CN109587389B

CN109587389B - Method and system for acquiring image by digital grid system

Info

Publication number: CN109587389B
Application number: CN201811562446.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 袁洲; 姚鹏; 张文日; 冯娟; 牛杰
Original assignee: Shanghai United Imaging Healthcare Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shanghai United Imaging Healthcare Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-12-19
Filing date: 2018-12-19
Publication date: 2020-12-04
Anticipated expiration: 2038-12-19
Also published as: CN109587389A

Abstract

The embodiment of the application discloses a method and a system for acquiring an image by a digital grid system. The method for acquiring the image by the digital grid system comprises the following steps: determining a preset dose threshold value according to the target shooting part; exposing the part to acquire a target image; acquiring an exposure dose for an exposure duration; stopping exposure when the exposure dose reaches a predetermined dose threshold; wherein the relationship between the predetermined dose threshold and the part is pre-stored, and the relationship between the predetermined dose threshold and the part is determined based on evaluation parameters of a reference image obtained by a grid-connected ray imaging system for the phantom exposure corresponding to the part. The preset dose threshold value of the digital grid ray imaging system is corrected by adopting different die bodies, so that the corresponding exposure dose used by the examinee can be quickly and accurately selected when the examinee is detected, and the exposure dose accepted by the examinee can be reduced.

Description

Method and system for acquiring image by digital grid system

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of medical equipment imaging, in particular to a method and a system for acquiring images by a digital grid system.

Background

In recent years, Digital Radiography (DR) has played an irreplaceable role in the field of medical diagnostics. When the X-ray passes through the human body, the intensity of the X-ray received by the detector can reflect the information of the human body tissue because different tissues of the human body attenuate the X-ray differently. However, since some of the X-rays scatter as they pass through the body tissue, these scattered X-rays can produce low frequency additional signals that do not contain tissue structure information, thereby degrading the quality of the exposure image of the DR system, such as: reduce the contrast of the image and increase the noise of the image. The grid can filter out scattered X-rays and is widely used at present, but the grid can filter out part of main X-rays at the same time of filtering out the scattered X-rays.

Although the current Automatic Exposure Control (AEC) technique can accurately select the Exposure dose of the DR system, it cannot solve the problem that the grid inhibits part of the main rays, which results in increasing the dose received by the subject. Digital grid technology is an effective alternative to grids and is now widely used. For example, digital grid technology is disclosed in chinese applications published under application numbers CN108577872A and CN 107928690A. The digital grid technology only filters scattered X-rays and does not filter main X-rays, so that the dose accepted by a detected person can be reduced, and the manufacturing cost of the grid is saved. However, if the DR system exposure is controlled by continuing to apply the dose thresholds of the existing automatic exposure control techniques after the digital grid technique is applied, unnecessary exposure doses are received by the subject, and the digital grid technique can reduce how much the dose received by the subject varies from person to person, so the exposure cut-off dose in the existing case may not meet the clinical requirements.

Disclosure of Invention

Based on this, a method and system for acquiring images by a digital grid system are provided.

One embodiment of the present application provides a method for acquiring an image by using a digital grid system. The method comprises the following steps: determining a preset dose threshold value according to the shooting part of the target; exposing the part to acquire a target image; obtaining an exposure dose for an exposure duration; stopping exposure when the exposure dose reaches a predetermined dose threshold; wherein a relationship of the predetermined dose threshold to the location is pre-stored, wherein the relationship of the predetermined dose threshold to the location is determined based on evaluation parameters of a reference image obtained by a strip grid radiography system for a phantom exposure corresponding to the location.

In some embodiments, the relationship between the predetermined dose threshold and the region is determined based on an evaluation parameter of a reference image obtained by the grid-connected radiography system for a phantom exposure corresponding to the region, specifically: exposing a phantom corresponding to the part by the grid-equipped ray imaging system to obtain a reference image; determining an evaluation parameter of the reference image; obtaining evaluation parameters of the pre-acquired image by adjusting exposure parameters of the bulb tube by the digital grid system; determining whether the evaluation parameter of the pre-acquired image is within a threshold range compared with the evaluation parameter of the reference image; and if the exposure dose is within the threshold range, taking the exposure dose corresponding to the pre-acquired image as a preset dose threshold.

In some embodiments, the adjusting the exposure parameters of the bulb comprises: keeping the tube voltage of the bulb to be the same as the tube voltage of the imaging system based on the grid ray to expose the corresponding die body of the part, and adjusting the exposure dose of the bulb.

In some embodiments, the evaluation parameter of the image comprises a signal-to-noise ratio or a pixel gray value of a region of interest.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: manufacturing a plurality of different die bodies according to human tissues and/or organs with different regions, sexes, heights and/or weights; and acquiring preset dose threshold values corresponding to the plurality of different phantom parts respectively, and manufacturing a preset dose threshold value table to be used as a diagnostic reference dose of the digital grid system.

In some embodiments, the mold body comprises a water mold, a PMMA mold body, or a prosthesis.

