Patent ID: 8983571
Filing Date: 2015-03-17
Classification: A61B,G16H

Abstract:
1. A method for determining liver fat mass of a body, the method comprising: performing a dual-energy X-ray scan of a body; generating at least one dual-energy X-ray skeletal image of the body and at least one soft tissue image from the dual-energy X-ray scan of the body using a material decomposition method; identifying a region of interest corresponding to a liver (liver ROI) on the dual-energy X-ray scan; determining a soft tissue composition profile for the liver ROI wherein said composition profile includes total fat mass; identifying a body region of interest (body ROI) wherein the body ROI corresponds to a region extending from the liver ROI to the sides of the body; determining a soft tissue composition profile of the body ROI based on the soft tissue image from the dual-energy x-ray scan; estimating subcutaneous fat of the body ROI using the soft tissue composition profile of the body ROI; determining estimates of subcutaneous fat of the liver ROI from the subcutaneous fat of the body ROI; and determining a liver fat mass for the liver based on subtraction of the subcutaneous fat of the liver ROI from the total fat mass of the liver ROI.