Methods and systems for navigating to a target through a patient's bronchial tree are disclosed including a bronchoscope, a probe insertable into a working channel of the bronchoscope including a location sensor, and a workstation in operative communication with the probe and the bronchoscope the workstation including a user interface that guides a user through a navigation plan and is configured to present a three-dimensional (3D) view for displaying a 3D rendering of the patient's airways and a corresponding navigation plan, a local view for assisting the user in navigating the probe through peripheral airways of the patient's bronchial tree to the target, and a target alignment view for assisting the user in aligning a distal tip of the probe with the target.

A method of processing cardiac ultrasound data for determining information about a mechanical wave in the heart. The method comprises receiving data representative of a time series of three-dimensional data frames, generated from ultrasound signals from a human or animal heart, each frame comprising a set of voxels, each voxel value representing an acceleration component of a respective location in the heart at a common time. The method also comprises identifying, for each voxel, a frame of the series in which the voxel value is at a maximum. A three-dimensional time-propagation data set is generated by assigning each voxel a value representative of the time of the respective frame in the time series for which the corresponding voxel is at a maximum. The method then comprises generating data representative of a three-dimensional velocity vector field by calculating time derivatives from the three-dimensional time-propagation data set.

A processor acquires first-direction and second-direction radiographic images captured by emitting radiation in different directions. The processor derives a bone mineral content for each pixel in the bone portion included in the first-direction and second-direction radiographic images. The processor divides the bone portion included in the first-direction and second-direction radiographic images into a plurality of small regions and derives first and second evaluation results for each small region of the bone portion on the basis of the derived bone mineral content.

A pediatric head covering to facilitate obtaining three-dimensional images of a head of an infant to be utilized in manufacture of a cranial remodeling orthosis for correction of an abnormal head shape comprises sheer elastic material to be drawn down over an infant's head to compress the hair of an infant and to provide a smooth surface over the infant's cranium. The elastic material has variable elasticity with less elasticity over the crown of the cranium to provide enough strength to compress the infant's hair and conform to the shape of the cranium and more elasticity at the infant's neck to control soft tissue of the infant's neck without leading to distortion of the soft tissue and causing misrepresentations of the actual neck shape in captured three-dimensional images. The head covering facilitates accurate capture and reproduction of three-dimensional images of the infant's head by a three-dimensional image capturing system. The head covering is sized based upon anthropometric data derived from three-dimensional data sets of infant heads.

The present invention relates to a device (1) for fractional flow reserve determination. The device (1) comprises a model generator (10) configured to generate a three-dimensional model (3DM) of a portion of an imaged vascular vessel tree (VVT) surrounding a stenosed vessel segment (SVS), based on a partial segmentation of the imaged vascular vessel tree (VVT). Further, the device comprises an image processor (20) configured to calculate a blood flow (Q) through the stenosed vessel segment (SVS) based on an analysis of a time-series of X-ray images of the vascular vessel tree (VVT). Still further, the device comprises a fractional-flow-reserve determiner (30) configured to determine a fractional flow reserve (FFR) based on the three-dimensional model (3DM) and the calculated blood flow.

Multi-modal medical image registration and associated devices, systems, and methods are provided. For example, a method of medical imaging can include: receiving a first image of a patients anatomy in a first imaging modality; receiving a second image of the patients anatomy in a second, different imaging modality; determining a first pose of the first image relative to a reference coordinate system of the patients anatomy; determining a second pose of the second image relative to the reference coordinate system; determining co-registration data between the first image and the second image based on the first pose and the second pose; and outputting, to a display, the first image co-registered with the second image based on the co-registration data.

Various systems are provided for non-uniform thickness and/or sampling of slabs of the breast to present DBT acquisitions. A method for generating a patient image as a set of slabs representing an imaged object, the method comprising acquiring a tomosynthesis projection, reconstructing a series of slab images, each slab representing a portion of a breast, and a plurality of slabs of non-uniform thickness and/or non-uniform sampling in a 3D reconstructed domain defined by x-, y-, and z-axes.

X-ray devices and systems are described in this application. In particular, this application describes x-ray devices and systems that are used for three-dimensional (3D) image reconstruction with uncertain geometry. The x-ray imaging system contains an arm configured to be moved around an object to be imaged, a light weight, low power x-ray source attached to the arm, an x-ray detector configured to move complimentary to the x-ray source to capture multiple two-dimensional (2D) images in a solid angle path outside of a planar arc, 3D position and orientation tracking devices configured to capture the geometric position and orientation of the x-ray source and detector when each 2D projection image is captured, and a processor configured to construct a three dimensional (3D) image from the multiple 2D images using a reconstruction algorithm. These x-ray systems are lighter, more maneuverable, and less expensive than convectional CT x-ray systems because the geometry tracking devices combined with the processor and algorithm enable e generation of 3D images without the complex, precise, heavy, and expensive mechanical system that fixes the precise geometry of each 2D projection image to a high degree of accuracy. Other embodiments are described.

Methods and systems for navigating to a target through a patient's bronchial tree are disclosed including a bronchoscope, a probe insertable into a working channel of the bronchoscope including a location sensor, and a workstation in operative communication with the probe and the bronchoscope the workstation including a user interface that guides a user through a navigation plan and is configured to present a three-dimensional (3D) view for displaying a 3D rendering of the patient's airways and a corresponding navigation plan, a local view for assisting the user in navigating the probe through peripheral airways of the patient's bronchial tree to the target, and a target alignment view for assisting the user in aligning a distal tip of the probe with the target.

Methods for operating a medical imaging device for positionally correct representation of non-anatomical structures during an imaging examination may include providing a first 3D image containing at least one anatomical structure, extracting at least one anatomical model from the at least one anatomical structure, providing 2D update images recorded at different times, extracting non-anatomical and anatomical structures from subsets of the update images, calculating a non-anatomical 3D image from at least two partial reconstructions based on the extracted non-anatomical structures, reconstructing an anatomical 3D image based on the extracted anatomical structures, registering the anatomical 3D image with the first 3D image by determining a coordinate transformation, and creating a navigation volume from the anatomical model and the non-anatomical 3D image using the coordinate transformation.