One embodiment of the present application provides a system for acquiring an image by using a digital grid system. The system comprises a preset dose threshold value determining module, a target image acquisition module, an exposure dose acquisition module and an exposure stopping module; the preset dose threshold determining module is used for determining a preset dose threshold according to the shooting part of the target; the target image acquisition module is used for exposing the part to acquire a target image; the exposure dose acquisition module is used for acquiring the exposure dose during the exposure duration; the exposure stopping module is used for stopping exposure when the exposure dose reaches a preset dose threshold; wherein the relationship between the predetermined dose threshold and the part is pre-stored, and the relationship between the predetermined dose threshold and the part is determined based on evaluation parameters of a reference image obtained by a grid-connected ray imaging system for the phantom exposure corresponding to the part.

One embodiment of the present application provides an apparatus for obtaining an exposure threshold of a digital grid system. The device comprises: at least one processor and at least one memory device for storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, perform the following. The preset dose threshold value can be determined according to the shooting part of the target; exposing the part to acquire a target image; acquiring an exposure dose for an exposure duration; stopping exposure when the exposure dose reaches a predetermined dose threshold; wherein the relationship between the predetermined dose threshold and the part is pre-stored, and the relationship between the predetermined dose threshold and the part is determined based on evaluation parameters of a reference image obtained by a grid-connected ray imaging system for the phantom exposure corresponding to the part.

One of the embodiments of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium. The storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer reads the computer program in the storage medium, the computer operates as follows. The preset dose threshold value can be determined according to the shooting part of the target; exposing the part to acquire a target image; acquiring an exposure dose for an exposure duration; stopping exposure when the exposure dose reaches a predetermined dose threshold; wherein the relationship between the predetermined dose threshold and the part is pre-stored, and the relationship between the predetermined dose threshold and the part is determined based on evaluation parameters of a reference image obtained by a grid-connected ray imaging system for the phantom exposure corresponding to the part.

Drawings

The present application will be further explained by way of exemplary embodiments, which will be described in detail by way of the accompanying drawings. These embodiments are not intended to be limiting, and in these embodiments like numerals are used to indicate like structures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a bucked wire grid radiography system in accordance with some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a digital grid radiography system in accordance with some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary processing device according to some embodiments of the present application;

fig. 4 is an exemplary flow chart of a method of acquiring an image in a digital grid system according to some embodiments of the present application; and

fig. 5 is an exemplary flowchart of a method of acquiring a digital grid system predetermined dose threshold according to some embodiments of the present application.

Fig. 6 is an exemplary flow chart of a method of acquiring predetermined dose thresholds of a digital grid system of different phantoms according to some embodiments of the present application.

Reference numerals: 101 is a bulb, 102 is a phantom, 103 is a grid, 104 is an ionization chamber, and 105 is a detector.

Detailed Description

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. It is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only examples or embodiments of the application, from which the application can also be applied to other similar scenarios without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art. Unless otherwise apparent from the context, or otherwise indicated, like reference numbers in the figures refer to the same structure or operation.

It should be understood that "system", "apparatus", "unit" and/or "module" as used herein is a method for distinguishing different components, elements, parts, portions or assemblies at different levels. However, other words may be substituted by other expressions if they accomplish the same purpose.

As used in this application and the appended claims, the terms "a," "an," "the," and/or "the" are not intended to be inclusive in the singular, but rather are intended to be inclusive in the plural unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In general, the terms "comprises" and "comprising" merely indicate that steps and elements are included which are explicitly identified, that the steps and elements do not form an exclusive list, and that a method or apparatus may include other steps or elements.

Flow charts are used herein to illustrate operations performed by systems according to embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that the preceding or following operations are not necessarily performed in the exact order in which they are performed. Rather, the various steps may be processed in reverse order or simultaneously. Meanwhile, other operations may be added to the processes, or a certain step or several steps of operations may be removed from the processes.

These and other features of the present application, as well as related structural elements and components of manufacture and methods of operation and function that are economically incorporated, may become more apparent and form a part of the present application upon consideration of the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the application. It should be understood that the drawings are not to scale.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a bucked wire grid radiation imaging system 100 according to some embodiments of the present application. Bucked wire grid radiography system 100 can include a bulb 101, a phantom 102, a wire grid 103, an ionization chamber 104, and a detector 105. The bulb 101 is used for generating X-rays, the grid 103 is used for filtering scattered X-rays after passing through the phantom 102, the ionization chamber 104 is used for displaying the dose of the X-rays after being filtered by the grid 103, the detector 105 is used for receiving the X-rays and generating an exposure image, and the high voltage generator (not shown in the figure) is used for providing voltage for the bulb 101. In some embodiments, the mold body 102 may be a water mold, a Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) mold body, or a prosthesis. In some embodiments, the mold body 102 may be made of different materials according to different body parts, and the material closest to the actual body part may be selected. For example, the portion of the prosthesis simulating bone tissue may be made of metal and the portion simulating lungs may be filled with air.

