A method and system for physiological gating is disclosed. A method and system for detecting and predictably estimating regular cycles of physiological activity or movements is disclosed. Another disclosed aspect of the invention is directed to predictive actuation of gating system components. Yet another disclosed aspect of the invention is directed to physiological gating of radiation treatment based upon the phase of the physiological activity. Gating can be performed, either prospectively or retrospectively, to any type of procedure, including radiation therapy or imaging, or other types of medical devices and procedures such as PET, MRI, SPECT, and CT scans.

Method and system for predictive physiological gating

Methodology and circuitry for automatically effecting electronic camera movement to track and display the location of a moving object, such as a person presenting a talk to an audience. A fixed spotting camera is used to capture a field of view, and a moving tracking camera with pan/tilt/zoom/focus functions is driven to the present location of the moving object. Information for driving the tracking camera is obtained with reference to the pixel difference between a current image and a previous image within the field of view. A tracking algorithm computes the information necessary to drive the tracking camera from these pixel differences as well as data relative to the field of view of the spotting camera and the present tracking camera position.

Automatic tracking camera control system

An image processing apparatus for extracting the specified objects has a background image extract unit for extracting a background; a first average background extract unit which extracts an image that includes a plurality of stationary and moving objects each having a speed not higher than a predetermined first speed and also the background; a second average background extract unit which extracts an image that includes the stationary and moving objects each having a speed not higher than a predetermined second speed and also the background; a first difference-calculation processing unit which calculates a difference between an output from the background image extract unit and an output from the first average background extract unit as a first speed image; a second difference-calculation processing unit which calculates a difference value between two outputs from the first and second average background extract units as a second speed image; and a third difference-calculation processing unit which calculates a difference value between an original image and either one of outputs from the first and second average background extract units as a third speed image.

Image processing apparatus

A method for generating one or more images includes collecting data samples representative of a motion of an object, acquiring image data of at least a part of the object over a time interval, synchronizing the data samples and the image data to a common time base, and generating one or more images based on the synchronized image data. A method for generating one or more images includes acquiring image data of at least a part of an object over a time interval, associating the image data with one or more phases of a motion cycle, and constructing one or more images using the image data that are associated with the respective one or more phases.

Method and system for radiation application

A method of performing physiological gating in a medical procedure includes acquiring a sequence of images having at least a first image and a second image of a target region, determining a first composite image based on the first and second images, and gating a medical procedure based on the composite image. A method of performing a medical procedure includes providing a plurality of templates, each of the templates having an image and treatment data, acquiring an input image, registering the input image with one of the templates, and performing a medical procedure based on the treatment data of the one of the templates that is registered with the input image.

Systems and methods for gating medical procedures

A method and apparatus for detecting an object of interest against a cluttered background scene. In a first preferred embodiment the sensor tracking the scene is movable on a platform such that each frame of the video representation of the scene is aligned, i.e., appears at the same place in sensor coordinates. A current video frame of the scene is stored in a first frame storage device (14) and a previous video frame of the scene is stored in a second frame storage device (20). The frames are then subtracted by means of an invertor (24)and a frame adder (28) to remove most of the background clutter. The subtracted image is put through a first leakage reducing filter, preferably a minimum difference processor filter (32). The current video frame in the first frame storage device (14) is put through a second leakage-reducing filter, preferably minimum difference processor filter (36). The outputs of the two processors are applied to a two quadrant multiplier (42) to minimize the remaining background clutter leakage and to isolate the moving object of interest. In a second preferred embodiment the sensor does not track the scene and therefore the frames of video from the two storage devices (140, 200) must be aligned before the subtraction process can occur. The alignment function is performed by a background registration correlator (150) and a frame shifter (130). Once the two frames of video data are aligned they are then subtracted and preferably applied to the minimum difference processor filters (320, 360) as with the first embodiment. The outputs of the two minimum difference processors (320, 360) are again applied to a two quadrant multiplier (420) to eliminate the remaining background clutter.

Moving target detection method using two-frame subtraction and a two quadrant multiplier

MOVING TARGET DETECTION METHOD USING TWO-FRAME SUBTRACTION ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method and apparatus for detecting an object of interest against a cluttered background scene. In a first preferred embodiment the sensor tracking the scene is movable on a platform such that each frame of the video representation of the scene is aligned, i.e., appears at the same place in sensor coordinates. A current video frame of the scene is stored in a first frame storage device (14) and a previous video frame of the scene is stored in a second frame storage device (20). The frames are then subtracted by means of an invertor (24) and a frame adder (28) to remove most of the background clutter. The subtracted image is put through a first leakage reducing filter, preferably a minimum difference processor filter (32). The current video frame in the first frame storage device (14) is put through a second leakage-reducing filter, preferably minimum difference processor filter (36). The outputs of the two processors are applied to a two quadrant multiplier (42) to minimize the remaining background clutter leakage and to isolate the moving object of interest. In a second preferred embodiment the sensor does not track the scene and therefore the frames of video from the two storage devices (140, 200) must be aligned before the subtraction process can occur. The alignment function is performed by a background registration correlator (150) and a frame shifter (130). Once the two frames of video data are aligned they are then subtracted and preferably applied to the minimum difference processor filters (320, 360) as with the first embodiment. The outputs of the two minimum difference processors (320, 360) are again applied to a two quadrant multiplier (420) to eliminate the remaining background clutter.

Kelly D. Holthaus

Papers

Moving target detection method using two-frame subtraction and a two quadrant multiplier

Moving target detection method using two-frame subtraction