EP0244111A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Imaging systems
Assignee: Philips Nuclear Medicine Inc
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Filing: 1987-04-10
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2007-04-10
Abstract
Abstract An artifact inducing imaging system (10) and technique is described. A gray scale mapping technique is employed to indicate to an operator the brightness function of each pixel of an image. Where the brightnes function is less than 95% of saturation, the image is displayed normally. Where the brightness function is at least equal to the saturation full scale value, that portion of the image is displayed normally. Where the brightness function is at least equal to the saturation full scale value, that portion of the image is displayed in total black. Where the brightness function is between 95% and 100% of saturation full scale value, the image portion is displayed as mixed dark and light, i.e. a speckled region. An alternate embodiment simply displays saturated regions to total black.
Inventors
- 👤 Robert E. Shroy, Jr.
- 👤 Karen L. Lauro
- 👤 Richard A. Sones
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 07:34
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06T; G06T5/00; G06T5/90; G06T5/94; G06T5/40; H; H04; H04N; H04N23/00; H04N23/30; G06T2207/00; G06T2207/10; G06T2207/10116; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S378/00; Y10S378/901
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 30
Claim 1
Independent Claim
152 words
An imaging system (10) comprising: a structure defining a subject examination station (14, 16) for accommodating a body (12) to be examined; a source means (18) for causing radiation to pass through and emerge from a portion of said body (12) when situated at said station (14, 16); imaging means (20) responsive to a pattern of said emergent radiation to produce signals corresponding to an image of said pattern; display means (26) for producing a visual image corresponding to that represented by said signals; first control means for controlling said source, imaging and display means to produce a study image in accordance with a preselected protocol corresponding to a desired study; second control means for controlling said source, imaging and display means, to produce a technique image prior to the production of said study image; characterised in that said system further comprises means for modifying said technique image prior to its display.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
152 words
An imaging system (10) comprising: a structure defining a subject examination station (14, 16) for accommodating a body (12) to be examined; a source means (18) for causing radiation to pass through and emerge from a portion of said body (12) when situated at said station (14, 16); imaging means (20) responsive to a pattern of said emergent radiation to produce signals corresponding to an image of said pattern; display means (26) for producing a visual image corresponding to that represented by said signals; first control means for controlling said source, imaging and display means to produce a study image in accordance with a preselected protocol corresponding to a desired study; second control means for controlling said source, imaging and display means, to produce a technique image prior to the production of said study image; characterised in that said system further comprises means for modifying said technique image prior to its display.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
21 words
A system (10) according to Claim 1 wherein said modifying means comprises means for introducing an artifact into said technique image.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
30 words
A system (10) according to Claim 2 wherein said means for introducing an artifact does so as a function of technique image brightness at a predetermined portion of said image.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
32 words
A system (10) according to Claim 3 wherein said modifying means comprises means for introducing a plurality of said artifacts into said technique image as a function of respective image pixel brightness.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
109 words
A system (10) according to Claim 4 wherein said study and technique images each comprise a plurality of image pixels; said imaging means (20) comprises signal storage means having a limitation defining a full scale saturation value for brightness information borne by each said signal; said imaging means (20) further comprises means for comparing said brightness value of each said signal to said full scale saturation value; and means for operating upon image display pixels to introduce an artifact to said pixel display as a function of relation between the brightness values of the signals corresponding to at least some of said pixels and said full scale saturation value.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
50 words
A system (10) according to Claim 5 wherein said artifact introducing means includes means for operating in accordance with the following characteristic: where the brightness value of a signal for a pixel corresponds to at least 100% of said full scale saturation value, the corresponding pixel is displayed as black.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
55 words
A system (10) according to Claim 6 wherein said artifact introducing means includes means for operating in accordance with the following characteristic: where the brightness value corresponding to a signal for a pixel is less than a predetermined fraction of said full scale saturation value, the brightness of the corresponding pixel is displayed without modification.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
69 words
A system (10) according to Claim 6 wherein said artifact introducing means includes means for operating in accordance with the following characteristic: where the brightness signal corresponding to a signal for a pixel is greater than a predetermined fraction of said full scale saturation value, but less than said full scale saturation value, said pixel is displayed in accordance with an alternating dark and light gray scale mapping technique.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
156 words
A method of conducting digital imaging comprising the steps of: propagating penetrative energy through a portion of a body (12) to be examined; producing from a pattern of said radiation emergent from the body (12) a plurality of digital signals representing a technique image of said pattern; displaying said technique image; evaluating said technique image; again propagating penetrative energy through a portion of said body (12) in accordance with a preselected actual imaging study protocol modified in accordance with said evaluation; producing from said energy emergent from the body (12) a set of digital signals representing an image of said pattern, in accordance with said actual study imaging protocol; displaying said actual study image represented by said second set of digital signals; characterised in that prior to displaying said technique image, said technique image is modified in accordance with predetermined criteria to form a modified technique image upon which the operations of the subsequent steps occur.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
156 words
