Method and device for enhancing the display of features of interest in a 3D image of an anatomical region of a patient

1 . A computer implemented method for enhancing the display of features of interest in a 3D image of an anatomical region of a patient comprising:

obtaining, from a medical imaging device, a 3D image of an anatomical region of a patient comprising several voxels;

projecting the 3D image according to a first point of view for obtaining a first 2D image, comprising several pixels;

projecting the 3D image according to a second point of view for obtaining a second 2D image of the anatomical region, the first point of view being transverse to the second point of view and the first 2D image being transverse to the second 2D image comprising several pixels;

displaying the first 2D image and the second 2D image;

defining a first 2D region of interest on the first 2D image;

backprojecting according to the first point of view the first 2D region of interest into a first 3D region of interest,

projecting the first 3D region of interest according to the second point of view for obtaining a third 2D image comprising several pixels; and

displaying the third 2D image.

2 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining from the third 2D image a second 3D region of interest; and

projecting the second 3D region of interest according to the first point of view for obtaining a fourth 2D image comprising several pixels;

displaying the fourth 2D image.

3 . The computer implemented method of claim 2 , wherein determining from the first 2D image the first 3D region of interest or determining from the third 2D image the second 3D region of interest comprises:

defining a 2D region on one of the first or third 2D image; and

obtaining from the 2D region and the 3D image a first or second 3D region of interest, the 2D region being the projection of the first or second 3D region of interest according to the transverse point of view to the one of the first or third 2D image.

4 . The computer implemented method of claim 3 , wherein defining the 2D region on one of the first or third 2D image comprises:

defining a central line;

defining a first line at a first distance from the central line; and

defining a second line at a second distance from the central line, a 2D region being delimited by the first line and the second line on both sides of the central line.

5 . The computer implemented method of claim 4 , wherein the first distance is different or equal to the second distance.

6 . The computer implemented method of claim 4 , wherein defining the central line comprises:

determining manually or automatically a point and a direction on the first or third 2D image; and

computing a central line from the point and the direction.

7 . The computer implemented method of claim 3 , wherein defining the 2D region on one of the first or third 2D image comprises defining a circle on the first or third 2D image and a central line through the center of the circle.

8 . The computer implemented method of claim 3 , wherein defining the 2D region on the first 2D image comprises defining automatically or manually a 2D region on the first 2D image.

9 . The computer implemented method of claim 2 , further comprising filtering at least one 3D region of interest so as to keep pixels or voxels having levels defined with respect to a predetermined threshold in the first or second 3D region of interest.

10 . The computer implemented method of claim 2 , further comprising filtering at least one 3D region of interest so as to keep the pixels or voxels having levels higher than the maximum value of a percentage of the pixels or voxels of lower level in the first or second 3D region of interest.

11 . The computer implemented method of claim 2 , further comprising filtering at least one 3D region of interest so as to keep the pixels or voxels having levels lower than the maximum value of a percentage of the pixels or voxels of higher level in the first or second 3D region of interest.

12 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the 3D image of the anatomical region of the patient comprises obtaining automatically or manually among a plurality of 3D images a 3D image of an anatomical region of a patient.

13 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying the first 2D image, the second 2D image and the third 2D image.

14 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the first point of view is orthogonal to the second point of view.

15 . A medical imaging system comprising:

a medical imaging device for obtaining a 3D image of an anatomical region of a patient comprising several voxels; and

a processor configured to:

project the 3D image according to a first point of view for obtaining a first 2D image comprising several pixels;

project the 3D image according to a second point of view transverse to the first point of view and the first 2D image for obtaining a second 2D image of the anatomical region comprising several pixels;

define a first 2D region of interest on the first 2D image:

backproiect according to the first point of view the first 2D region of interest into a first 3D region of interest;

project the first 3D region of interest according to the second point of view for obtaining a third 2D image comprising several pixels; and

a display unit configured to display the second 2D image and the third 2D image.