Patent ID: 8204290

Claim:
A method for planning a medical imaging procedure, comprising the steps of: importing a plurality of quality parameters into a controller that controls a medical image acquisition apparatus configured to obtain a medical image exposure of a patient, comprising a plurality of regions of the patient, by irradiating said plurality of regions of the patient with radiation, said plurality of quality parameters respectively associated a desired image quality with said plurality of regions; in said controller, determining a plurality of image acquisition parameters that respectively characterize local radiation attenuation properties of said plurality of regions; automatically determining an achievable image quality of said medical image exposure, using said image acquisition parameters and an apparatus variable of said medical image apparatus that influences the image quality of said medical image exposure; in said controller, automatically comparing, for each of said regions, the achievable image quality with the desired image quality, to obtain a comparison result; and if said comparison result indicates that said achievable image quality falls short of said desired image quality, emitting a shortfall indicator from said controller that also identifies in which region or regions, among said plurality of regions, said achievable image quality falls short of said desired image quality.