Disclosed is a linear array ultra-fast scanning x-ray imaging device. The linear array x-ray imaging device is single photon sensitive, operating in frame output mode and including a pixel array Application Specific Integrated Circuit including the readout pixel array. The ASIC includes digital control logic and sufficient memory to accumulate digital output frames in various modes of operation prior to output from the ASIC, permitting advanced imaging functionalities directly on the ASIC, while maintaining a dynamic range of 16 bits and single photon sensitivity. The effective or secondary frames output from the pixel array ASIC can be tagged with user provided external triggers synchronizing the effective frames to the x-ray beam energy and/or to the movement of the x-ray source or imaged object. This enables dual energy imaging and ultra-fast scanning, without complex and costly conventional photon counting x-ray imaging sensors. The system architecture is simpler and higher performance.

In accordance with one or more embodiments herein, a system for creating a decision support material indicating damage to at least a part of an anatomical joint of a patient, wherein the created decision support material comprises one or more damage images, is provided. The system comprises a storage media and at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to i) receive a series of radiology images of the at least part of the anatomical joint from the storage media; ii) obtain a three-dimensional image representation of the at least part of the anatomical joint which is based on at least a part of said series of radiology images, by generating said three-dimensional image representation in an image segmentation process based on said series of radiology images, or receiving said three-dimensional image representation from a storage media; iii) identify tissue parts of the anatomical joint in at least one of at least a part of said series of radiology images and/or the three-dimensional image representation using image analysis; iv) determine damage to the identified tissue parts in the anatomical joint by analyzing at least one of at least a part of said series of radiology images and/or the three-dimensional image representation of the at least part of the anatomical joint; v) determine suitable sizes and suitable implanting positions for one or more graft plugs based on the determined damage; vi) mark damage to the anatomical joint and suitable sizes and implanting positions for the one or more graft plugs in the obtained three-dimensional image representation of the anatomical joint; and vii) generate a decision support material, where the determined damage to the at least part of the anatomical joint and the suitable sizes and implanting positions for the one or more graft plugs are marked in at least one of the one or more damage images of the decision support material, and at least one of the one or more damage images is generated based on the obtained three-dimensional image representation of the at least part of the anatomical joint.

An apparatus and method for reducing the blurriness of tomographic (3D) images constructed from a gamma camera system with one or more VASH (variable-angle slant-hole) collimators. A conventional gamma camera with a VASH collimator exhibits a loss of spatial resolution from the fact that the gamma-ray is entering the detector element at an angle other than normal to the surface. This depth dependence of the spatial localization causes a blurring of the spatial resolution, which is dependent on the incident angle relative to the normal, on the thickness of the detector element and on the stopping length of the gamma-ray in the detector element material. The invention provides an apparatus and method for correcting the spatial location where the gamma ray is recorded to improve the spatial resolution of the system.

An interactive 3D cursor facilitates selection and manipulation of a three-dimensional volume from a three-dimensional image. The selected volume image may be transparency-adjusted and filtered to remove selected tissues from view. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of tissues in a selected volume may be performed. Location indicators, annotations, and registration markers may be overlaid on selected volume images.

A system and method for simulating orthodontic treatment using augmented reality. An electronic image of a user's face is received from a digital camera, and a region of interest in the image is identified where the region includes the user's teeth. Virtual orthodontic appliances are placed on the user's teeth in the image, and the user's image with the virtual orthodontic appliances is displayed on an electronic display device. The method occurs in real-time to provide the user with the augmented image simulating treatment when or shortly after the image of the user is received. The system and method can display a 3D representation of the user's face augmented with the virtual appliances. The user's augmented image or 3D representation can also be supplemented for display with an image or model of the user's facial anatomy such as an x-ray or a cone beam computed tomography image.

A method for referencing a tracking system's coordinate frame to a rigid body's coordinate frame is disclosed. The method involves obtaining a 3D model depicting some of the surfaces of the rigid body. A probe is provided with an affixed tracking reference component. A second tracking reference component is attached to the rigid body. The method involves tracking locations of the probe as it moves along surfaces of the rigid body and then determining a transform that relates the probe locations to the 3D model of the rigid body. In one embodiment the rigid body is a dental mandible or maxilla of a patient and the 3D model is a surface extracted from a computed tomography image of the patient's jaw and teeth.

A medical image-processing apparatus according to an embodiment includes processing circuitry configured to determine a position of a feature point of a device in a first X-ray image, and generate a superimposed image in which a 3D model expressing the device is superimposed on the first X-ray image or a second X-ray image that is acquired later than the first X-ray image. The processing circuitry is configured to superimpose the 3D model on the first X-ray image or the second X-ray image at a position based on the position of the feature point.

A plurality of image projections are acquired at faster than cardiac rate. A spatiotemporal reconstruction of cardiac frequency angiographic phenomena in three spatial dimensions is generated from two dimensional image projections using physiological coherence at cardiac frequency. Complex valued methods may be used to operate on the plurality of image projections to reconstruct a higher dimensional spatiotemporal object. From a plurality of two spatial dimensional angiographic projections, a 3D spatial reconstruction of moving pulse waves and other cardiac frequency angiographic phenomena is obtained. Reconstruction techniques for angiographic data obtained from biplane angiography devices are also provided herein.

The invention concerns a method for obtaining operating parameters for x-ray imaging a patients maxillofacial region, the method comprising: —identifying a patients maxillofacial first region of interest ROI1, —determining a height of a horizontal plane of said patients maxillofacial first region of interest ROI1 when the patient is in an occlusion position or bites a patient positioning accessory, said horizontal plane passing through the teeth and the bones of the jaw, —acquiring through a slit-shaped collimator window a first set of data relative to said patients maxillofacial first region of interest ROI1 including the horizontal plane using x-ray CBCT imaging and a first x-ray dose, said first set of data being suitable for generating a CBCT slice, —reconstructing the CBCT slice comprising the horizontal plane based on the first set of data relative to the patients maxillofacial first region of interest ROI1, —obtaining operating parameters for an x-ray imaging apparatus based on the reconstructed CBCT slice in view of acquiring a second set of data of a patients maxillofacial second region of interest ROI2 using a second x-ray dose, the first x-ray dose being lower than the second x-ray dose.

A method of fusing 2D and 3D imaging data includes receiving 3D imaging data and 2D color imaging data of a region of interest, segmenting the 3D imaging data to identify anatomical features in the region of interest, including surfaces of the anatomical features and a corresponding volume of the anatomical features, and generating an image by fusing the 2D color imaging data to the 3D imaging data according to the surfaces, the corresponding volumes, and identities of the anatomical features. In some cases, the 3D imaging data is captured via optical coherence tomography. In some cases, the 2D color imaging data is captured via color microscopy. In some cases, the method further includes rendering a final image at an output plane by casting a ray through the fused 3D imaging data for each pixel and viewpoint of the output image plane for the image.