METHOD AND DEVICE FOR CO-REGISTERING A MEDICAL 3D IMAGE AND A SPATIAL REFERENCE

1 - 9 . (canceled)

10 . A data processing system, comprising a computer having a processor configured to execute a computer-implemented medical processing method for co-registering a medical 3D image dataset and a spatial reference, comprising the steps of:

acquiring the 3D image dataset, wherein the 3D image dataset represents a medical CT image, a medical MR image or an angiograph of at least a part of a patient and a set of hybrid markers;

detecting the positions of the hybrid markers in the 3D image dataset so as to obtain a scan matrix representing the arrangement of the set of hybrid markers in the 3D image dataset and the position of the scan matrix in the 3D image dataset;

acquiring the positions of the hybrid markers with respect to the spatial reference, so as to obtain an image matrix representing the arrangement of the set of hybrid markers in three-dimensional space and the position of the image matrix relative to the spatial reference;

co-registering the scan matrix and the image matrix;

repeating the step of detecting the positions of the hybrid markers in the 3D image dataset for different search parameters, so as to obtain a plurality of candidate scan matrices;

co-registering each of the candidate scan matrices and the image matrix; and

selecting the candidate scan matrix which best matches the image matrix as the scan matrix.

11 . A computer-implemented medical data processing method for co-registering a medical 3D image dataset and a spatial reference, the method comprising executing, on a processor of a computer, the steps of:

acquiring, at the processor, the 3D image dataset, wherein the 3D image dataset represents a medical CT image, a medical MR image or an angiograph of at least a part of a patient and a set of hybrid markers;

detecting, by the processor, the positions of the hybrid markers in the 3D image dataset so as to obtain a scan matrix representing the arrangement of the set of hybrid markers in the 3D image dataset and the position of the scan matrix in the 3D image dataset;

acquiring, at the processor, the positions of the hybrid markers with respect to the spatial reference, so as to obtain an image matrix representing the arrangement of the set of hybrid markers in three-dimensional space and the position of the image matrix relative to the spatial reference;

co-registering, by the processor, the scan matrix and the image matrix;

repeating, by the processor, the step of detecting the positions of the hybrid markers in the 3D image dataset for different search parameters, so as to obtain a plurality of candidate scan matrices;

co-registering, by the processor, each of the candidate scan matrices and the image matrix; and

selecting, by the processor, the candidate scan matrix which best matches the image matrix as the scan matrix.

12 . The method according to claim 11 , further comprising the steps of acquiring the position of a reference marker device and using said position as the spatial reference.

13 . The method according to claim 11 , wherein acquiring the positions of the hybrid markers with respect to the spatial reference involves acquiring a stereoscopic dataset which represents a 3D optical image of the hybrid markers and detecting the positions of the hybrid markers in the stereoscopic dataset.

14 . The method according to claim 11 , further comprising the step of adapting the detected positions of the hybrid markers in the 3D image dataset if the hybrid markers have a cylindrical shape.

15 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein adapting a detected position involves determining the axial direction of the cylindrical hybrid marker and shifting the detected position along the axial direction by half the height of the cylinder.

16 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein the axial direction of the cylindrical hybrid marker is determined from the 3D image dataset.

17 . A non-transitory computer-readable program storage medium storing a program which, when executed on a processor of a computer, causes the processor to perform the method steps of:

acquiring the 3D image dataset, wherein the 3D image dataset represents a medical CT image, a medical MR image or an angiograph of at least a part of a patient and a set of hybrid markers;

detecting the positions of the hybrid markers in the 3D image dataset so as to obtain a scan matrix representing the arrangement of the set of hybrid markers in the 3D image dataset and the position of the scan matrix in the 3D image dataset;

acquiring the positions of the hybrid markers with respect to the spatial reference, so as to obtain an image matrix representing the arrangement of the set of hybrid markers in three-dimensional space and the position of the image matrix relative to the spatial reference;

co-registering the scan matrix and the image matrix;

repeating the step of detecting the positions of the hybrid markers in the 3D image dataset for different search parameters, so as to obtain a plurality of candidate scan matrices;

co-registering each of the candidate scan matrices and the image matrix; and

selecting the candidate scan matrix which best matches the image matrix as the scan matrix.

18 . A computer comprising the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 .

19 . A device for co-registering a medical 3D image dataset and a spatial reference, comprising the computer according to claim 18 .