On the premise of ensuring the image quality, an automatic exposure control technology is adopted for quickly and accurately selecting the exposure parameters of the system. The basic principle of the automatic exposure control technology is to set a specific dose threshold, which is also called an exposure cutoff dose, based on the evaluation parameters of the image that meet clinical requirements to control the end of exposure. In some embodiments, a predetermined dose threshold is set based on the evaluation parameters of the image that meet clinical requirements, and the dose value is fed back in real time through ionization chamber 104 placed in front of imaging detector 105, and when it reaches the predetermined dose threshold, exposure is stopped. In some embodiments, the evaluation parameters of the image may include a signal-to-noise ratio and/or a pixel gray value of the region of interest.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a digital grid-ray imaging system 200 according to some embodiments of the present application. Digital grid radiography system 200 may include a bulb 101, a phantom 102, an ionization chamber 104, and a detector 105. The digital grid ray imaging system 200 can process the exposure image of the detector 105 using digital grid technology to obtain a processed exposure image. The imaging process of the digital grid ray imaging system 200 is consistent with the band grid ray imaging system 100 and more details about the imaging process can be found elsewhere in this application (e.g., the band grid ray imaging system 100 and its associated description).

The digital grid technology is widely used at present, and for example, the digital grid technology is disclosed in chinese applications with application publication numbers CN108577872A and CN 107928690A. Chinese application with application publication No. CN108577872A discloses a method for removing scatter from medical images, comprising: acquiring the proportion of main rays received by a detector crystal when rays pass through tissue mold bodies with different thicknesses under a preset imaging condition; acquiring the proportion of main rays received by a detector crystal when rays pass through organ mold bodies with different thicknesses under a preset imaging condition; acquiring a blank shot image under a preset imaging condition; acquiring a tissue image and an organ image in a medical image; acquiring the equivalent thickness of the tissue corresponding to each pixel point in the tissue image based on the tissue image and the first image; the first image is a blank shot image corresponding to the region where the tissue image is located in a blank shot image corresponding to imaging conditions when the medical image is acquired; acquiring the equivalent thickness of the organ corresponding to each pixel point in the organ image based on the organ image and the second image; the second image is a blank shot image corresponding to the region where the organ image is located in a blank shot image corresponding to the imaging condition when the medical image is acquired; obtaining a de-scattering image of the tissue image based on the equivalent thickness of the tissue corresponding to each pixel point in the tissue image, the proportion of main rays received by a detector crystal when rays pass through tissue mold bodies with different thicknesses under a preset imaging condition corresponding to the imaging condition when the medical image is collected, and the tissue image; obtaining a de-scattering image of the organ image based on the equivalent thickness of the organ corresponding to each pixel point in the organ image, the proportion of main rays received by a detector crystal when rays pass through organ motifs with different thicknesses under a preset imaging condition corresponding to the imaging condition when the medical image is acquired, and the organ image; superimposing the backscatter image of the tissue image and the backscatter image of the organ image to obtain a backscatter medical image. The chinese application with application publication number CN107928690A discloses a method for determining the proportion of main rays received by a detector crystal, which includes: obtaining photon information received by a detector after rays pass through a die body; determining all photon energy and main photon energy received by the detector crystal based on the position of the detector crystal and the photon information; and obtaining the proportion of the primary rays received by the detector crystal based on the primary photon energy and all photon energies.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary processing device 300, shown in accordance with some embodiments of the present application. The processing device 300 comprises a predetermined dose threshold determination module 301, a target image acquisition module 302, an exposure dose acquisition module 303 and a stop exposure module 304.

The predetermined dose threshold determination module 301 may determine a predetermined dose threshold thereof according to the target photographing region; wherein the relationship between the predetermined dose threshold and the part is pre-stored, and the relationship between the predetermined dose threshold and the part is determined based on evaluation parameters of a reference image obtained by a grid-connected ray imaging system for the phantom exposure corresponding to the part.

In some embodiments, the target photographic part may be a subject part of a subject. Such as the head or chest of a subject. In some embodiments, the predetermined dose threshold may be the X-ray dose displayed by ionization chamber 104, which is positively correlated with the exposure dose of bulb 101. Wherein the correlation coefficient of the predetermined dose threshold value in positive correlation with the exposure dose of the bulb 101 is determined based on the internal devices (the bulb 101, the ionization chamber 104, the detector 105, etc.) of the grid-connected radiography system 200 and the correlation parameters of the target imaging portion.

In some embodiments, the relationship of the predetermined dose threshold to the target capture site may be predetermined and stored in a memory device of the digital grid-ray imaging system 200. In some embodiments, the digital grid radiography system 200 system may determine the selected predetermined dose threshold based on characteristics of the subject (e.g., region, sex, height, weight, etc.) and the tissue and/or organ being examined. In some embodiments, the relationship of the predetermined dose threshold to the target imaging region is determined based on evaluation parameters of a reference image obtained by the bucky grid radiography system 100 for a phantom exposure corresponding to the target imaging region. More details regarding determining the relationship of the predetermined dose threshold to the target capture site may be found elsewhere in the application (e.g., flowchart 500 of a method of acquiring a digital grid system predetermined dose threshold and related description thereof).

Target image acquisition module 302 may expose the site to acquire a target image. The imaging process of the digital grid ray imaging system 200 is identical to the imaging process of the strip grid ray imaging system 100, and further details regarding the imaging process can be found elsewhere in the present application (e.g., the strip grid ray imaging system 100 and its associated description), and will not be described herein. In some embodiments, the target image may be obtained after at least one exposure. In some embodiments, the target image may be at least one exposure image corresponding to the target capture area.

