CN111991015A

CN111991015A - Three-dimensional image splicing method, device, equipment, system and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN111991015A
Application number: CN202010813300.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 牛杰; 张宇
Original assignee: Shanghai United Imaging Healthcare Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shanghai United Imaging Healthcare Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-08-13
Filing date: 2020-08-13
Publication date: 2020-11-27

Abstract

The application relates to a three-dimensional image splicing method, a device, equipment, a system and a storage medium. The X-ray medical imaging system is applied to an X-ray medical image imaging system, the X-ray medical imaging system comprises a detector and an array X-ray source, the array X-ray source comprises a plurality of X-ray sources with different projection angles, and each imaging area corresponding to each X-ray source is formed on the detector; the method comprises the following steps: acquiring projection data of each region of a part to be detected; the projection data are generated by exposing each region to X-ray sources which are at least two different projection angles relative to each region in the array X-ray sources; respectively carrying out three-dimensional image reconstruction on the projection data of each region to obtain each reconstructed image block; and splicing the reconstructed image blocks according to the relative position relationship among the reconstructed image blocks to obtain the three-dimensional reconstructed image of the part to be detected. The method can improve the quality of the three-dimensional reconstruction image.

Description

Three-dimensional image splicing method, device, equipment, system and storage medium

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of image processing technologies, and in particular, to a method, an apparatus, a device, a system, and a storage medium for stitching three-dimensional images.

Background

With the continuous development of the X-ray technology, currently, when a patient is subjected to a breast examination, X-ray data of the patient is mostly acquired through an X-ray machine, then image reconstruction is performed on the acquired data to obtain a medical image of a breast area of the patient, and then the medical image is analyzed to obtain an image analysis result of the patient.

Generally, in a conventional breast X-ray medical imaging product, a single light source for rotating motion of a hot cathode is generally adopted, and in order to perform multi-view X-ray scanning, an X-ray light source is fixed on a rotating frame to perform arc motion for performing X-ray scanning. Due to the motion artifact caused by mechanical motion and the time delay generated by a thermionic emission mechanism, the spatial resolution of a scanned image is reduced, the scanning time is prolonged, the motion artifact is easily generated in the shooting process, and the quality of a three-dimensional tomographic image is influenced.

Therefore, how to improve the spatial resolution of the three-dimensional image and further improve the quality of the three-dimensional tomographic image has become an urgent technical problem to be solved.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, it is necessary to provide a three-dimensional image stitching method, apparatus, device, system and storage medium capable of improving the quality of a three-dimensional reconstructed image.

A three-dimensional image splicing method is applied to an X-ray medical imaging system, the X-ray medical imaging system comprises a detector and an array X-ray source, the array X-ray source comprises a plurality of X-ray sources with different projection angles, and each imaging area corresponding to each X-ray source is formed on the detector; the method comprises the following steps:

acquiring projection data of a part to be detected on each imaging area; the projection data is generated by correspondingly exposing the part to be detected by a plurality of X-ray sources in the array X-ray source;

respectively reconstructing three-dimensional images of the projection data of each imaging area to obtain a plurality of reconstructed image blocks;

and splicing the reconstruction image blocks according to the relative position relation among the reconstruction image blocks to obtain the three-dimensional reconstruction image of the part to be detected.

In one embodiment, the array X-ray source includes a linear array source and an area array source, and the performing three-dimensional image reconstruction on the projection data of each imaging region to obtain a plurality of reconstructed image blocks includes:

acquiring a plurality of first imaging areas corresponding to the linear array ray source and a plurality of second imaging areas corresponding to the area array ray source;

acquiring overlapping parts corresponding to the plurality of first imaging areas according to the plurality of first imaging areas, and acquiring overlapping parts corresponding to the plurality of second imaging areas according to the plurality of second imaging areas;

obtaining a plurality of overlapping areas according to the overlapping parts corresponding to the plurality of first imaging areas and the overlapping parts corresponding to the plurality of second imaging areas;

and respectively carrying out three-dimensional image reconstruction on the projection data of each overlapping area to obtain a plurality of reconstructed image blocks.

In one embodiment, the obtaining the overlapping portions corresponding to the plurality of first imaging regions according to the plurality of first imaging regions and obtaining the overlapping portions corresponding to the plurality of second imaging regions according to the plurality of second imaging regions includes:

performing intersection operation processing on the plurality of first imaging areas to obtain overlapping parts corresponding to the plurality of first imaging areas;

and performing intersection operation processing on the plurality of second imaging areas to obtain overlapping parts corresponding to the plurality of second imaging areas.

In one embodiment, the performing intersection operation on the plurality of first imaging regions to obtain the overlapping portions corresponding to the plurality of first imaging regions includes:

performing intersection operation processing on two adjacent first imaging regions in the plurality of first imaging regions to obtain a plurality of first boundary points corresponding to the two adjacent first imaging regions, and obtaining an overlapping part corresponding to the two adjacent first imaging regions according to the plurality of first boundary points;

the above processing the intersection operation on the plurality of second imaging regions to obtain the overlapping portions corresponding to the plurality of second imaging regions includes:

and performing intersection operation processing on two adjacent second imaging areas in the plurality of second imaging areas to obtain a plurality of second boundary points corresponding to the two adjacent second imaging areas, and obtaining an overlapping part corresponding to the two adjacent second imaging areas according to the plurality of second boundary points.

In one embodiment, the obtaining the overlapping portion corresponding to each two adjacent first imaging regions according to the plurality of first boundary points includes:

determining a part surrounded by a plurality of first boundary points corresponding to each two adjacent first imaging areas as an overlapping part corresponding to each two adjacent first imaging areas;

obtaining the overlapping part corresponding to each two adjacent second imaging areas according to the plurality of second boundary points, including:

and determining a part surrounded by a plurality of second boundary points corresponding to each two adjacent second imaging areas as an overlapping part corresponding to each two adjacent second imaging areas.

fitting a plurality of first boundary points corresponding to each two adjacent first imaging areas to obtain an overlapping part corresponding to each two adjacent first imaging areas;

and fitting a plurality of second boundary points corresponding to each two adjacent second imaging areas to obtain an overlapping part corresponding to each two adjacent second imaging areas.

