Patent ID: 9208582
Filing Date: 2015-12-08
Classification: A61B,G06T

Abstract:
1. An image analysis method performed by an image processing apparatus to analyze medical-purpose image data corresponding to an image of an object's organ having an anatomically symmetric shape, wherein said image analysis method performed by said image processing apparatus comprises: (1A) a step of inputting the medical-purpose image data corresponding to the image of the organ; (1B) a step of generating mask image data which collectively express a mask image corresponding to a region of the organ, based on processing the image data corresponding to the image of the organ; (1) a step of determining, based on the image data, and designating, a centerline of the organ in the image constituted by the image data; (2) a step of setting N-1 parting lines based on processing of the mask image data and the centerline designated in the step (1), wherein N is an integer greater than two, the N-1 parting lines intersect at a barycenter of the mask image corresponding to a region of the organ and form an angle θ·n with the centerline, wherein θ is an angle calculated by dividing 180° by N, and n denotes an integer ranging from 0 to N-1; (3) a step of setting automatically a plurality, or more than one pair, of regions of interest at symmetrical opposite positions, based on processing of the mask image data obtained in step (1B) and the parting lines set in the step (2); (4) a step of generating an analytic value of the image data in each of the regions of interest, based on processing of the image data in each of the regions of interest set in the step (3); and (5) a step of assessing the state of the object according to a degree of a difference in the analytic value between the opposite regions of interest.