US 12,296,191 B2
Dose estimation for the irradiation of an object
Annette Birkhold, Nuremberg (DE); and Philipp Roser, Erlangen (DE)
Assigned to Siemens Healthineers AG, Forchheim (DE)
Filed by Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Erlangen (DE)
Filed on May 3, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/246,866.
Claims priority of application No. 10 2020 205 996.9 (DE), filed on May 13, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2021/0353961 A1, Nov. 18, 2021
Int. Cl. A61N 5/10 (2006.01); G06T 3/4007 (2024.01); G06T 5/10 (2006.01); G06T 5/70 (2024.01); G06T 7/149 (2017.01)
CPC A61N 5/1031 (2013.01) [G06T 3/4007 (2013.01); G06T 5/10 (2013.01); G06T 5/70 (2024.01); G06T 7/149 (2017.01); A61N 2005/1034 (2013.01); A61N 5/1071 (2013.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A computer-implemented method for dose estimation for irradiation of an object with an ionizing radiation, wherein a three-dimensional model with a total number of voxels is provided on a memory element, and the three-dimensional model specifies, for each voxel of the total number of voxels, a material composition of the object, the method comprising:
determining, by a computing unit, a neighborhood material composition in for each coherent neighborhood of a plurality of coherent neighborhoods, depending on the three-dimensional model, wherein each coherent neighborhood comprises a plurality of voxels of the total number of voxels, wherein each neighborhood material composition defines the respective plurality of voxels within the respective coherent neighborhood in a same way, therein resulting in a reduction in a resolution of the three-dimensional model, wherein each coherent neighborhood comprises up to 16 voxels, and wherein a reduction in precision of the three-dimensional model is less than or equal to 10% in comparison to a full Monte-Carlo simulation;
determining, by the computing unit, a radiation dose for each coherent neighborhood of the plurality of coherent neighborhoods with regard to the ionizing radiation with aid of a simulation depending on the neighborhood material composition of the respective coherent neighborhood of the plurality of coherent neighborhoods;
determining, by the computing unit, a dose distribution for the object as regards the ionizing radiation based on each radiation dose for each coherent neighborhood of the plurality of coherent neighborhoods, wherein a smoothing filter algorithm is executed by the computing unit in order to determine the dose distribution for the object for the plurality of coherent neighborhoods; and
irradiating, by a radiation source, the object with the ionizing radiation using the determined dose distribution in order to image the object.