The exposure dose acquisition module 303 may acquire an exposure dose for the duration of exposure. In some embodiments, the exposure dose of the bulb 101 may be positively correlated with the X-ray dose displayed by the ionization chamber 104. Wherein, the correlation coefficient of the X-ray dose displayed by the ionization chamber 104 and the exposure dose of the bulb 101 in positive correlation relationship is determined based on the internal devices (the bulb 101, the ionization chamber 104, the detector 105, etc.) of the grid-connected ray imaging system 200 and the relevant parameters of the target shooting part.

In some embodiments, the exposure dose may be adjusted by adjusting the exposure parameters of the bulb 101. In some embodiments, the exposure parameters may include tube voltage, tube current, and the effective time of the pulse. In some embodiments, for a specific body part (e.g., a hand or a chest) and a corresponding phantom, generally, the tube voltage in the exposure parameters may be fixed (e.g., the tube voltage may be determined by the equipment manufacturer before shipment, or may be selected by a doctor according to the use experience, which is not limited herein). In some embodiments, adjusting the exposure parameter of the bulb 101 may be adjusting the tube current and/or the effective time of the pulse to keep the tube voltage of the bulb 101 the same as the tube voltage corresponding to the predetermined dose threshold. In some embodiments, adjusting the exposure parameter of the bulb 101 may be maintaining the same tube voltage as the tube voltage corresponding to the predetermined dose threshold, increasing the tube current and/or the duration of the pulse, or decreasing the tube current and/or the duration of the pulse. In some embodiments, the exposure parameters of the bulb 101 may be adjusted randomly, continuously, or discretely.

The stop exposure module 304 can stop exposure when the exposure dose reaches a predetermined dose threshold. In some embodiments, the exposure dose of the bulb 101 may be positively correlated with the X-ray dose displayed by the ionization chamber 104 (a detailed description of the positive correlation, as may be found elsewhere in this application, such as in the exposure dose acquisition module 303 and its associated description). In some embodiments, when the X-ray dose displayed by ionization chamber 104 corresponding to the exposure dose of bulb 101 reaches a predetermined dose threshold, the exposure is stopped, and the acquired image corresponding to the exposure dose is taken as the target image.

It should be noted that the above description of processing device 300 is provided for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application. Various modifications and changes may occur to those skilled in the art in light of the description herein. However, such modifications and changes do not depart from the scope of the present application. In some embodiments, at least one additional module may be added, or multiple modules of the processing device 300 may be combined into one module. For example, the processing device 300 may further include a memory module.

Fig. 4 is an exemplary flow chart of a method of acquiring an image according to a digital grid system as shown in some embodiments of the present application.

Step 401, determining a preset dose threshold value according to a target shooting part; wherein the relationship between the predetermined dose threshold and the part is pre-stored, and the relationship between the predetermined dose threshold and the part is determined based on evaluation parameters of a reference image obtained by a grid-connected ray imaging system for the phantom exposure corresponding to the part.

In some embodiments, the target photographic part may be a subject part of a subject. Such as the head or chest of a subject. In some embodiments, the predetermined dose threshold may be a dose of X-rays displayed by ionization chamber 104 that is positively correlated with the exposure dose of bulb 101. Wherein the correlation coefficient of the predetermined dose threshold value in positive correlation with the exposure dose of the bulb 101 is determined based on the internal devices (the bulb 101, the ionization chamber 104, the detector 105, etc.) of the grid-connected radiography system 200 and the correlation parameters of the target imaging portion.

In some embodiments, the relationship of the predetermined dose threshold to the target capture site may be predetermined and stored in a memory device of the digital grid-ray imaging system 200. In some embodiments, the digital grid radiography system 200 system may determine the selected predetermined dose threshold based on characteristics of the subject (e.g., region, sex, height, weight, etc.) and the tissue and/or organ being examined. In some embodiments, the relationship of the predetermined dose threshold to the target imaging region is determined based on evaluation parameters of a reference image obtained by the bucky grid radiography system 100 for a phantom exposure corresponding to the target imaging region. More details regarding determining the relationship of the predetermined dose threshold to the target capture site may be found elsewhere in the application (e.g., flowchart 500 of a method of acquiring a digital grid system predetermined dose threshold and related description thereof). In some embodiments, the predetermined dose threshold determination module 301 determines the predetermined dose threshold thereof according to the target photographing site.

Step 402, exposing the part to acquire a target image.

The imaging process of the digital grid ray imaging system 200 is substantially identical to the imaging process of the strip grid ray imaging system 100, and further details regarding the imaging process can be found elsewhere in the application (e.g., the strip grid ray imaging system 100 and its associated description), and will not be described herein. In some embodiments, the target image may be obtained after at least one exposure. In some embodiments, the target image may be at least one exposure image corresponding to the target capture area. In some embodiments, target image capture module 302 may expose a target capture area to capture a target image.

In step 403, an exposure dose for the exposure duration is obtained.

