Patent Document ID: 9082182
Application ID: 12700028
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for determining patient motion in an image, the method executed by an imaging system including a scanner having a detector panel and configured to conduct a scan of a patient, a computer with an electronic processing unit, and a memory module storing a motion vector extraction module executable by the electronic processing unit, the method comprising: obtaining, at the computer, an image based on image data generated by the scanner during a patient scan, the image including at least three markers assumed to be in a rigid or semi-rigid configuration, each of the at least three markers having actual measured positions on the detector panel of the scanner in a first dimension and a second dimension; determining, with the electronic processing unit, a reference three-dimensional position for each of the at least three markers; defining, with the electronic processing unit, linearized equations describing the relationship between the reference three-dimensional position and the actual measured positions of each of the at least three markers, geometric parameters of the scanner, and patient motion; and solving, with the electronic processing unit, the linearized equations to derive a motion vector describing patient motion that occurred during the patient scan for the image that accounts for differences between the reference three-dimensional position of each of the at least three markers and the actual measured positions for each of the at least three markers, wherein solving the linearized equations to derive a motion vector includes iteratively updating and solving the linearized equations until reaching a convergence.