The present disclosure relates to locally enhancing medical images. In accordance with certain embodiments, a method includes determining a boundary of a region of interest in a displayed medical image, overlaying the boundary on the displayed medical image, adjusting a position of a collimator of a medical imaging system based on the determined boundary, enhancing image quality of the region of interest, and displaying the enhanced region of interest within the boundary.

In a multi-session imaging study, information from a previous imaging session is stored in a Binary Large Object (BLOB). Current emission imaging data are reconstructed into a non-attenuation corrected (NAC) current emission image. A spatial transform is generated aligning a previous NAC emission image from the BLOB to the current NAC emission image. A previous computed tomography (CT) image from the BLOB is warped using the spatial transform, and the current emission imaging data are reconstructed with attenuation correction using the warped CT image. Alternatively, low dose current emission imaging data and a current CT image are acquired, a spatial transform is generated aligning the previous CT image to the current CT image, a previous attenuation corrected (AC) emission image from the BLOB is warped using the spatial transform, and the current emission imaging data are reconstructed using the current CT image with the warped AC emission image as prior.

Described herein are systems and methods for positioning a radiation source with respect to one or more regions of interest in a coordinate system. Such systems and methods may be used in emission guided radiation therapy (EGRT) for the localized delivery of radiation to one or more patient tumor regions. These systems comprise a gantry movable about a patient area, where a plurality of positron emission detectors, a radiation source are arranged movably on the gantry, and a controller. The controller is configured to identify a coincident positron annihilation emission path and to position the radiation source to apply a radiation beam along the identified emission path. The systems and methods described herein can be used alone or in conjunction with surgery, chemotherapy, and/or brachytherapy for the treatment of tumors.

An image processing device includes: an image data acquisition unit for acquiring SPECT image data of a brain; a brain-region ROI definition unit for defining a brain-region ROI in the SPECT image; a striatum ROI definition unit for defining a striatum ROI in the SPECT image; and a threshold determination unit for, based on counts in the SPECT image's background which is the brain-region ROI except the striatum ROI, determining a threshold for distinguishing ventricles and sulci in the SPECT image; a region distinction unit for distinguishing between a region whose number of counts is smaller than or equal to the threshold and a region whose number of counts is larger than the threshold.

A device and methods for performing a simulated CT biopsy on a region of interest on a patient. The device comprises a gantry (22) configured to mount an x-ray emitter (24) and CT detector (26) on opposing sides of the gantry, a motor (28) rotatably coupled to the gantry such that the gantry rotates horizontally about the region of interest, and a high resolution x-ray detector (172) positioned adjacent the CT detector in between the CT detector and the x-ray emitter.

An imaging system includes a rotating gantry, a bed, plural nuclear medicine (NM) imaging detectors, and a processing unit. The rotating gantry has a bore. The NM detectors are disposed about the bore of the gantry. The NM detectors each have an in-plane field of view, and are configured to pivot about a corresponding axis with respect to the gantry to change the in-plane field of view. The processing unit is configured to acquire first NM imaging information at a first gantry rotational position, with the in-plane fields of view of the NM imaging detectors parallel to a predetermined direction; actuate the gantry to rotate to a second gantry rotational position; actuate the NM imaging detectors to pivot such that the in-plane fields of view are parallel to the predetermined direction; acquire additional NM imaging information at the second gantry rotational position; and reconstruct a planar image of the object.

In an automatic exposure control method for X-ray imaging, a visible light image of a subject under test is acquired, an initial region of interest (ROI) is defined on the visible light image, the subject under test is pre-exposed with a set pre-exposure dose to obtain a first image, an ROI on the first image is defined based on the initial ROI, a reference pixel value is defined based on the ROI, and a main exposure dose for an actual exposure is calculated according to the reference pixel value. With the imaging quality guaranteed, a physical automatic exposure control (AEC) chamber may be omitted, and the number, positions and sizes of ROIs can be adjusted according to the actual requirements.

An X-ray diagnosis apparatus according to an embodiment includes an X-ray limiter having four diaphragm blades; and a console on which four physical operating units that correspond to the four diaphragm blades are placed at four positions. When viewed from the side of the operator of the console, the four operating units are placed on the far side, the near side, the left side, and the right side. The far-side operating unit, the near-side operating unit, the left-side operating unit, and the right-side operating unit correspond to the upper diaphragm blade, the lower diaphragm blade, the left-side diaphragm blade, and the right-side diaphragm blade, respectively, with reference to an X-ray image displayed in a display. An operation of moving the far-side operating unit in the far-side direction results in the movement of the upper diaphragm blade in the upward direction of the X-ray image displayed in the display, and an operation of moving the far-side operating unit in the near-side direction results in the movement of the upper diaphragm blade in the downward direction of the X-ray image displayed in the display. An operation of moving the near-side operating unit in the far-side direction results in the movement of the lower diaphragm blade in the upward direction of the X-ray image displayed in the display, and an operation of moving the near-side operating unit in the near-side direction results in the movement of the lower diaphragm blade in the downward direction of the X-ray image displayed in the display. An operation of moving the left-side operating unit in the leftward direction results in the movement of the left-side diaphragm blade in the leftward direction of the X-ray image displayed in the display, and an operation of moving the left-side operating unit in the rightward direction results in the movement of the left-side diaphragm blade in the rightward direction of the X-ray image displayed in the display. An operation of moving the right-side operating unit in the leftward direction results in the movement of the right-side diaphragm blade in the leftward direction of the X-ray image displayed in the display, and an operation of moving the right-side operating unit in the rightward direction results in the movement of the right-side diaphragm blade in the rightward direction of the X-ray image displayed in the display.

A medical imaging apparatus is provided. The medical image apparatus includes an output unit; and a controller configured to control the output unit to display an image obtained by photographing an object and to display, over the image, a top indicator for setting a top limit for an area to be X-rayed and at least one guideline indicating a bottom limit for the area to be X-rayed according to the top indicator and the number of partial photographing operations.

Various methods and systems are provided for tracking a biopsy target across one or more images. In one example, a method includes determining a position of a biopsy target in a selected image of a patient based on an image registration process with a reference image of the patient, and displaying a graphical representation of the position of the biopsy target on the selected image.