In some embodiments, the exposure dose may be positively correlated with the X-ray dose exhibited by ionization chamber 104. Wherein, the correlation coefficient of the X-ray dose displayed by the ionization chamber 104 and the exposure dose of the bulb 101 in positive correlation relationship is determined based on the internal devices (the bulb 101, the ionization chamber 104, the detector 105, etc.) of the grid-connected ray imaging system 200 and the relevant parameters of the target shooting part.

In some embodiments, the exposure dose may be adjusted by adjusting the exposure parameters of the bulb 101. In some embodiments, the exposure parameters may include tube voltage, tube current, and the effective time of the pulse. In some embodiments, for a specific body part (e.g., a hand or a chest) and a corresponding phantom, generally, the tube voltage in the exposure parameters may be fixed (e.g., the tube voltage may be determined by the equipment manufacturer before shipment, or may be selected by a doctor according to the use experience, which is not limited herein). In some embodiments, adjusting the exposure parameter of the bulb 101 may be adjusting the tube current and/or the effective time of the pulse to keep the tube voltage of the bulb 101 the same as the tube voltage corresponding to the predetermined dose threshold. In some embodiments, adjusting the exposure parameter of the bulb 101 may be maintaining the same tube voltage as the tube voltage corresponding to the predetermined dose threshold, increasing the tube current and/or the duration of the pulse, or decreasing the tube current and/or the duration of the pulse. In some embodiments, the exposure parameters of the bulb 101 may be adjusted randomly, continuously, or discretely. In some embodiments, the exposure dose acquisition module 303 may acquire the exposure dose of the tube 101 during the exposure duration of the digital grid radiography system 200.

And step 404, stopping exposure when the exposure dose reaches a preset dose threshold value.

In some embodiments, the exposure dose of the bulb 101 may be positively correlated with the X-ray dose displayed by the ionization chamber 104 (a detailed description of the positive correlation, as may be found elsewhere in this application, such as in the exposure dose acquisition module 303 and its associated description). In some embodiments, when the X-ray dose displayed by ionization chamber 104 corresponding to the exposure dose of bulb 101 reaches a predetermined dose threshold, the exposure is stopped, and the acquired image corresponding to the exposure dose is taken as the target image. In some embodiments, stop exposure module 304 may stop exposure when the dose of X-rays displayed by ionization chamber 104 corresponding to the exposure dose of bulb 101 reaches a predetermined dose threshold.

It should be noted that the above description of flow 400 and the description thereof are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application. Various modifications and changes may occur to those skilled in the art in light of the description herein. However, such modifications and changes do not depart from the scope of the present application.

Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The present application is not limited to the described embodiments but should be accorded the widest scope consistent with the claims without departing from the principle and scope of the application.

And 501, exposing a phantom corresponding to the part by the grid-equipped ray imaging system to obtain a reference image.

Further details regarding the exposure of the phantom by the bucky grid radiography system 100 may be found elsewhere in the present application (e.g., bucky grid radiography system 100 and its associated description), and are not repeated herein. In some embodiments, the mold body may comprise a water mold, a PMMA mold body, or a prosthesis. In some embodiments, the mold body may be made of different materials according to different human body parts, and the material closest to the actual human body part may be selected. For example, the portion of the prosthesis simulating bone tissue may be made of metal and the portion simulating lungs may be filled with air. In some embodiments, the reference image may be selected by an experienced physician based on clinical experience. In some embodiments, the reference image may also be statistically selected after multiple imaging by the bucky grid radiography system 100. The selection method is not limited herein, and it is subject to the criterion that the evaluation parameters of the reference image can meet the clinical requirements.

Step 502, determining the evaluation parameters of the reference image.

In some embodiments, the evaluation parameters of the image include a signal-to-noise ratio and/or a pixel gray value of the region of interest, obtained by computer calculation. In some embodiments, the evaluation parameter may be displayed in numerical form on a display device of the bucky grid radiography system 100.

And step 503, obtaining the evaluation parameters of the pre-acquired image by adjusting the exposure parameters of the bulb tube by using the digital grid system.

The imaging process of the digital grid ray imaging system 200 is identical to the imaging process of the strip grid ray imaging system 100, and further details regarding the imaging process can be found elsewhere in the present application (e.g., the strip grid ray imaging system 100 and its associated description), and will not be described herein.

In some embodiments, when a phantom is exposed using the digital grid ray imaging system 200, the phantom is the same as the phantom scanned by the grid ray imaging system 100 (the relevant description may be found in step 501), which typically corresponds to a part of the body. In some embodiments, the exposure parameters of the bulb 101 may include tube voltage, tube current, and the effective time of the pulse. In some embodiments, for a specific body part (e.g., a hand or a chest) and a corresponding phantom, generally, the tube voltage in the exposure parameters may be fixed (e.g., the tube voltage may be determined by the equipment manufacturer before the factory, or may be selected by the doctor according to the experience of the doctor, without limitation), that is, the same as the tube voltage when the grid-equipped radiation system 100 scans the same phantom. In some embodiments, adjusting the exposure parameters of the tube 101 may fix the tube voltage of the tube 101 with the exposure threshold (exposure dose corresponding to the evaluation parameter of the image satisfying the clinical requirement) of the grid-tied radiation imaging system 100 as a reference value, and the tube voltage may be set to the same value as the tube voltage when the grid-tied radiation imaging system 100 exposes the same phantom, continuously decreasing the effective time of the tube current and/or pulse. In some alternative embodiments, for a phantom corresponding to a specific human body part, the exposure parameters may be adjusted by using a smaller exposure dose (e.g., zero exposure dose) as a reference value, and the tube voltage of the fixed tube 101 is the same as the tube voltage of the grid-tied radiography system 100 during exposure for the same phantom, so as to continuously increase the tube current and/or the effective time of the pulse. In some embodiments, the manner in which the exposure parameters are adjusted may be random, continuous, discrete, or the like. In some embodiments, the evaluation parameters of the pre-captured image may include a signal-to-noise ratio and/or a pixel gray value of the region of interest, which is calculated by the computer.