A method of conducting digital imaging comprising the steps of: propagating penetrative energy through a portion of a body (12) to be examined; producing from a pattern of said radiation emergent from the body (12) a plurality of digital signals representing a technique image of said pattern; displaying said technique image; evaluating said technique image; again propagating penetrative energy through a portion of said body (12) in accordance with a preselected actual imaging study protocol modified in accordance with said evaluation; producing from said energy emergent from the body (12) a set of digital signals representing an image of said pattern, in accordance with said actual study imaging protocol; displaying said actual study image represented by said second set of digital signals; characterised in that prior to displaying said technique image, said technique image is modified in accordance with predetermined criteria to form a modified technique image upon which the operations of the subsequent steps occur.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
47 words
A digital imaging system (10) including: means for producing a first technique image for pre-evaluation of study imaging protocol; and means for acquiring said study protocol image: characterised by means for adding an artifact to said technique image prior to its display in accordance with predetermined criteria.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
47 words
A digital imaging system (10) including: means for producing a first technique image for pre-evaluation of study imaging protocol; and means for acquiring said study protocol image: characterised by means for adding an artifact to said technique image prior to its display in accordance with predetermined criteria.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
31 words
A system according to Claim 10 wherein said artifact adding means comprises: means for modifying said technique image as a function of saturation and near saturation existent in said technique image.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
96 words
A digital imaging system (10) comprising: means (20) responsive to a pattern of radiation energy for producing a set of digital signals representing said pattern, said digital signals bearing brightness information corresponding to a particular pixel of said image; and means for displaying (26) in visual form an image corresponding to said digital signals; characterised by means for modifying said set of digital signals as a function of said brightness information in accordance with a discontinuous gray scale mapping technique so that said means for displaying (26) displays an image corresponding to said modified digital signals.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
96 words
A digital imaging system (10) comprising: means (20) responsive to a pattern of radiation energy for producing a set of digital signals representing said pattern, said digital signals bearing brightness information corresponding to a particular pixel of said image; and means for displaying (26) in visual form an image corresponding to said digital signals; characterised by means for modifying said set of digital signals as a function of said brightness information in accordance with a discontinuous gray scale mapping technique so that said means for displaying (26) displays an image corresponding to said modified digital signals.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
21 words
A system (10) according to Claim 12, wherein said modifying means comprises means for introducing an artifact in said displayed image.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
158 words
A digital radiation imaging system (10) comprising: a source (18) for propagating penetrative radiation along path; a penetrative radiation detector spaced from said source (18) and positionable in said path; interpretive means (20) associated with said detector for producing an image corresponding to radiation detected by said detector; display means (26) responsive to said interpretive means (20) for producing a visual image corresponding to said detected radiation; characterised by said interpretive means (20) having an inherent limitation defining a full scale saturation value for each of a plurality of pixels constituting said image; and means associated with said interpretive means for modifying said displayed image in accordance with the following criteria: where the brightness value for an image pixel is at least 100% of said full scale saturation value, said pixel is displayed as black, and where the brightness value for a pixel is less than said full scale saturation value, said pixel is displayed in unmodified form.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
158 words
A digital radiation imaging system (10) comprising: a source (18) for propagating penetrative radiation along path; a penetrative radiation detector spaced from said source (18) and positionable in said path; interpretive means (20) associated with said detector for producing an image corresponding to radiation detected by said detector; display means (26) responsive to said interpretive means (20) for producing a visual image corresponding to said detected radiation; characterised by said interpretive means (20) having an inherent limitation defining a full scale saturation value for each of a plurality of pixels constituting said image; and means associated with said interpretive means for modifying said displayed image in accordance with the following criteria: where the brightness value for an image pixel is at least 100% of said full scale saturation value, said pixel is displayed as black, and where the brightness value for a pixel is less than said full scale saturation value, said pixel is displayed in unmodified form.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
142 words
A digital radiation imaging system (10) comprising: a source (18) for propagating penetrative radiation; a radiation detector spaced from the source to accommodate placement of a subject (12) therebetween, said detector defining a field of view sufficiently large that, when said subject (12) is placed between the source (18) and detector, the detector receives at least some radiation in an air region in which said radiation falls incident upon said detector without first having passed through the subject (12); and interpretive means (20) coupled to said detector for producing an image corresponding to radiation incident upon said detector, characterised by said interpretive means (20) defining, because of an inherent limitation, a saturation value for image brightness; and means associated with said interpretive means for rendering said image substantially black for areas in which said radiation is sufficiently high to cause said saturation.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
142 words
A digital radiation imaging system (10) comprising: a source (18) for propagating penetrative radiation; a radiation detector spaced from the source to accommodate placement of a subject (12) therebetween, said detector defining a field of view sufficiently large that, when said subject (12) is placed between the source (18) and detector, the detector receives at least some radiation in an air region in which said radiation falls incident upon said detector without first having passed through the subject (12); and interpretive means (20) coupled to said detector for producing an image corresponding to radiation incident upon said detector, characterised by said interpretive means (20) defining, because of an inherent limitation, a saturation value for image brightness; and means associated with said interpretive means for rendering said image substantially black for areas in which said radiation is sufficiently high to cause said saturation.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
