Medical image processing apparatus and X-ray computed tomography apparatus

1. A medical image processing apparatus comprising:

processing circuitry that

separates projection data into pieces of line-integrated data each of which corresponds to a different one of a plurality of basis materials that are set in advance,

reconstructs pieces of basis material image data from the pieces of line-integrated data each of which corresponds to a different one of the plurality of basis materials, the pieces of basis material image data being configured so that each pixel value of each of pixels indicates an abundance ratio of corresponding each of the basis materials that is present at each of the pixel,

extracts an artifact region, on a basis of attenuation coefficients of each of the pixels calculated from the pieces of basis material image data each of which corresponds to a different one of the plurality of basis materials, and

corrects the attenuation coefficients at the artifact region, wherein

the processing circuitry generates a monochromatic X-ray image by using the corrected attenuation coefficients.

2. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry obtains an energy level at which each of the attenuation coefficients of the artifact region calculated from pixel values in the pieces of basis material image data each of which corresponds to a different one of the plurality of basis materials exhibits a correct value, and performs a correcting processing by using each of the attenuation coefficients of the artifact region at the obtained energy level and attenuation coefficients of predetermined materials at the obtained energy level.

3. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry obtains a value calculated in advance as the energy level at which each of the attenuation coefficients of the artifact region exhibits the correct value, the attenuation coefficients being calculated from the pixel values in the pieces of basis material image data each of which corresponds to a different one of the plurality of basis materials.

4. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry performs a correcting processing by replacing each of the attenuation coefficients of the artifact region with attenuation coefficients of predetermined materials.

5. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry extracts the artifact region from data obtained after a filtering processing is performed on the pieces of basis material image data each of which corresponds to a different one of the plurality of basis materials.

6. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry extracts the artifact region by comparing attenuation coefficients at two mutually-different energy levels with each other, within an energy range that does not include absorption edge energies.

7. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry extracts such a pixel of which the attenuation coefficients are 0 or smaller as the artifact region.

8. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry extracts the artifact region by comparing each of the attenuation coefficients at a predetermined energy level with attenuation coefficients of materials that are set in advance at the predetermined energy level.

9. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry extracts the artifact region by comparing a ratio between attenuation coefficients at two mutually-different energy levels with a ratio between attenuation coefficients of a material that is set in advance at the two mutually-different energy levels.

10. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry ensures that such a pixel of which pixel values in a mutually same position in the pieces of basis material image data each of which corresponds to a different one of the plurality of basis materials fall in a predetermined range is excluded from a target to be extracted as the artifact region.

11. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the projection data is represented by two pieces of projection data acquired by using two mutually-different levels of X-ray tube voltages.

12. The medical image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry exercises control so that the artifact region is displayed while being emphasized within the monochromatic X-ray image using the corrected attenuation coefficients or a monochromatic X-ray image using the attenuation coefficients before the correction.

13. An X-ray computed tomography apparatus comprising:

a detector configured to detect X-rays having passed through a subject; and

processing circuitry configured to

separate projection data generated based on a detection signal of the detector into pieces of line-integrated data each of which corresponds to a different one of a plurality of basis materials that are set in advance,

reconstruct pieces of basis material image data from the pieces of line-integrated data each of which corresponds to a different one of the plurality of basis materials, the pieces of basis material image data being configured so that each pixel value of each of pixels indicates an abundance ratio of corresponding each of the basis materials that is present at each of the pixel,

extract an artifact region, on a basis of attenuation coefficients of each of the pixels calculated from the pieces of basis material image data each of which corresponds to a different one of the plurality of basis materials, and

correct the attenuation coefficients at the artifact region, wherein

the processing circuitry is further configured to generate a monochromatic X-ray image by using the corrected attenuation coefficients.