In one embodiment, each of the reconstructed image blocks comprises a plurality of sub-image slices; the splicing of the reconstruction image blocks according to the relative position relationship among the reconstruction image blocks to obtain the three-dimensional reconstruction image of the part to be detected comprises the following steps:

acquiring slice information of each sub-image slice in each reconstructed image block;

splicing each sub-image slice of each reconstructed image block according to the relative position relation among the reconstructed image blocks and the slice information of each sub-image slice to obtain a plurality of image slices;

and determining the plurality of image slices as three-dimensional reconstruction images of the part to be detected.

In one embodiment, the slice information of the sub-image slice includes a layer number of the sub-image slice; the splicing of each sub-image slice of each reconstructed image block according to the relative position relationship between each reconstructed image block and the slice information of each sub-image slice to obtain a plurality of image slices includes:

determining each sub-image slice in the same layer according to the layer number of each sub-image slice in each reconstructed image block;

determining the splicing sequence of sub-image slices in the same layer according to the relative position relationship among all reconstructed image blocks; the splicing sequence comprises a front splicing sequence, a back splicing sequence, a left splicing sequence, a right splicing sequence or an up splicing sequence;

and splicing the sub-image slices in the same layer according to the splicing sequence of the sub-image slices in the same layer to obtain a plurality of image slices.

A three-dimensional image splicing device is applied to an X-ray medical imaging system, the X-ray medical imaging system comprises a detector and an array X-ray source, the array X-ray source comprises a plurality of X-ray sources with different projection angles, and each imaging area corresponding to each X-ray source is formed on the detector; the device includes:

the acquisition module is used for acquiring projection data of the part to be detected on each imaging area; the projection data is generated by correspondingly exposing the part to be detected by a plurality of X-ray sources in the array X-ray source;

the reconstruction module is used for respectively reconstructing a three-dimensional image of the projection data of each imaging area to obtain a plurality of reconstructed image blocks;

and the splicing module is used for splicing the reconstruction image blocks according to the relative position relation among the reconstruction image blocks to obtain the three-dimensional reconstruction image of the part to be detected.

A computer device comprising a memory and a processor, the memory storing a computer program, the processor implementing the following steps when executing the computer program:

An X-ray medical imaging system comprises an array X-ray source, a compression plate, a detector and the computer equipment.

In one embodiment, the array of X-ray sources includes a plurality of X-ray sources, each of which is a field emission X-ray source.

In one embodiment, the array X-ray source includes a linear array source and an area array source; the linear array ray source is arranged on the breast wall side of the part to be detected, and the area array ray source is arranged on the side of the breast wall side far away from the part to be detected; the setting position of the linear array ray source has an inclination angle relative to the setting position of the area array ray source.

A computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored which, when executed by a processor, carries out the steps of:

The three-dimensional image splicing method, the three-dimensional image splicing device, the three-dimensional image splicing system and the storage medium can respectively reconstruct the three-dimensional image of the projection data of the part to be detected in each imaging area by acquiring the projection data of the part to be detected in each imaging area to obtain each reconstructed image block, and splice each reconstructed image block according to the relative position relation between each reconstructed image block to obtain the three-dimensional reconstructed image of the part to be detected. The method is applied to an X-ray medical image imaging system, the X-ray medical image imaging system comprises a detector and an array X-ray source, the array X-ray source comprises a plurality of X-ray sources with different projection angles, each imaging area corresponding to each X-ray source is formed on the detector, and the projection data are generated by correspondingly exposing a part to be detected by the plurality of X-ray sources. In the method, when the array X-ray source is adopted to collect data of the part, the part does not need to be scanned rotationally, so that the scanning time can be shortened, and the radiation time of a patient can be reduced; on the other hand, motion artifacts caused by light source motion can be avoided, and the quality of generated images is improved; further, with this method, more projection data are acquired in the same time, so that the spatial resolution of the image can be improved.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an exemplary environment in which a method for stitching three-dimensional images may be implemented;

FIG. 2 is a schematic flow chart of a three-dimensional image stitching method according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary illustration of an exposure shot of a site using an array of X-ray sources in one embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary illustration of an imaging area of each of the X-ray sources in the array of X-ray sources in one embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a three-dimensional image stitching method according to another embodiment;

FIG. 6 is an exemplary diagram of acquiring overlapping portions of two adjacent imaging regions in another embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a schematic flowchart of a three-dimensional image stitching method according to another embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the structure of a three-dimensional image stitching apparatus according to an embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an internal structure of a computer device according to an embodiment.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more apparent, the present application is described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the present application and are not intended to limit the present application.

The three-dimensional image stitching method provided by the embodiment of the application can be applied to the X-ray medical imaging system 10 shown in fig. 1, and the X-ray medical imaging system 10 includes an array X-ray source 101, a compression plate 102, a detector 103, and a computer device 104.

Therein, an array X-ray source 101 for emitting X-rays. The array X-ray source comprises a plurality of X-ray sources, and each X-ray source is a field emission X-ray source and can emit X-rays. Optionally, the array X-ray source includes one or more of a linear array source and an area array source. That is, the array X-ray source may only include a linear array source, may also only include an area array source, and may also include both a linear array source and an area array source. In addition, the linear array ray sources can be arranged in a straight line, or can be arranged in a broken line, or can also be arranged in a curve. The area array ray source can be composed of two or more X ray sources arranged in a planar (such as a matrix) shape. The number of the X-ray sources specifically included in the linear array source and the area array source may be set according to actual conditions, for example, the linear array source may include 15X-ray sources, and the area array source may include 25X-ray sources including 5 rows and 5 columns.

