System and method for low-dose multi-phasic computed tomography imaging of the kidneys

1. A method for creating multi-phase kidney computed tomography (CT) images of a patient comprising:

acquiring or accessing CT data that includes a first dataset acquired from the patient during a first phase when a dose of a contrast agent is being excreted from a kidney of the patient and does not include a second dataset acquired from the patient during a second phase after the dose of the contrast agent is delivered but before the dose of a contrast agent is being excreted from a kidney;

using the first dataset and without the second dataset, generating a set of multi-phase kidney images of the patient showing the patient prior to receiving the dose of the contrast agent, images showing the patient during the second phase following the dose of the contrast agent and before the dose of a contrast agent is being excreted from a kidney, and images showing the patient during the first phase when the dose of a contrast agent is being excreted from a kidney of the patient; and

communicating the multi-phase kidney images.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein accessing or acquiring the CT data includes accessing or acquiring (i) a single-energy baseline CT dataset acquired from the patient before the dose of the contrast agent and a single-energy excretory CT dataset acquired from the patient during the first phase or (ii) a dual-energy excretory CT dataset acquired from the patient during the first phase.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein generating the set of multi-phase kidney images includes reconstructing the single-energy baseline CT dataset and the single-energy CT dataset acquired from the patient during the first phase into the baseline images and excretory images and using the single-energy baseline CT dataset and the single-energy CT dataset acquired from the patient during the first phase to generate images showing the patient during the second phase.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein using the single-energy baseline CT dataset and the single-energy excretory CT dataset to generate the images showing the patient during the second phase includes delivering the single-energy baseline CT dataset and the single-energy excretory CT dataset to a trained, artificial intelligence module configured to generate the images showing the patient during the second phase.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein generating the set of multi-phase kidney images includes reconstructing the dual-energy excretory CT dataset into the excretory images, generating virtual baseline images showing the patient before receiving the contrast agent, and generating the images showing the patient during the second phase.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein generating the images showing the patient during the second phase includes delivering the dual-energy excretory CT dataset to a trained, artificial intelligence module configured to generate the images showing the patient during the second phase from the dual-energy excretory CT dataset and the virtual baseline images.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein communicating the multi-phase kidney images includes displaying at least one of each of images showing the patient before receiving a dose of the contrast agent, images showing the patient during the second phase, and images showing the patient during the first phase.

8. A medical imaging system comprising:

an x-ray source configured to deliver x-rays to a patient as the x-ray source is rotated about the patient;

a detector having a plurality of detector elements configured to receive the x-rays and generate sinogram data therefrom;

a controller configured to control the x-ray source to deliver the x-rays and to receive the sinogram data from the detector;

a processor configured to:

acquire CT data using the x-ray source and detector that includes an excretory dataset acquired from the patient during an excretory phase following a dose of a contrast agent and does not include a nephrographic dataset acquired from the patient during a nephrographic phase following the dose of the contrast agent;

using the excretory dataset and without any nephrographic dataset acquired from the patient during a nephrographic phase following the dose of the contrast agent, generate a set of multi-phase kidney images of the patient including baseline images showing the patient prior to receiving the dose of the contrast agent, nephrographic images showing the patient during the nephrographic phase following the dose of the contrast agent, and excretory images showing the patient during the excretory phase following the dose of the contrast agent; and

a display configured to display the multi-phase kidney images.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein acquiring the CT data includes acquiring (i) a single-energy baseline CT dataset and a single-energy excretory CT dataset or (ii) a dual-energy excretory CT dataset.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein generating the set of multi-phase kidney images includes reconstructing the single-energy baseline CT dataset and the single-energy excretory CT dataset into the baseline images and the excretory images and using the single-energy baseline CT dataset and the single-energy excretory CT dataset to generate the nephrographic images showing the patient during the nephrographic phase following the dose of the contrast agent.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein using the single-energy baseline CT dataset and the single-energy excretory CT dataset to generate the nephrographic images showing the patient during the nephrographic phase following the dose of the contrast agent includes delivering the single-energy baseline CT dataset and the single-energy excretory CT dataset to a trained, artificial intelligence module configured to generate the nephrographic images showing the patient during the nephrographic phase following the dose of the contrast agent from the single-energy baseline CT dataset and the single-energy excretory CT dataset.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein generating the set of multi-phase kidney images includes reconstructing the dual-energy excretory CT dataset into the excretory images, generating virtual baseline images showing the patient before receiving the contrast agent, and generating the nephrographic images showing the patient during the nephrographic phase following the dose of the contrast agent from the dual-energy excretory CT dataset.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein generating the nephrographic images includes delivering the dual-energy excretory CT dataset and the virtual baseline images to a trained, artificial intelligence module configured to generate the nephrographic images showing the patient during the nephrographic phase following the dose of the contrast agent from the dual-energy excretory CT dataset and the virtual baseline images.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein acquiring the CT data using the x-ray source and detector takes less than 5 minutes.

15. The system of claim 8 , wherein acquiring the CT data using the x-ray source and detector takes less than 2 minutes.

16. A computer system including a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that, when accessed by a processor, causes the processor to perform steps comprising:

accessing only one dual-energy CT dataset or only two single-energy CT datasets, wherein the only one dual-energy CT dataset or only two single-energy CT datasets do not include data acquired during a nephrographic phase of a multi-phase kidney study;

using the only one dual-energy CT dataset or only two single-energy CT datasets, generating three datasets that respectively correspond to a non-contrast phase, the nephrographic phase, and an excretory phase of the multi-phase kidney study;

accessing respective non-contrast images generated from the dataset corresponding to the non-contrast phase, nephrographic images from the dataset corresponding to the nephrographic phase, and excretory images from the dataset corresponding to the excretory phase; and

displaying the non-contrast images, the nephrographic images, and the excretory images.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the only one dual-energy CT dataset is acquired during an excretory phase of a multi-phase kidney imaging study.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein a first of the only two single-energy CT datasets is acquired prior to a patient receiving a dose of contrast and a second of the only two single-energy CT datasets is acquired during an excretory phase of a multi-phase kidney imaging study.

19. The system of claim 16 , wherein, to generate a set of three datasets, the computer is further caused to provide the only one dual-energy CT dataset or only two single-energy CT datasets to an artificial intelligence system to generate the dataset corresponding to the nephrographic phase.

20. The system of claim 16 , wherein displaying the non-contrast images, the nephrographic images, and the excretory images includes communicating the non-contrast images, the nephrographic images, and the excretory images to a display system.