Patent Document ID: 8315449
Application ID: 12144811
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method of extracting at least one time-value curve to determine a protocol for a patient in an imaging procedure, the method comprising the steps of: (a) determining a series of 0 through T M-dimensional data sets of pixel values of an imaged portion of the patient acquired using an imaging system, wherein M is an integer, T is an integer, the 0 data set corresponds to a data set at a time t=0, the T data set corresponds to a data set at a time t=T, and wherein a pixel at a location represented by a variable x has an enhancement profile vector defined as: 
 y=[y x (0) y x (1). .. y x ( T− 1) y x ( T )], and an enhancement level y of the pixel at location x is defined over time as: 
 y x ( t )= y x (0)+ s x ( t )+η x ( t ), wherein y x (0) y x (0) is a baseline enhancement level for the pixel, s is a change in signal due to a flow of fluid in the patient, and η is a noise term; (b) computing a predetermined number of correlated segments of the imaged portion corresponding to a predetermined number of regions of interest of the patient by computing a similarity metric of a time series of pixel values; (c) computing the at least one time-value curve for at least one of the regions of interest; and (d) determining a protocol for a diagnostic scan using the imaging system based at least in part upon data from the at least one time value curve.