Further, the linear array radiation source is arranged on the breast wall side of the part to be detected, and the area array radiation source is arranged on the side, far away from the breast wall side of the part to be detected; the setting position of the linear array ray source has an inclination angle relative to the setting position of the area array ray source. That is to say, the linear array radiation source can be arranged on the chest wall side of the part to be detected, the chest wall side can refer to the side of the part far away from the nipple, so that the radiation of X-rays penetrating through a human body to the human body can be avoided, and the inclination angle can be set according to the actual situation, for example, 5 degrees or 10 degrees and the like.

A compression plate 102 may be disposed between the array X-ray source 101 and the detector 103. The pressing device is used for pressing the part to be detected, so that the part to be detected is in a thin and uniform state, and subsequent data acquisition and detection are facilitated.

In addition, the irradiation surface of the X-ray irradiation area of the linear array ray source close to the breast wall side can be vertical or approximately vertical to the compression plate, so that the X-ray of the linear array ray source can be prevented from passing through the breast wall, and unnecessary X-ray radiation is brought to a human body. Wherein, approximately perpendicular can be understood as that the deviation angle from the perpendicular state is not greater than a preset threshold (e.g. 1 °, 2 °, 5 °, etc.). For example, approximately perpendicular may include the irradiation area of the linear X-ray source being angled between 89-91, 88-92, 85-95, etc. at the side of the irradiation surface near the chest wall with respect to the compression plate. The area array ray source can be arranged in parallel with the detector.

And the detector 103 is configured to detect projection data of the X-rays emitted by the array X-ray source 101 after passing through the part to be detected, and transmit the acquired projection data to the computer device 104 for processing. Wherein the site to be detected is located between the probe 103, which may be a flat panel probe, and the compression plate 102.

The computer device 104, which may be a server, may be implemented as a stand-alone server or as a server cluster comprised of multiple servers. Of course, the terminal may also be, but is not limited to, various personal computers, notebook computers, smart phones, tablet computers, portable wearable devices, and the like.

The executing subject of the following embodiments of the present application may be a computer device, or may be an X-ray medical imaging system, and the following description will take the computer device as an example.

In one embodiment, a three-dimensional image stitching method is provided, and the embodiment relates to a specific process of reconstructing and obtaining a three-dimensional reconstruction image of a part to be detected according to projection data of each region of the part to be detected. As shown in fig. 2, the method may include the steps of:

s202, acquiring projection data of the part to be detected on each imaging area; the projection data is generated by correspondingly exposing the part to be detected by a plurality of X-ray sources in the array X-ray source.

In this step, when the array X-ray source performs exposure imaging on the portion to be detected, the relative position between the array X-ray source and the detector is fixed.

The array X-ray source comprises a plurality of X-ray sources with different projection angles, namely, when each X-ray source exposes a part to be detected, the projection angles are different, so that correspondingly, the imaging areas of each X-ray source on the detector are different, and then the imaging areas corresponding to the X-ray sources are formed on the detector. The site to be detected may be a breast to be detected or other sites to be detected.

Taking the array X-ray source including a linear array source and an area array source as an example, an exemplary view of the array X-ray source performing exposure shooting on a to-be-detected part can be shown in fig. 3, and an imaging area of each X-ray source in the array X-ray source can be shown in fig. 4. It should be noted that fig. 3 and 4 are only examples, and do not affect the essence of the embodiments of the present application.

Specifically, each X-ray source in the array X-ray source may be used to respectively perform X-ray exposure (simultaneous exposure or sequential exposure) on a to-be-detected portion, and the detector is used to collect the exposed X-rays, so that each X-ray source has a corresponding imaging area on the detector, and each imaging area includes projection data corresponding to each X-ray source. Here, the projection data corresponding to each imaging region may be referred to as projection data of the part to be detected on each imaging region.

Then, the detector can transmit the projection data of the detected part to be detected on each imaging area to the computer device, so that the computer device can obtain the projection data of the part to be detected on each imaging area.

And S204, respectively carrying out three-dimensional image reconstruction on the projection data of each imaging area to obtain a plurality of reconstructed image blocks.

Wherein each reconstructed image block here may be a three-dimensional reconstructed image block. When the three-dimensional image is reconstructed, an image reconstruction algorithm can be adopted, and the image reconstruction algorithm can be a filtering back projection method, a maximum likelihood method, an iteration method, an algebraic method, a minimum likelihood method, a Fourier transform method, a convolution back projection method and the like.

Specifically, after the computer device obtains the projection data of the to-be-detected part on each imaging area, that is, the projection data on each imaging area on the detector, the computer device may directly perform image reconstruction on the projection data on each imaging area by using an image reconstruction algorithm, so as to obtain a three-dimensional reconstruction image block corresponding to each imaging area.

Of course, the projection data of each imaging region may also be processed, for example, the projection data of the overlapping region of each two adjacent imaging regions is taken, and the projection data of each overlapping region is respectively subjected to image reconstruction by using an image reconstruction algorithm, so as to obtain a three-dimensional reconstruction image block corresponding to each reconstruction region.

And S206, splicing the reconstruction image blocks according to the relative position relation among the reconstruction image blocks to obtain the three-dimensional reconstruction image of the part to be detected.

In this embodiment, when the array X-ray source performs exposure imaging on a portion to be detected, the relative position between the array X-ray source and the detector is fixed. Meanwhile, the relative positional relationship between the X-ray sources in the array X-ray source is also fixed (for example, the linear array light source 1 is in front of the linear array light source 2, etc.), and the relative positional relationship between the imaging regions of each X-ray source on the detector is the same as the relative positional relationship between the X-ray sources, so that the relative positional relationship between the imaging regions of each X-ray source on the detector can be obtained (for example, the imaging regions of the linear array light source 1 are in front of the imaging regions of the linear array light source 2, etc.).