30 words
A system (10) according to Claim 15 wherein: said system displays said air region as substantially black when said radiation is sufficiently high to cause saturation in said air region.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
118 words
A radiation imaging method utilizing a source (18) of penetrative radiation and a detector of penetrative radiation for detecting said radiation over a predetermined field of view, said method comprising the steps of: propagating radiation through a subject (12) located between said source (18) and said detector, some of said radiation falling upon said detector after having passed through said subject (12), and other radiation from said source (18) falling upon said detector without having first passed through said subject (12), thus defining an air region; utilizing said detector to produce an image of radiation incident upon said detector, characterised by said image production including rendering said portion of said image corresponding to said air region substantially black.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
118 words
A radiation imaging method utilizing a source (18) of penetrative radiation and a detector of penetrative radiation for detecting said radiation over a predetermined field of view, said method comprising the steps of: propagating radiation through a subject (12) located between said source (18) and said detector, some of said radiation falling upon said detector after having passed through said subject (12), and other radiation from said source (18) falling upon said detector without having first passed through said subject (12), thus defining an air region; utilizing said detector to produce an image of radiation incident upon said detector, characterised by said image production including rendering said portion of said image corresponding to said air region substantially black.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
109 words
A radiation imaging system (10) comprising: a source (18) of penetrative radiation; a detector of penetrative radiation spaced from said source (18) and defining a predetermined field of view; interpretative means (20) coupled to said detector for producing an image comprising a plurality of image pixels, each pixel having associated therewith a brightness value as a function of an attribute of radiation incident on said detector at a location corresponding to said respective pixel, characterised by said interpretive means (20) defining a full scale saturation brightness value for each pixel, said interpretive means (20) including means for rendering substantially in black an image portion corresponding to an air region.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
109 words
A radiation imaging system (10) comprising: a source (18) of penetrative radiation; a detector of penetrative radiation spaced from said source (18) and defining a predetermined field of view; interpretative means (20) coupled to said detector for producing an image comprising a plurality of image pixels, each pixel having associated therewith a brightness value as a function of an attribute of radiation incident on said detector at a location corresponding to said respective pixel, characterised by said interpretive means (20) defining a full scale saturation brightness value for each pixel, said interpretive means (20) including means for rendering substantially in black an image portion corresponding to an air region.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
144 words
A radiation imaging system (10) comprising: a source (18) of penetrative radiation; a detector of penetrative radiation spaced from said source (18) and defining a predetermined field of view; interpretative means (20) coupled to said detector for producing an image comprising a plurality of image pixels, each pixel having associated therewith a brightness value as a function of an attribute of radiation incident on said detector at a location corresponding to said respective image pixel, said interpretive means (20) including means for processing image pixel brightness values for producing an image corresponding to radiation incident on said detector, characterised by said interpretive means (20) defining a full scale saturation brightness value for each pixel and means for discarding, prior to processing by said interpretive means (20), data comprising brightness value image pixel representation equal to or in excess of said full scale brightness value.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
144 words
A radiation imaging system (10) comprising: a source (18) of penetrative radiation; a detector of penetrative radiation spaced from said source (18) and defining a predetermined field of view; interpretative means (20) coupled to said detector for producing an image comprising a plurality of image pixels, each pixel having associated therewith a brightness value as a function of an attribute of radiation incident on said detector at a location corresponding to said respective image pixel, said interpretive means (20) including means for processing image pixel brightness values for producing an image corresponding to radiation incident on said detector, characterised by said interpretive means (20) defining a full scale saturation brightness value for each pixel and means for discarding, prior to processing by said interpretive means (20), data comprising brightness value image pixel representation equal to or in excess of said full scale brightness value.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
102 words
A radiation imaging method utilizing a source(18) of penetrative radiation, a detector of penetrative radiation spaced from said source (18) and defining a predetermined field of view, and interpretive means (20) coupled to the detector for processing information from the detector to produce an image corresponding to radiation incident on the detector, said method comprising the steps of: actuating the source (18) to propagate penetrative radiation incident on the detector; characterised by discarding all detected information representing a brightness value in excess of a predetermined value; and processing undiscarded information to produce an image therefrom corresponding to radiation incident on the detector.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
102 words
A radiation imaging method utilizing a source(18) of penetrative radiation, a detector of penetrative radiation spaced from said source (18) and defining a predetermined field of view, and interpretive means (20) coupled to the detector for processing information from the detector to produce an image corresponding to radiation incident on the detector, said method comprising the steps of: actuating the source (18) to propagate penetrative radiation incident on the detector; characterised by discarding all detected information representing a brightness value in excess of a predetermined value; and processing undiscarded information to produce an image therefrom corresponding to radiation incident on the detector.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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