Patent ID: 9619905
Date: 2017-04-11
CPC Classifications: G06T

Claim:
1. A method of generating an attenuation map estimate for use in attenuation correction with an image reconstruction of emission projection data of an imaged subject using of a medical diagnostic imaging apparatus, the method comprising: generating, by an imaging processor, an outer body contour estimate of the imaged subject based on the emission projection data; generating, by the imaging processor, an organ boundary estimate of the imaged subject based on the emission projection data; generating, by the imaging processor, a three-dimensional body region estimate of the imaged subject based upon the outer body contour estimate and the organ boundary estimate, wherein the body region estimate is made up of a plurality of voxels, each voxel being assigned one of a plurality of body region indicators; assigning, by the imaging processor, each voxel of the body region estimate an attenuation coefficient based upon the body region indicator of that voxel, wherein the same attenuation coefficient is assigned to each voxel with the same body region indicator or wherein the attenuation coefficient assigned to each voxel is selected from a range of predetermined attenuation coefficients, wherein the range of predetermined attenuation coefficients corresponds to the body region indicator of the voxel; generating, by the imaging processor, an attenuation map estimate based on the assigned attenuation coefficients; iteratively updating, by the imaging processor, the attenuation map estimate during a reconstruction of the emission projection data; generating, by the imaging processor, a reconstructed image of the imaged subject based on the updated attenuation map; and displaying, by a display device, the reconstructed image of the imaged subject.