Specifically, after obtaining the relative positional relationship between the imaging regions, the computer device reconstructs the projection data of each imaging region for each reconstructed image block, so that the relative positional relationship between the reconstructed image blocks can be obtained. And then, the computer equipment can sequentially splice the reconstruction image blocks according to a certain sequence according to the relative position relation among the reconstruction image blocks to obtain a spliced reconstruction image, namely the three-dimensional reconstruction image of the part to be detected.

The certain sequence may include front to back or back to front, or top to bottom or bottom to top, or left to right or right to left, or of course, other sequences may be possible.

In the three-dimensional image splicing method, the projection data of the part to be detected in each imaging area can be acquired, the projection data of each imaging area is respectively subjected to three-dimensional image reconstruction to obtain each reconstructed image block, and the reconstructed image blocks are spliced according to the relative position relationship among the reconstructed image blocks to obtain the three-dimensional reconstructed image of the part to be detected. The method is applied to an X-ray medical image imaging system, the medical imaging system comprises a detector and an array X-ray source, the array X-ray source comprises a plurality of X-ray sources with different projection angles, each imaging area corresponding to each X-ray source is formed on the detector, and the projection data are generated by correspondingly exposing a part to be detected by the plurality of X-ray sources. In the method, when the array X-ray source is adopted to collect data of the part, the part does not need to be scanned rotationally, so that the scanning time can be shortened, and the radiation time of a patient can be reduced; on the other hand, motion artifacts caused by light source motion can be avoided, and the quality of generated images is improved; further, with this method, more projection data are acquired in the same time, so that the spatial resolution of the image can be improved.

In another embodiment, another three-dimensional image stitching method is provided, and the embodiment relates to a specific process of how to perform image reconstruction on projection data of each imaging area to obtain each reconstructed image block, wherein an array X-ray source comprises a linear array ray source and an area array ray source. On the basis of the above embodiment, as shown in fig. 5, the above S204 may include the following steps:

s302, a plurality of first imaging areas corresponding to the linear array ray source and a plurality of second imaging areas corresponding to the area array ray source are obtained.

In this step, before the array X-ray source performs exposure and imaging on the part to be detected, the relative positions of the linear array source and the area source in the array X-ray source are fixed, and the relative positions of the linear array source and the area source and the detector are also fixed, so that the projection area of each X-ray source at the detector end can be determined.

Here, an imaging region of each X-ray source in the linear array source may be referred to as a first imaging region, and an imaging region of each X-ray source in the area array source may be referred to as a second imaging region.

It should be noted that, the X-ray sources in the linear array X-ray source and the planar array X-ray source are all field emission X-ray sources, the field emission X-ray sources are radiation sources that generate electron beams by using a cold cathode technology, and the cold cathode technology is currently limited by insufficient cathode power, so in this embodiment, the linear array X-ray source array is arranged on one side of the breast wall, and the planar array X-ray sources are arranged in other areas, which not only makes up for the problem of insufficient power on the side of the breast wall, but also can ensure that the rays emitted by the X-ray sources do not penetrate through the human. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the linear array radiation source and the planar array radiation source are adopted as the array X-ray source to image the portion to be detected.

Further, when the part to be detected is imaged by the linear array radiation source and the planar array radiation source, each X-ray source in the linear array radiation source and the planar array radiation source sequentially or one by one exposes the part to be detected, so as to obtain projection data of the part to be detected on a plurality of first imaging areas corresponding to the linear array radiation source and projection data on a plurality of second imaging areas corresponding to the planar array radiation source.

S304, obtaining the corresponding overlapping parts of the plurality of first imaging areas according to the plurality of first imaging areas, and obtaining the corresponding overlapping parts of the plurality of second imaging areas according to the plurality of second imaging areas.

In this step, generally, projection data at an overlapping region of imaging regions of a plurality of X-ray sources is used to reconstruct a three-dimensional image. Because the information of the overlapped part is more, the reconstructed image is more accurate. When obtaining the overlapping area, the overlapping portion may be obtained first for each first imaging area of the line array source, or the overlapping portion may be obtained first for each second imaging area of the line array source, or the overlapping portions may be obtained for each first imaging area and each second imaging area at the same time.

When the overlapping portion is obtained, optionally, performing intersection operation processing on the plurality of first imaging regions to obtain the overlapping portions corresponding to the plurality of first imaging regions; and performing intersection operation processing on the plurality of second imaging areas to obtain overlapping parts corresponding to the plurality of second imaging areas.

In summary, the overlapping portions corresponding to the plurality of first imaging regions and the overlapping portions corresponding to the plurality of second imaging regions can be obtained finally.

S306, obtaining a plurality of overlapping areas according to the overlapping parts corresponding to the plurality of first imaging areas and the overlapping parts corresponding to the plurality of second imaging areas.

In this step, the overlapping portions corresponding to the plurality of first imaging regions and the overlapping portions corresponding to the plurality of second imaging regions are combined to obtain a plurality of overlapping portions, and the overlapping portions are two-dimensional and are regions corresponding to the imaging regions, and are therefore referred to as a plurality of overlapping regions here.

And S308, respectively carrying out three-dimensional image reconstruction on the projection data of each overlapping area to obtain a plurality of reconstructed image blocks.

In this step, after obtaining the overlapping areas of all the imaging areas, the projection data of each overlapping area may be obtained from the projection data of each imaging area, and the projection data of each overlapping area may be subjected to image reconstruction to obtain a reconstructed image block corresponding to each overlapping area.

The three-dimensional image stitching method provided by this embodiment may obtain the overlapping areas corresponding to the multiple imaging areas of the linear array radiation source and the overlapping areas corresponding to the multiple imaging areas of the area array radiation source, and perform data reconstruction on the obtained projection data of the multiple overlapping areas to obtain each reconstructed image block. By the method, the accuracy of the reconstructed image block can be improved, and the accuracy of the finally obtained three-dimensional reconstructed image can be further improved.

