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Title:
SMALL DETECTOR X-RAY IMAGING OF TISSUE SAMPLES
Document Type and Number:
WIPO Patent Application WO/2017/060860
Kind Code:
A1
Abstract:
An imaging system includes a sample holder (2) for holding a sample of tissue (1), and a motion actuator upon which the sample holder is placed. The actuator moves the sample in at least translational motion in an x/y plane. An imaging detector (16) is smaller in size than the sample and forms images of a portion of the sample, the portion being smaller than the entire sample. The actuator moves the sample with respect to the imaging detector until the entire sample is imaged.

Inventors:
GOLAN EREZ (IL)
Application Number:
PCT/IB2016/056009
Publication Date:
April 13, 2017
Filing Date:
October 07, 2016
Export Citation:
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Assignee:
CLEAR-CUT MEDICAL LTD (IL)
International Classes:
G01N24/08; G01N23/04
Domestic Patent References:
WO2006081614A12006-08-10
WO2013142459A22013-09-26
Foreign References:
JP2006214952A2006-08-17
GB1434063A1976-04-28
JPH05344964A1993-12-27
Other References:
PRASHEEL LILLANEY ET AL: "Novel motor design for rotating anode x-ray tubes operating in the fringe field of a magnetic resonance imaging system", MEDICAL PHYSICS., vol. 40, no. 2, 1 February 2013 (2013-02-01), US, pages 022302, XP055258496, ISSN: 0094-2405, DOI: 10.1118/1.4773313
MATEIKA D ET AL: "A fully automatic stitching of 2D X-ray images", ELEKTRONIKA IR ELEKTROTECHNIKA KAUNO TECHNOLGIJOS UNIVERSITETAS LITHUANIA, no. 8, 2007, pages 3 - 8, XP055342065, ISSN: 1392-1215
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
KLEIN, David (IL)
Download PDF:
Claims:
CLAIMS

What is claimed is:

1. An imaging system comprising:

a sample holder for holding a sample of tissue;

a motion actuator upon which said sample holder is placed, said actuator operable to move the sample in at least translational motion in an x/y plane; and

an imaging detector smaller in size than the sample operable to form images of a portion of the sample, the portion being smaller than the entire sample and wherein said actuator is operative to move said sample with respect to said imaging detector until the entire sample is imaged.

2. The imaging system according to claim 1, wherein said actuator moves said sample manually.

3. The imaging system according to claim 1, wherein said actuator moves said sample automatically.

4. The imaging system according to claim 1, further comprising a conveyor operative to move the sample into a field of view of another imaging system.

5. The imaging system according to claim 4, wherein the other imaging system comprises at least one of MRI imaging and optical imaging.

6. A method of imaging a tissue sample comprising:

a. placing a tissue sample in the sample holder of claim 1,

b. acquiring images of the sample with the imaging detector,

c. moving the sample with the actuator to a new spatial orientation,

d. acquiring images of the sample with the imaging detector at the new spatial orientation, and

e. repeating steps b-d until a desired portion of the sample is imaged.

7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising moving the sample to a field of view of another imaging system and acquiring images of the sample with the other imaging system.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the images are acquired by both MRI and X-ray.

Description:
SMALL DETECTOR X-RAY IMAGING OF TISSUE SAMPLES

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a system and a method for simplifying and reducing the size and cost of performing x-ray imaging of objects, particularly x-ray imaging of samples or tissue specimens.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Diagnosis of suspicious palpable or non-palpable masses in soft tissues, such as breast tissue, generally requires obtaining a tissue sample for analysis. The analysis typically involves imaging of the specimen by different imaging modalities, such as X- ray, ultrasound, CT, MRI and others.

Fig. 1 illustrates a simplified configuration of a prior art sample x-ray imaging system, including a sample 1, held within a sample holder 2, an x-ray source 3, and an x- ray panel detector 4. The size of the panel detector 4 is typically large enough to cover the entire size of the sample, as projected in 2D. This requirement usually increases the cost of the panel detector.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention seeks to provide an improved small detector x-ray imaging system, such as for imaging a tissue sample containing a suspected lesion.

There is thus provided in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, an imaging system including a sample holder for holding a sample of tissue, a motion actuator upon which the sample holder is placed, the actuator operable to move the sample in at least translational motion in an x/y plane, and an imaging detector smaller in size than the sample operable to form images of a portion of the sample, the portion being smaller than the entire sample and wherein the actuator is operative to move the sample with respect to the imaging detector until the entire sample is imaged.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a simplified illustration of a prior art sample x-ray imaging system;

Fig. 2 is a simplified illustration of a small detector x-ray imaging system, constructed and operative in accordance with a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a simplified illustration of a sample x-ray image of the prior art; Fig. 4 is a simplified illustration of a series of sequential x-ray image segments of the sample, in accordance with a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention; and

Fig. 5 is a simplified illustration of an extension of the method and system described in Fig. 2, to image the sample by additional imaging modalities such as MRI, optical imaging, in accordance with a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Reference is now made to Fig. 2, which illustrates a small detector imaging system 10, constructed and operative in accordance with a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention. The system of the present invention allows using a much smaller panel detector for imaging than the prior art system of Fig. 1.

The sample 1 is preferably placed in a sample holder 12, which is placed on a motion actuator 14. Sample holder 12 may be affixed to actuator 14, or may be simply placed thereupon and held in place by friction. Actuator 14 is capable of moving the sample 1 in the x/y plane, manually (in which case the actuator can be a bed or platform that moves over bearings, for example) or automatically (in which case the actuator can be a servomotor, linear actuator, solenoid and the like). Actuator 14 may be a translational stage actuator for linear movement, but may also be capable of rotating the sample about any rotational axis (e.g., azimuth, elevation and roll).

An imaging (e.g., x-ray panel) detector 16 is used which can be much smaller in size than the prior art detector 4 in Fig. 1, since detector 16 needs to cover a relatively small portion of the sample 2D projection. In order to image the full sample projection, x- ray images are taken sequentially in different locations in the sample, while the actuator 14 changes the sample position in between images, until the entire sample is imaged.

Fig. 3 illustrates a sample x-ray image of the prior art. In this specific example, a cancerous breast lump sample is imaged, with a metal marker marking the suspected cancerous lesion in the sample.

Fig. 4 illustrates a typical series of sequential x-ray image segments of the sample of Fig. 3, as taken by the system of the invention described above with reference to Fig. 2. After all image segments are taken, the system software can combine or merge the segments to reconstruct the full x-ray image of the sample.

Fig. 5 illustrates an extension of the method described in Fig. 2, to image the sample by additional imaging modalities such as, but not limited to, MRI, optical imaging, etc. The actuator 14 (e.g., translational stage) can be extended by means of a conveyor 20 to move the sample 1 into the field of view of an MRI magnetic field created by MRI magnets 22, and/or into the field of view of an optical camera 24, or any other imaging or measurement modality. The images obtained by the x-ray, MRI, optics, etc., can be fused/merged to create multi-modality images of the sample. Furthermore, the information obtained by each modality can be used for focusing the imaged region of interest by the subsequent modalities. For example, if a suspected cancerous lesion is detected in a specific segment by the x-ray detector, the MRI scan can focus on this specific region of interest, instead of scanning the entire sample.

The system and method can allow using a much smaller x-ray panel detector than typically required for imaging samples of a given size. Among the advantages are smaller, lower cost x-ray system components, which can be used in stand-alone x-ray systems, and/or integrated into multi-modality sample imaging systems, such as x-ray/MRI imaging systems.