Step 504, determining whether the evaluation parameter of the pre-acquired image is within a threshold value range compared with the evaluation parameter of the reference image.

In some embodiments, the evaluation parameters of the image may include a signal-to-noise ratio and/or a pixel gray value of the region of interest, which is computed by the computer for the pre-acquired image. In some embodiments, the evaluation parameters of the pre-acquired image may be compared to the evaluation parameters of the reference image in such a way that the corresponding signal-to-noise ratio and/or the difference or quotient of the pixel gray values of the region of interest is/are obtained. In some embodiments, the threshold may be that a difference between the evaluation parameter of the pre-captured image and the evaluation parameter of the reference image is less than or equal to the threshold. In some embodiments, the smaller the difference between the evaluation parameters of the images, the better. For example, the threshold may be a difference in signal-to-noise ratio of 0.01dB, 0.001dB, or 0 dB; the threshold value may also be a difference of 0.01, 0.001 or 0 in gray value; it is understood that the difference of the signal-to-noise ratio or the difference of the gray scale value may be other values, and is not limited herein. In some embodiments, the threshold may be equal to or infinitely close to the threshold as the quotient of the evaluation parameter of the pre-captured image and the evaluation parameter of the reference image. In some embodiments, the threshold may be 1 or infinitely close to 1. For example, the threshold may be a quotient of 0.9999, 1, or 1.0001 for the signal-to-noise ratio; the threshold may also be a quotient of the gray values of 0.9999, 1 or 1.0001. In this way, a predetermined dose threshold value associated with each target acquisition site can be established in the digital grid system 200 using the evaluation parameters of the reference image of the grid-connected radiation system 100 as a basis or medium. A description of the possible differences in the predetermined dose thresholds for the same target capture site of different subjects (or the same site of corresponding different phantoms) may be found elsewhere in the application (e.g., fig. 6 and its associated description).

And 505, if the exposure dose is within the threshold range, taking the exposure dose corresponding to the pre-acquired image as a preset dose threshold.

In some embodiments, if the evaluation parameter of the pre-captured image is not within the predetermined threshold range compared to the evaluation parameter of the reference image, repeating step 503 and step 504, and adjusting the exposure parameter of the bulb 101 of the digital grid radiography system 200 to perform continuous exposure to obtain the evaluation parameter of the pre-captured image. In some embodiments, if the evaluation parameter of the pre-captured image is within the predetermined threshold range compared to the evaluation parameter of the reference image, and the evaluation parameter of the pre-captured image is consistent with or close to the evaluation parameter of the reference image, the evaluation parameter of the pre-captured image may meet the clinical requirement, the exposure is completed, and the X-ray dose displayed by the ionization chamber 104 corresponding to the exposure dose corresponding to the pre-captured image is used as the predetermined dose threshold of the digital grid-connected radiography system 200. In some embodiments, the predetermined dose threshold may be a predetermined dose threshold of a region of the subject to be examined corresponding to the phantom.

It should be noted that the above description of flow 500 and the description thereof are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application. Various modifications and changes may occur to those skilled in the art in light of the description herein. However, such modifications and changes do not depart from the scope of the present application.

Step 601, manufacturing a plurality of corresponding different motifs according to human tissues and/or organs of different regions, sexes, heights and/or weights.

In some embodiments, the different territories may be asia, europe, africa, or america. In some embodiments, the different regions may be different regions of the same country. For example, northern and southern people in china. In some embodiments, the different genders may be male and female. In particular, men and women of different ages are also possible. In some embodiments, the different heights may be 0.5m, 1.0m, 1.2m, 1.4m, 1.6m, 1.8m, etc. In some embodiments, the different body weight may be 20kg, 40kg, 50kg, 60kg, 70kg, 80kg, 90kg, 100kg, etc. In some embodiments, the different tissue may be muscle tissue, nerve tissue, bone tissue, epithelial tissue, and the like. In some embodiments, the different organs may be the heart, liver, lung, stomach, kidney, etc.