In another embodiment, another three-dimensional image stitching method is provided, and this embodiment relates to a specific process of how to obtain an intersection of the first imaging regions and an intersection of the second imaging regions to obtain corresponding overlapping portions. On the basis of the foregoing embodiment, the intersection taking process in S304 may include the following first step and second step:

the method comprises the steps of firstly, performing intersection operation processing on two adjacent first imaging areas in the plurality of first imaging areas to obtain a plurality of first boundary points corresponding to the two adjacent first imaging areas, and obtaining an overlapping part corresponding to the two adjacent first imaging areas according to the plurality of first boundary points.

In this step, imaging areas of each X-ray source in the array X-ray source on the detector are fixed, and the size of the detector is usually also fixed, so that a coordinate system is established with two boundaries of the detector as coordinate axes and any one corner point as an origin, position coordinates of each first imaging area on the detector can be obtained, and coordinates of boundary points of each first imaging area can be obtained from the position coordinates of each first imaging area by performing edge point extraction on the position coordinates of each first imaging area.

Since the overlap region is generally for two adjacent imaging regions, the intersection is also generally for each two adjacent first imaging regions. Then, the coordinates of the boundary points of each two adjacent first imaging regions can be matched, where matching refers to comparing whether the coordinates of the boundary points of each two adjacent first imaging regions have the same boundary point coordinate, and if so, regarding the same boundary point coordinate as the boundary point coordinate of the overlapped portion. In short, the coordinates of the boundary points of the overlapping region of each adjacent two first imaging regions can be obtained, and the boundary points are generally a plurality of first boundary points.

After obtaining a plurality of first boundary points of the overlapping region of each adjacent two first imaging regions, optionally, a portion surrounded by the plurality of first boundary points corresponding to each adjacent two first imaging regions may be determined as the overlapping portion corresponding to each adjacent two first imaging regions.

Of course, optionally, a plurality of first boundary points corresponding to each two adjacent first imaging regions may also be fitted to obtain an overlapping portion corresponding to each two adjacent first imaging regions.

Here, the fitting may be a curve fitting or a linear fitting, or may be another fitting method, and in any case, the overlapping portion corresponding to each of the two adjacent first imaging regions may be obtained.

And step two, performing intersection operation processing on two adjacent second imaging areas in the plurality of second imaging areas to obtain a plurality of second boundary points corresponding to the two adjacent second imaging areas, and obtaining an overlapping part corresponding to the two adjacent second imaging areas according to the plurality of second boundary points.

In this step, referring to the first step, the coordinates of the boundary points of the overlapping area of each adjacent two second imaging areas can be obtained, and the boundary points are generally referred to as second boundary points and are usually multiple.

After obtaining a plurality of second boundary points of the overlapping area of each two adjacent second imaging areas, optionally, a portion surrounded by the plurality of second boundary points corresponding to each two adjacent second imaging areas may be determined as the overlapping portion corresponding to each two adjacent second imaging areas.

Of course, optionally, a plurality of second boundary points corresponding to each two adjacent second imaging regions may also be fitted to obtain an overlapping portion corresponding to each two adjacent second imaging regions.

Here, the fitting of the plurality of second boundary points corresponding to each of the two adjacent second imaging regions may be a curve fitting, a linear fitting, or other fitting methods, and in any case, the overlapping portion corresponding to each of the two adjacent second imaging regions may be obtained.

For example, referring to fig. 6, it is assumed that a set of two adjacent imaging regions (which may be two first imaging regions, or two second imaging regions) are rectangular regions a and B, where the imaging region a is a solid-line rectangular region in the figure, and there are 6 boundary points on four boundaries thereof, which are a1-a6, respectively, and the coordinates of the 6 boundary points are (1,15), (1,12), (1,6), (20,12), (20,15), respectively, taking two-dimensional coordinates as an example; the imaging area B is a dashed-line rectangular area in the figure, which is B1-B6, and the coordinates of the 6 boundary points are (1,12), (1,6), (1,3), (20,6), (20,12), respectively, taking two-dimensional coordinates as an example; comparing 12 boundary points a1-a6 and B1-B6, it can be seen that coordinates a2 and B1 are the same, coordinates a3 and B2 are the same, coordinates a4 and B5 are the same, and coordinates a5 and B6 are the same, and these four pairs of coordinates are the same boundary point coordinates, and in terms of coordinates of an imaging region a, the coordinates a2 and a3 can be connected, the coordinates a3 and a4 are connected, and the coordinates a4 and a5 are connected, so as to obtain a rectangular region surrounded by a2, a3, a4 and a5, and also a rectangular region surrounded by B1, B2, B5 and B6, that is the overlapping region of the imaging region a and the imaging region B.

This operation can be performed for all other adjacent imaging regions, so that the overlapping regions of all adjacent imaging regions can be obtained.

It should be noted that, the first step and the second step are not limited by timing, that is, the first step may be executed first and then the second step may be executed, the second step may be executed first and then the first step may be executed, and certainly, the first step and the second step may be executed at the same time.

The three-dimensional image stitching method provided in this embodiment may obtain an intersection of each adjacent first imaging region and an intersection of each adjacent second imaging region, so as to obtain a corresponding overlapping portion. By the method, the accurate overlapping area can be obtained, so that the acquired projection data are more accurate during subsequent image reconstruction, namely the reconstructed data source is more accurate, and the accuracy of the three-dimensional reconstructed image obtained according to the projection data is higher.

In another embodiment, another three-dimensional image stitching method is provided, and this embodiment relates to a specific process of how to stitch reconstructed image blocks to obtain a three-dimensional reconstructed image, where each reconstructed image block includes a plurality of sub-image slices. On the basis of the above embodiment, as shown in fig. 7, the above S206 may include the following steps:

s402, slice information of each sub-image slice in each reconstructed image block is obtained.

In this step, the slice information of the sub-image slice may include a layer number, a layer thickness, and the like of the sub-image slice.

