Methods and systems for determining lumen volume and coronary blood flow

1. A computer-implemented method for determining a lumen volume of a target blood vessel, wherein the computer-implemented method comprises:

acquiring a temporal sequence of angiography images of the target blood vessel after a contrast agent is injected in the target blood vessel;

identifying a region of interest containing the target blood vessel, by a processor, in each angiography image in the temporal sequence of angiography images;

integrating, by the processor, pixel values in each region of interest; and

determining the lumen volume, by the processor, based on the integrated values of the regions of interest and a predetermined correlation between the integrated values and volumes of the contrast agent, wherein the predetermined correlation is determined based on image analysis of one or more previous temporal sequences of angiography images acquired under the same contrast agent injection condition, wherein the image analysis estimates an angle between a sample vessel captured by each previous temporal sequence of angiography images and an imaging direction, and determines an actual optical path of the sample vessel based on the angle.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising determining a flow rate of the target blood vessel, by the processor, based on a varying status of the integrated values and the predetermined correlation between the integrated values and the volumes of the contrast agent.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein determining the flow rate of the target blood vessel further comprises:

calculating the volumes of the contrast agent in the regions of interest based on the integrated values calculated for the respective regions of interest and the predetermined correlation; and

calculating a varying rate of the volumes of the contrast agent with respect to time for an ascending section of a temporal profile of the volumes of the contrast agent in the regions of interests, as the flow rate of the target blood vessel.

4. The method according to claim 2 , wherein determining the flow rate of the target blood vessel further comprises:

calculating, by the processor, a varying rate of the integrated values with respect to time, for an ascending section of a temporal profile of the integrated values for the regions of interests; and

converting the varying rate of the integrated values with respect to time into a varying rate of the volume of the contrast agent with respect to time based on the predetermined correlation between the integrated values and the volume of the contrast agent, as the flow rate of the target blood vessel.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein determining the flow rate of the target blood vessel further comprises:

fitting the temporal profile of the integrated values as a polynomial curve;

calculating a slope for the ascending section of the polynomial curve as the corresponding varying rate.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein determining the lumen volume comprises:

calculating the volumes of the contrast agent in the regions of interest based on the integrated values calculated for the respective regions of interest and the predetermined correlation, and determining the largest one among the calculated volumes of the contrast agent as the lumen volume of the target blood vessel; or

selecting the largest integrated value in the integrated values calculated for the respective regions of interest, and calculating the volume of the contrast agent corresponding to the largest integrated value as the lumen volume of the target blood vessel based on the largest integrated value and the predetermined correlation.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the temporal sequence of angiography images is acquired after a first predetermined time after the injection of the contrast agent starts.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the region of interest containing the target blood vessel is obtained along the centerline of the target blood vessel of each angiography image.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the regions of interest containing the target blood vessel are tracked across the angiography images using an optical flow algorithm.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined correlation is a linear correlation.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined correlation is determined in advance based on angiography images acquired from a previous angiography of a same patient under the same contrast agent injection condition, or based on angiography images acquired from part of the target blood vessel under the same contrast agent injection condition.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein integrating the pixel values further comprises:

calculating a first processed image by removing a background from and performing logarithmical processing on each region of interest; and

summing the intensity values of the pixels in the first processed image.

13. The method according to claim 12 , when calculating the first processed image further comprises:

calculating a second processed image by determining a logarithm of each pixel value;

inpainting the target blood vessel in the angiography image based on intensity values of background pixels of its periphery;

calculating a third processed image by determining a logarithm of each pixel value of the inpainted angiography image; and

subtracting the third processed image from the second processed image to obtain the first processed image.

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the target blood vessel is a diseased blood vessel.

15. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the image analysis further estimates a diameter of the sample vessel captured by each previous temporal sequence of angiography images and determines the actual optical path of the sample vessel based on both the diameter and the angle.

16. A system for determining a lumen volume of a target blood vessel, comprising:

an interface configured to receive a temporal sequence of angiography images of the target blood vessel acquired after a contrast agent is injected in the target blood vessel; and

a processor configured to:

identify a region of interest containing the target blood vessel in each angiography image in the temporal sequence of angiography images;

integrate pixel values in each region of interest; and

determine the lumen volume based on the integrated values of the regions of interest and a predetermined correlation between the integrated values and volumes of the contrast agent, wherein the predetermined correlation is determined based on image analysis of one or more previous temporal sequences of angiography images acquired under the same contrast agent injection condition, wherein the image analysis estimates an angle between a sample vessel captured by each previous temporal sequence of angiography images and an imaging direction, and determines an actual optical path of the sample vessel based on the angle.

17. The system according to claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine a flow rate of the target blood vessel based on a varying status of the integrated values and the predetermined correlation between the integrated values and the volumes of the contrast agent.

18. The system according to claim 16 , wherein the temporal sequence of angiography images is acquired after a first predetermined time after the injection of the contrast agent starts.

19. The system according to claim 16 , wherein the region of interest containing the target blood vessel is obtained along the centerline of the target blood vessel of each angiography image.

20. The system according to claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

calculate a processed image by removing a background from and performing logarithmical processing on each region of interest; and

sum the intensity values of the pixels in the processed image.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer executable codes stored thereon, the computer executable codes, when executed by a processor, performing a method for determining a lumen volume of a target blood vessel, wherein method comprises:

receiving a temporal sequence of angiography images of the target blood vessel acquired after a contrast agent is injected in the target blood vessel;

identifying a region of interest containing the target blood vessel in each angiography age in the temporal sequence of angiography images;

integrating pixel values in each region of interest; and

determining the lumen volume based on the integrated values of the regions of interest and a predetermined correlation between the integrated values and volumes of the contrast agent, wherein the predetermined correlation is determined based on image analysis of one or more previous temporal sequences of angiography images acquired under the same contrast agent injection condition, wherein the image analysis estimates an angle between a sample vessel captured by each previous temporal sequence of angiography images and an imaging direction, and determines an actual optical path of the sample vessel based on the angle.