MRI) volume, including:
a memory that stores an atlas including a reference computed tomography (CT) image and a reference MRI image that are co-registered to each other; a display that presents a view of a patient MRI image and the reference MRI image; a processor that executes an algorithm for associating electron density information from a corresponding landmark in the reference CT image with the selected landmark in the patient MRI image; an MRI imaging device that generates the patient MRI image; and a nuclear scanner that generates a single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) image or a positron emission tomography (PET) image of the patient; wherein the processor generates attenuation correction data for the patient SPECT or PET image as a function of electron density information from a registered patient MRI image.