When the image reconstruction algorithm is adopted to reconstruct the three-dimensional image of each overlapped area, the layer thickness, the image imaging size and the like of the reconstructed image slice can be preset, so that the size of the reconstructed image block corresponding to each overlapped area can be obtained after each overlapped area is reconstructed, and the layer number of each sub-image slice in each reconstructed image block can be obtained through the size and the layer thickness of the reconstructed image block.

In addition, the layer thickness may be represented here by a reconstruction interval. The number of sub-image slices comprised in each reconstructed image block is also typically equal.

And S404, splicing each sub-image slice of each reconstructed image block according to the relative position relationship among the reconstructed image blocks and the slice information of each sub-image slice to obtain a plurality of image slices.

In this step, after obtaining the relative position relationship between the reconstructed image blocks and the layer numbers of the sub-image slices in the reconstructed image blocks, the reconstructed image blocks can be sequentially spliced by using the relative position relationship and the layer numbers. Optionally, the following steps B1-B3 may be used for splicing:

b1, determining respective sub-image slices at the same layer from the layer numbers of the respective sub-image slices in each reconstructed image block.

B2, determining the splicing sequence of the sub-image slices in the same layer according to the relative position relationship among the reconstruction image blocks; the splicing sequence comprises a front splicing sequence, a back splicing sequence, a left splicing sequence, a right splicing sequence or an up and down splicing sequence.

B3, splicing the sub-image slices in the same layer according to the splicing order of the sub-image slices in the same layer, and obtaining a plurality of image slices.

Specifically, after the layer number of each sub-image slice in each reconstructed image block is obtained, the sub-image slices belonging to the same layer number can be found out, then each group of sub-image slices with the same layer number are spliced into one layer of image slice according to the same position relation with each reconstructed image block from front to back or from back to front, or from top to bottom or from bottom to top, or from left to right or from right to left, and all groups of sub-image slices with the same layer number are spliced in this way, so that a plurality of layers of image slices can be obtained.

And S406, determining the plurality of image slices as three-dimensional reconstruction images of the part to be detected.

When the sub-image slices of each group are spliced, the sub-image slices are usually spliced layer by layer from large to small or from small to large according to the size of the layer number, so that multiple layers of sequentially arranged image slices can be obtained, and then the multiple layers of sequentially arranged image slices can be used as a three-dimensional reconstruction image of the part to be detected.

The three-dimensional image stitching method provided by the embodiment can acquire information of each sub-image slice in each reconstructed image block, and can stitch the sub-image slices in each reconstructed image block by combining the relative position relationship between the reconstructed image blocks to obtain a plurality of image slices, so that the three-dimensional reconstructed image of the part to be detected is obtained. In the method, the sub-image slices can be spliced according to the information of the sub-image slices and the relative position relation between the reconstruction image blocks, so that the spliced image slices of each layer are more accurate, and the finally obtained three-dimensional reconstruction image of the part to be detected is more accurate.

It should be understood that although the steps in the flowcharts of fig. 2, 5, and 7 are shown in order as indicated by the arrows, the steps are not necessarily performed in order as indicated by the arrows. The steps are not performed in the exact order shown and described, and may be performed in other orders, unless explicitly stated otherwise. Moreover, at least some of the steps in fig. 2, 5, and 7 may include multiple steps or multiple stages, which are not necessarily performed at the same time, but may be performed at different times, which are not necessarily performed in sequence, but may be performed alternately or alternatively with other steps or at least some of the other steps or stages.

In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 8, a three-dimensional image stitching apparatus is provided, which is applied to an X-ray medical imaging system, where the X-ray medical imaging system includes a detector and an array X-ray source, the array X-ray source includes a plurality of X-ray sources with different projection angles, and each imaging region corresponding to each X-ray source is formed on the detector; the method comprises the following steps: an acquisition module 10, a reconstruction module 11 and a stitching module 12, wherein:

the acquisition module 10 is used for acquiring projection data of the part to be detected on each imaging area; the projection data is generated by correspondingly exposing the part to be detected by a plurality of X-ray sources in the array X-ray source;

the reconstruction module 11 is configured to perform three-dimensional image reconstruction on the projection data of each imaging region to obtain a plurality of reconstructed image blocks;

and the splicing module 12 is configured to splice the reconstructed image blocks according to the relative position relationship between the reconstructed image blocks to obtain a three-dimensional reconstructed image of the part to be detected.

For specific limitations of the three-dimensional image stitching apparatus, reference may be made to the above limitations of the three-dimensional image stitching method, which is not described herein again.

In another embodiment, another three-dimensional image stitching apparatus is provided, on the basis of the above embodiment, the array X-ray source includes a linear-array ray source and an area-array ray source, and the reconstruction module 11 may include an imaging region acquiring unit, an overlapping portion determining unit, an overlapping region acquiring unit, and a reconstruction unit, where:

the imaging region acquisition unit is used for acquiring a plurality of first imaging regions corresponding to the linear array ray source and a plurality of second imaging regions corresponding to the area array ray source;

an overlapping part determining unit, configured to obtain overlapping parts corresponding to the plurality of first imaging regions according to the plurality of first imaging regions, and obtain overlapping parts corresponding to the plurality of second imaging regions according to the plurality of second imaging regions;

an overlapping region acquiring unit, configured to obtain a plurality of overlapping regions according to overlapping portions corresponding to the plurality of first imaging regions and overlapping portions corresponding to the plurality of second imaging regions;

and the reconstruction unit is used for respectively reconstructing the three-dimensional image of the projection data of each overlapping area to obtain a plurality of reconstructed image blocks.

Optionally, the overlap determining unit may include a first intersection taking subunit and a second intersection taking subunit, where:

the first intersection taking subunit is configured to perform intersection taking operation processing on the plurality of first imaging regions to obtain overlapping portions corresponding to the plurality of first imaging regions;

and the second intersection taking subunit is used for performing intersection taking operation processing on the plurality of second imaging areas to obtain overlapping parts corresponding to the plurality of second imaging areas.

