Medical imaging device and medical image processing method

1. A method of processing a medical image, the method comprising:

acquiring a three-dimensional (3D) medical image indicating a blood vessel and a two-dimensional (2D) medical image indicating the blood vessel;

extracting a 3D blood vessel area from the 3D medical image;

dividing the 3D blood vessel area into a plurality of sub-blood vessel areas;

extracting a partial area of the blood vessel from the 2D medical image;

selecting a target sub-blood vessel area having a highest similarity with the partial area in the 2D medical image from among the divided plurality of sub-blood vessel areas; and

generating a match image by matching the selected target sub-blood vessel area in the 3D medical image with the partial area in the 2D medical image,

wherein the match image comprises the selected target sub-blood vessel area excluding non-selected sub-blood vessel areas in the 3D medical image.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the partial area is any one of an area, into which a contrast agent is injected, in a blood vessel of the 2D medical image, a region of interest (ROI) in a blood vessel of the 2D medical image, and an area where a target object is located in a blood vessel of the 2D medical image.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining of the sub-blood vessel area further comprises:

performing a translational or rotational movement on centerlines of each of the plurality of sub-blood vessel areas;

calculating a distance between the translationally or rotationally moved centerlines of each of the plurality of sub-blood vessel areas and a centerline of the partial area; and

determining the sub-blood vessel area having a distance of a minimum value from the partial area to be the blood vessel area.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selecting of the target sub-blood vessel area further comprises:

projecting centerlines of each of the plurality of sub-blood vessel areas onto a 2D plane;

calculating a distance between the projected centerline of each of the sub-blood vessel areas and a centerline of the partial area; and

determining the target sub-blood vessel area having a distance of a minimum value from the partial area to be the blood vessel area.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the calculating of the distance comprises:

generating a distance transform with respect to the centerline of the partial area; and

calculating a distance between the projected centerline of each of the sub-blood vessel areas and the centerline of the partial area, by using the distance transform.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the matching of the sub-blood vessel area with the partial area in the 2D medical image comprises:

determining 3D transform information to match the blood vessel area with the partial area; and

matching the sub-blood vessel area with the partial area of the 2D medical image, based on the 3D transform information.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

storing the match image in which the sub-blood vessel area is matched with the partial area of the 2D medical image; and

displaying the match image.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the 3D medical image is an image acquired through computed tomography (CT) angiography before performing a certain operation on an object, and the 2D medical image is an image acquired through X-ray angiography during the operation performed on the object.

9. A computer readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program, which when executed by a computer, performs the method of claim 1 .

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selecting of the target sub-blood vessel area in the 3D medical image corresponding to the partial area of the blood vessel in the 2D medical image comprises:

generating a graph corresponding to the 3D blood vessel area, based on a branch point of the blood vessel,

dividing the graph corresponding to the 3D blood vessel area into a plurality of sub-blood vessel areas according to a certain condition, and

determining the target sub-blood vessel area having a highest similarity with the partial area, from among the plurality of sub-blood vessel areas divided from the 3D blood vessel area.

11. A medical imaging apparatus comprising:

an image acquirer configured to acquire a three-dimensional (3D) medical image indicating a blood vessel and a two-dimensional (2D) medical image indicating the blood vessel; and

a matching unit configured to:

extract a 3D blood vessel area from the 3D medical image;

divide the 3D blood vessel area into a plurality of sub-blood vessel areas,

extract a partial area of the blood vessel from the 2D medical image,

select a target sub-blood vessel area having a highest similarity with the partial area in the 2D medical image from among the divided plurality of sub-blood vessel areas, and

generate a match image by matching the selected target sub-blood vessel area in the 3D medical image with the partial area of the 2D medical image,

wherein the match image comprises the selected target sub-blood vessel area excluding non-selected sub-blood vessel areas in the 3D medical image.

12. The medical imaging apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the partial area is any one of an area, into which a contrast agent is injected, in a blood vessel of the 2D medical image, a region of interest (ROI) in a blood vessel of the 2D medical image, and an area where a target object is located in a blood vessel of the 2D medical image.

13. The medical imaging apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the matching unit is further configured to:

perform a translational or rotational movement on centerlines of each of the plurality of sub-blood vessel areas,

calculate a distance between the translationally or rotationally moved centerlines of each of the plurality of sub-blood vessel areas and a centerline of the partial area, and

determine the sub-blood vessel area having a distance of a minimum value from the partial area to be the blood vessel area.

14. The medical imaging apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the matching unit is further configured to:

project centerlines of each of the plurality of sub-blood vessel areas onto a 2D plane,

calculate a distance between the projected centerline of each of the sub-blood vessel areas and a centerline of the partial area, and

determine the target sub-blood vessel area having a distance of a minimum value from the partial area to be the blood vessel area.