In some embodiments, different materials or material sizes may be selected for the phantom fabrication based on different regions, genders, heights, and/or weights of human tissue and/or organs. For example, the simulated bone tissue portion of the prosthesis may be made of metal and the simulated lung portion may be filled with air. For another example, the simulated bone tissue and the simulated lung of prostheses of different ages and sexes can be fabricated by selecting different metal sizes and air volumes, respectively. For another example, PMMA motifs of different tissues or organs can be made with different PMMA thicknesses. In some embodiments, human tissues and/or organs with different regions, sexes, heights and/or weights can be randomly arranged and combined, and a plurality of corresponding different motifs are manufactured to obtain a plurality of different predetermined dosage thresholds.

Step 602, obtaining predetermined dose threshold values corresponding to the plurality of different phantom parts, and making a predetermined dose threshold value table as a diagnostic reference dose of the digital grid system.

In some embodiments, the predetermined dose threshold values of the digital grid system corresponding to a plurality of different phantom sites can be obtained and a predetermined dose threshold table can be prepared according to the methods described in steps 501-505 above. In some embodiments, the table of predetermined dose thresholds may include predetermined dose thresholds corresponding to different parts of the same prosthesis (e.g., simulated lung and simulated bone tissue on the same prosthesis), or may include predetermined dose thresholds corresponding to the same or different parts of different prostheses (e.g., one prosthesis simulating muscle tissue of a 50kg Chinese and another prosthesis simulating muscle tissue of an 80kg Chinese, or one prosthesis simulating lung and another prosthesis simulating head), wherein the aforementioned prostheses may be replaced with other phantoms. In some embodiments, the table of predetermined dose thresholds may be pre-stored in a memory device of the digital grid-radiography system 200 as a reference for selecting a predetermined dose threshold for a target imaging region of a subject. In some embodiments, the system may interpolate or otherwise approximate the predetermined dose threshold table to determine the selected exposure dose based on the region, gender, height, and weight of the subject and the tissue or organ being examined. In some embodiments, the predetermined dose threshold may be the X-ray dose displayed by ionization chamber 104, which is positively correlated with the exposure dose of bulb 101. Wherein the correlation coefficient of the predetermined dose threshold value in positive correlation with the exposure dose of the bulb 101 is determined based on the internal devices (the bulb 101, the ionization chamber 104, the detector 105, etc.) of the grid-connected radiography system 200 and the correlation parameters of the target imaging portion.

It should be noted that the above description of flow 600 and the description thereof are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application. Various modifications and changes may occur to those skilled in the art in light of the description herein. However, such modifications and changes do not depart from the scope of the present application.

The beneficial effects that may be brought by the embodiments of the present application include, but are not limited to: by using different phantoms to correct the predetermined dose threshold of the digital grid radiography system, the corresponding exposure dose to be used by the subject can be quickly and accurately selected when the subject is detected, so that the exposure dose accepted by the subject can be reduced. It is to be noted that different embodiments may produce different advantages, and in different embodiments, any one or combination of the above advantages may be produced, or any other advantages may be obtained.

Having thus described the basic concept, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the foregoing detailed disclosure is to be considered merely illustrative and not restrictive of the broad application. Various modifications, improvements and adaptations to the present application may occur to those skilled in the art, although not explicitly described herein. Such modifications, improvements and adaptations are proposed in the present application and thus fall within the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of the present application.

Also, this application uses specific language to describe embodiments of the application. Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," and/or "some embodiments" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with at least one embodiment of the present application is included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, it is emphasized and should be appreciated that two or more references to "an embodiment" or "one embodiment" or "an alternative embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, some features, structures, or characteristics of one or more embodiments of the present application may be combined as appropriate.

Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that aspects of the present application may be illustrated and described in terms of several patentable species or situations, including any new and useful combination of processes, machines, manufacture, or materials, or any new and useful improvement thereon. Accordingly, various aspects of the present application may be embodied entirely in hardware, entirely in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or in a combination of hardware and software. The above hardware or software may be referred to as "data block," module, "" engine, "" unit, "" component, "or" system. Furthermore, aspects of the present application may be represented as a computer product, including computer readable program code, embodied in one or more computer readable media.

The computer storage medium may comprise a propagated data signal with the computer program code embodied therewith, for example, on baseband or as part of a carrier wave. The propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including electromagnetic, optical, etc., or any suitable combination. A computer storage medium may be any computer-readable medium that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program code located on a computer storage medium may be propagated over any suitable medium, including radio, cable, fiber optic cable, RF, or the like, or any combination of the preceding.

Computer program code required for the operation of various portions of the present application may be written in any one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Scala, Smalltalk, Eiffel, JADE, Emerald, C + +, C #, VB.NET, Python, and the like, a conventional programming language such as C, Visual Basic, Fortran 2003, Perl, COBOL 2002, PHP, ABAP, a dynamic programming language such as Python, Ruby, and Groovy, or other programming languages, and the like. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any network format, such as a Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet), or in a cloud computing environment, or as a service, such as a software as a service (SaaS).

Additionally, the order in which elements and sequences of the processes described herein are processed, the use of alphanumeric characters, or the use of other designations, is not intended to limit the order of the processes and methods described herein, unless explicitly claimed. While various presently contemplated embodiments of the invention have been discussed in the foregoing disclosure by way of example, it is to be understood that such detail is solely for that purpose and that the appended claims are not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, are intended to cover all modifications and equivalent arrangements that are within the spirit and scope of the embodiments herein. For example, although the system components described above may be implemented by hardware devices, they may also be implemented by software-only solutions, such as installing the described system on an existing server or mobile device.