Optionally, the first intersection taking subunit is specifically configured to perform intersection taking operation on two adjacent first imaging regions in the plurality of first imaging regions to obtain a plurality of first boundary points corresponding to each two adjacent first imaging regions, and obtain an overlapping portion corresponding to each two adjacent first imaging regions according to the plurality of first boundary points;

the second intersection taking subunit is specifically configured to perform intersection taking operation processing on two adjacent second imaging regions in the plurality of second imaging regions to obtain a plurality of second boundary points corresponding to each two adjacent second imaging regions, and obtain an overlapping portion corresponding to each two adjacent second imaging regions according to the plurality of second boundary points.

Optionally, the first intersection taking subunit is specifically configured to determine, as an overlapping portion corresponding to each two adjacent first imaging regions, a portion surrounded by a plurality of first boundary points corresponding to each two adjacent first imaging regions;

optionally, the second intersection-taking subunit is specifically configured to determine, as an overlapping portion corresponding to each two adjacent second imaging areas, a portion surrounded by a plurality of second boundary points corresponding to each two adjacent second imaging areas.

Optionally, the first intersection taking subunit is specifically configured to fit a plurality of first boundary points corresponding to each two adjacent first imaging regions, so as to obtain an overlapping portion corresponding to each two adjacent first imaging regions;

optionally, the second intersection sub-unit is specifically configured to fit a plurality of second boundary points corresponding to each two adjacent second imaging regions, so as to obtain an overlapping portion corresponding to each two adjacent second imaging regions.

In another embodiment, another three-dimensional image stitching apparatus is provided, on the basis of the above embodiment, each of the reconstructed image blocks includes a plurality of sub-image slices; the stitching module 12 may include an information obtaining unit, a stitching unit, and an image determining unit, wherein:

an information acquisition unit for acquiring slice information of each sub-image slice in each reconstructed image block;

the splicing unit is used for splicing each sub-image slice of each reconstructed image block according to the relative position relationship among the reconstructed image blocks and the slice information of each sub-image slice to obtain a plurality of image slices;

and the image determining unit is used for determining the plurality of image slices as three-dimensional reconstruction images of the part to be detected.

Optionally, the slice information of the sub-image slice includes a layer number of the sub-image slice; the above splicing unit may include a layer number determining subunit, a splicing order determining subunit, and a splicing subunit, wherein:

a layer number determining subunit, configured to determine, from the layer numbers of the respective sub-image slices in each reconstructed image block, respective sub-image slices at the same layer;

a splicing order determining subunit, configured to determine a splicing order between sub-image slices in the same layer according to a relative position relationship between the reconstructed image blocks; the splicing sequence comprises a front splicing sequence, a back splicing sequence, a left splicing sequence, a right splicing sequence or an up splicing sequence;

and the splicing subunit is used for splicing the sub-image slices in the same layer according to the splicing sequence among the sub-image slices in the same layer to obtain a plurality of image slices.

The modules in the three-dimensional image splicing apparatus can be wholly or partially implemented by software, hardware and a combination thereof. The modules can be embedded in a hardware form or independent from a processor in the computer device, and can also be stored in a memory in the computer device in a software form, so that the processor can call and execute operations corresponding to the modules.

In one embodiment, a computer device is provided, for example, a terminal, and its internal structure diagram may be as shown in fig. 9. The computer device includes a processor, a memory, a communication interface, a display screen, and an input device connected by a system bus. Wherein the processor of the computer device is configured to provide computing and control capabilities. The memory of the computer device comprises a nonvolatile storage medium and an internal memory. The non-volatile storage medium stores an operating system and a computer program. The internal memory provides an environment for the operation of an operating system and computer programs in the non-volatile storage medium. The communication interface of the computer device is used for carrying out wired or wireless communication with an external terminal, and the wireless communication can be realized through WIFI, an operator network, NFC (near field communication) or other technologies. The computer program is executed by a processor to implement a three-dimensional image stitching method. The display screen of the computer equipment can be a liquid crystal display screen or an electronic ink display screen, and the input device of the computer equipment can be a touch layer covered on the display screen, a key, a track ball or a touch pad arranged on the shell of the computer equipment, an external keyboard, a touch pad or a mouse and the like.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the architecture shown in fig. 9 is merely a block diagram of some of the structures associated with the disclosed aspects and is not intended to limit the computing devices to which the disclosed aspects apply, as particular computing devices may include more or less components than those shown, or may combine certain components, or have a different arrangement of components.

In one embodiment, a computer device is provided, comprising a memory and a processor, the memory having a computer program stored therein, the processor implementing the following steps when executing the computer program:

In one embodiment, the processor, when executing the computer program, further performs the steps of:

acquiring a plurality of first imaging areas corresponding to the linear array ray source and a plurality of second imaging areas corresponding to the area array ray source; acquiring overlapping parts corresponding to the plurality of first imaging areas according to the plurality of first imaging areas, and acquiring overlapping parts corresponding to the plurality of second imaging areas according to the plurality of second imaging areas; obtaining a plurality of overlapping areas according to the overlapping parts corresponding to the plurality of first imaging areas and the overlapping parts corresponding to the plurality of second imaging areas; and respectively carrying out three-dimensional image reconstruction on the projection data of each overlapping area to obtain a plurality of reconstructed image blocks.

performing intersection operation processing on the plurality of first imaging areas to obtain overlapping parts corresponding to the plurality of first imaging areas; and performing intersection operation processing on the plurality of second imaging areas to obtain overlapping parts corresponding to the plurality of second imaging areas.

performing intersection operation processing on two adjacent first imaging regions in the plurality of first imaging regions to obtain a plurality of first boundary points corresponding to the two adjacent first imaging regions, and obtaining an overlapping part corresponding to the two adjacent first imaging regions according to the plurality of first boundary points; and performing intersection operation processing on two adjacent second imaging areas in the plurality of second imaging areas to obtain a plurality of second boundary points corresponding to the two adjacent second imaging areas, and obtaining an overlapping part corresponding to the two adjacent second imaging areas according to the plurality of second boundary points.

