Method and apparatus for processing a medical image to reduce motion artifacts
View Patent ↗Provided is a medical image processing apparatus including a processor. The processor obtains raw data in a first phase section and generates first motion information by using at least one partial angle reconstruction (PAR) image pair including two PAR images respectively obtained in two phase sections in the first phase section that face each other. The processor also generates a summed image by summing a plurality of PAR images obtained at different phases within the first phase section by using the first motion information Second motion information is generated by updating the first motion information such that an image metric representing motion artifacts is minimized when being calculated from the summed image and a reconstructed image is generated by applying the second motion information to the raw data.
1. A medical image processing apparatus comprising:
a processor configured to:
obtain raw data in a first phase section;
generate first motion information by using at least one partial angle reconstruction (PAR) image pair including two PAR images respectively obtained in two phase sections in the first phase section that face each other;
generate a summed image by summing a plurality of PAR images obtained at different phases within the first phase section by using the first motion information;
generate second motion information by updating the first motion information such that an image metric representing motion artifacts is minimized when being calculated from the summed image; and
generate a reconstructed image by applying the second motion information to the raw data.
2. The medical image processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the at least one PAR image pair comprises two PAR images having a phase difference of 180° therebetween.
3. The medical image processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to update the first motion information such that a difference between pieces of motion information of spatially adjacent control points decreases.
4. The medical image processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to update the first motion information such that motion information at a reference phase is zero.
5. The medical image processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to warp rays of the raw data, based on the second motion information, when the reconstructed image is generated.
6. The medical image processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first phase section is a phase section having an angle greater than 180°.
7. The medical image processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the two phase sections that face each other has an angle greater than 0° and less than 180°.
8. The medical image processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to generate a PAR stack by summing a plurality of PAR images belonging to a same phase, based on a location where a source performs projection, and to generate the first motion information by using a PAR stack pair in the two phase sections that face each other.
9. The medical image processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to generate the summed image by compensating for a motion by applying the first motion information to the plurality of PAR images obtained at the different phases and by summing a plurality of motion-compensated PAR images obtained by performing the motion compensation on the plurality of PAR images.
10. A medical image processing method comprising:
obtaining raw data in a first phase section;
generating first motion information by using at least one partial angle reconstruction (PAR) image pair including two PAR images respectively obtained in two phase sections that face each other in the first phase section;
generating a summed image by summing a plurality of PAR images obtained at different phases within the first phase section by using the first motion information;
generating second motion information by updating the first motion information such that an image metric representing motion artifacts is minimized when being calculated from the summed image; and
generating a reconstructed image by applying the second motion information to the raw data.
11. The medical image processing method of claim 10 , wherein each of the at least one PAR image pair comprises two PAR images having a phase difference of 180° therebetween.
12. The medical image processing method of claim 10 , further comprising updating the first motion information such that a difference between pieces of motion information of spatially adjacent control points decreases.
13. The medical image processing method of claim 10 , further comprising updating the first motion information such that motion information at a reference phase is zero.
14. The medical image processing method of claim 10 , wherein the generating the reconstructed image comprises warping rays of the raw data, based on the second motion information.
15. The medical image processing method of claim 10 , wherein the first phase section is a phase section that has an angle greater than 180°.
16. The medical image processing method of claim 10 , wherein each of the two phase sections that face each other have an angle greater than 0° and less than 180°.
17. The medical image processing method of claim 10 , further comprising generating a PAR stack by summing a plurality of PAR images belonging to a same phase, based on a location where a source performs projection,
wherein the generating the first motion information comprises generating the first motion information by using a PAR stack pair in the two phase sections that face each other.
18. The medical image processing method of claim 10 , wherein the summed image is generated by compensating for a motion by applying the first motion information to the plurality of PAR images obtained at the different phases and by summing a plurality of motion-compensated PAR images obtained by performing the motion compensation on the plurality of PAR images.
19. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon computer program codes which, when derived and executed by a processor, perform a medical image processing method comprising:
obtaining raw data in a first phase section;
generating first motion information by using at least one partial angle reconstruction (PAR) image pair including two PAR images respectively obtained in two phase sections that face each other in the first phase section;
generating a summed image by summing a plurality of PAR images obtained at different phases within the first phase section by using the first motion information;
generating second motion information by updating the first motion information such that an image metric representing motion artifacts is minimized when being calculated from the summed image; and
generating a reconstructed image by applying the second motion information to the raw data.
20. The computer program product claim 19 , wherein the method further comprises generating a PAR stack by summing a plurality of PAR images belonging to a same phase, based on a location where a source performs projection,
wherein the generating the first motion information comprises generating the first motion information by using a PAR stack pair in the two phase sections that face each other.