Similarly, it should be noted that in the preceding description of embodiments of the application, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure aiding in the understanding of one or more of the embodiments. This method of disclosure, however, is not intended to require more features than are expressly recited in the claims. Indeed, the embodiments may be characterized as having less than all of the features of a single embodiment disclosed above.

Numerals describing the number of components, attributes, etc. are used in some embodiments, it being understood that such numerals used in the description of the embodiments are modified in some instances by the use of the modifier "about", "approximately" or "substantially". Unless otherwise indicated, "about", "approximately" or "substantially" indicates that the number allows a variation of ± 20%. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the numerical parameters used in the specification and claims are approximations that may vary depending upon the desired properties of the individual embodiments. In some embodiments, the numerical parameter should take into account the specified significant digits and employ a general digit preserving approach. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of the range are approximations, in the specific examples, such numerical values are set forth as precisely as possible within the scope of the application.

The entire contents of each patent, patent application publication, and other material cited in this application, such as articles, books, specifications, publications, documents, and the like, are hereby incorporated by reference into this application. Except where the application is filed in a manner inconsistent or contrary to the present disclosure, and except where the claim is filed in its broadest scope (whether present or later appended to the application) as well. It is noted that the descriptions, definitions and/or use of terms in this application shall control if they are inconsistent or contrary to the statements and/or uses of the present application in the material attached to this application.

Finally, it should be understood that the embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the principles of the embodiments of the present application. Other variations are also possible within the scope of the present application. Thus, by way of example, and not limitation, alternative configurations of the embodiments of the present application can be viewed as being consistent with the teachings of the present application. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present application are not limited to only those embodiments explicitly described and depicted herein.

Claims

1. A method of acquiring an image with a digital grid system, comprising:

determining a preset dose threshold value according to the target shooting part;

exposing the part to acquire a target image;

acquiring an exposure dose for an exposure duration;

stopping exposure when the exposure dose reaches a predetermined dose threshold;

wherein a relationship between the predetermined dose threshold and the location is pre-stored, and the relationship between the predetermined dose threshold and the location is determined based on an evaluation parameter of a reference image obtained by a strip grid radiography system for a phantom exposure corresponding to the location and an evaluation parameter of a pre-acquired image obtained by a digital grid radiography system for the phantom exposure corresponding to the location, further comprising: determining whether the evaluation parameter of the pre-acquired image is within a threshold range compared with the evaluation parameter of the reference image; and if the exposure dose is within the threshold range, taking the exposure dose corresponding to the pre-acquired image as a preset dose threshold.

2. A method of image acquisition by a digital grid system according to claim 1, wherein the relation between the predetermined dose threshold and the site is determined based on evaluation parameters of a reference image obtained by a strip grid radiography system for a phantom exposure corresponding to the site and evaluation parameters of a pre-acquired image obtained by a digital grid system for a phantom exposure corresponding to the site, comprising:

determining evaluation parameters of the reference image based on the reference image obtained by exposing the imaging system with the grid ray aiming at the phantom corresponding to the part;

and obtaining the evaluation parameters of the pre-acquired image by adjusting the exposure parameters of the bulb tube by the digital grid system.

3. The method of digital grid system acquisition image of claim 2, wherein the adjusting exposure parameters of the bulb comprises: keeping the tube voltage of the bulb to be the same as the tube voltage of the imaging system based on the grid ray to expose the corresponding die body of the part, and adjusting the exposure dose of the bulb.

4. Method of image acquisition by a digital grid system according to claim 2, characterized in that the evaluation parameters of the image comprise signal-to-noise ratio and/or pixel gray value of a region of interest.

5. The method of digital grid system acquisition of images according to claim 2, further comprising:

manufacturing a plurality of corresponding different die bodies according to human tissues and/or organs with different regions, sexes, heights and/or weights;

and acquiring preset dose threshold values corresponding to the plurality of different phantom parts respectively, and manufacturing a preset dose threshold value table to be used as a diagnostic reference dose of the digital grid system.

6. The method of acquiring images of a digital grid system according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the phantom comprises a water phantom, a PMMA phantom, or a prosthesis.

7. A system for acquiring images by a digital grid system is characterized by comprising a preset dose threshold value determining module, a target image acquiring module, an exposure dose acquiring module and an exposure stopping module;

the preset dose threshold determining module is used for determining a preset dose threshold according to the target shooting part;

the target image acquisition module is used for exposing the part to acquire a target image;

the exposure dose acquisition module is used for acquiring the exposure dose during the exposure duration;

the exposure stopping module is used for stopping exposure when the exposure dose reaches a preset dose threshold;

8. An apparatus for acquiring images with a digital grid system, the apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one storage device, the storage device configured to store instructions that when executed by the at least one processor cause the following:

exposing the part to acquire a target image;

acquiring an exposure dose for an exposure duration;

9. A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, wherein when the computer program is read by a computer from the storage medium, the computer performs the following operations:

exposing the part to acquire a target image;

acquiring an exposure dose for an exposure duration;