determining a part surrounded by a plurality of first boundary points corresponding to each two adjacent first imaging areas as an overlapping part corresponding to each two adjacent first imaging areas; and determining a part surrounded by a plurality of second boundary points corresponding to each two adjacent second imaging areas as an overlapping part corresponding to each two adjacent second imaging areas.

fitting a plurality of first boundary points corresponding to each two adjacent first imaging areas to obtain an overlapping part corresponding to each two adjacent first imaging areas; and fitting a plurality of second boundary points corresponding to each two adjacent second imaging areas to obtain an overlapping part corresponding to each two adjacent second imaging areas.

acquiring slice information of each sub-image slice in each reconstructed image block; splicing each sub-image slice of each reconstructed image block according to the relative position relation among the reconstructed image blocks and the slice information of each sub-image slice to obtain a plurality of image slices; and determining the plurality of image slices as three-dimensional reconstruction images of the part to be detected.

determining each sub-image slice in the same layer according to the layer number of each sub-image slice in each reconstructed image block; determining the splicing sequence of sub-image slices in the same layer according to the relative position relationship among all reconstructed image blocks; the splicing sequence comprises a front splicing sequence, a back splicing sequence, a left splicing sequence, a right splicing sequence or an up splicing sequence; and splicing the sub-image slices in the same layer according to the splicing sequence of the sub-image slices in the same layer to obtain a plurality of image slices.

In one embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, having a computer program stored thereon, which when executed by a processor, performs the steps of:

In one embodiment, the computer program when executed by the processor further performs the steps of:

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that all or part of the processes of the methods of the embodiments described above can be implemented by hardware instructions of a computer program, which can be stored in a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium, and when executed, can include the processes of the embodiments of the methods described above. Any reference to memory, storage, database or other medium used in the embodiments provided herein can include at least one of non-volatile and volatile memory. Non-volatile Memory may include Read-Only Memory (ROM), magnetic tape, floppy disk, flash Memory, optical storage, or the like. Volatile Memory can include Random Access Memory (RAM) or external cache Memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM can take many forms, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) or Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), among others.

The technical features of the above embodiments can be arbitrarily combined, and for the sake of brevity, all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are not described, but should be considered as the scope of the present specification as long as there is no contradiction between the combinations of the technical features.

The above-mentioned embodiments only express several embodiments of the present application, and the description thereof is more specific and detailed, but not construed as limiting the scope of the invention. It should be noted that, for a person skilled in the art, several variations and modifications can be made without departing from the concept of the present application, which falls within the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present patent shall be subject to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A three-dimensional image stitching method is characterized by being applied to an X-ray medical imaging system, wherein the X-ray medical imaging system comprises a detector and an array X-ray source, the array X-ray source comprises a plurality of X-ray sources with different projection angles, and each imaging area corresponding to each X-ray source is formed on the detector; the method comprises the following steps:

acquiring projection data of a part to be detected on each imaging area; the projection data is generated by correspondingly exposing the part to be detected by a plurality of X-ray sources in the array X-ray sources;

respectively carrying out three-dimensional image reconstruction on the projection data of each imaging area to obtain a plurality of reconstructed image blocks;

and splicing the reconstructed image blocks according to the relative position relationship among the reconstructed image blocks to obtain the three-dimensional reconstructed image of the part to be detected.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the array X-ray source includes a linear array source and an area array source, and the three-dimensional image reconstruction is performed on the projection data of each imaging region to obtain a plurality of reconstructed image blocks, including:

acquiring a plurality of first imaging areas corresponding to the linear array radiation source and a plurality of second imaging areas corresponding to the area array radiation source;

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein obtaining the overlapping portions of the first imaging regions according to the first imaging regions and obtaining the overlapping portions of the second imaging regions according to the second imaging regions comprises:

4. A method according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein each of said reconstructed image blocks comprises a plurality of sub-image slices; the splicing of the reconstruction image blocks according to the relative position relationship between the reconstruction image blocks to obtain the three-dimensional reconstruction image of the part to be detected comprises the following steps:

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the slice information for the sub-image slice comprises a layer number of the sub-image slice; the splicing of each sub-image slice of each reconstructed image block according to the relative position relationship between each reconstructed image block and the slice information of each sub-image slice to obtain a plurality of image slices comprises:

determining the splicing sequence of the sub-image slices in the same layer according to the relative position relationship among the reconstructed image blocks; the splicing sequence comprises a front splicing sequence, a back splicing sequence, a left splicing sequence, a right splicing sequence or an up splicing sequence;

and splicing the sub-image slices in the same layer according to the splicing sequence of the sub-image slices in the same layer to obtain the plurality of image slices.

6. A three-dimensional image splicing device is characterized by being applied to an X-ray medical imaging system, wherein the X-ray medical imaging system comprises a detector and an array X-ray source, the array X-ray source comprises a plurality of X-ray sources with different projection angles, and each imaging area corresponding to each X-ray source is formed on the detector; the device comprises:

the acquisition module is used for acquiring projection data of the part to be detected on each imaging area; the projection data is generated by correspondingly exposing the part to be detected by a plurality of X-ray sources in the array X-ray sources;

7. A computer device comprising a memory and a processor, the memory storing a computer program, characterized in that the processor, when executing the computer program, implements the steps of the method of any of claims 1 to 5.

8. An X-ray medical imaging system, characterized in that the system comprises an array X-ray source, a compression paddle, a detector, and the computer device of claim 7.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the array X-ray source comprises a linear array source and an area array source; the linear array radiation source is arranged on the breast wall side of the part to be detected, and the area array radiation source is arranged on the side far away from the breast wall side of the part to be detected; the setting position of the linear array ray source has an inclination angle relative to the setting position of the area array ray source.

10. A computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, which, when being executed by a processor, carries out the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 5.