Systems and methods for determining hepatic function from liver scans

Abstract

Systems and methods described herein determine an objective metric for analyzing health of a patient's liver. In some embodiments, the system may include a scanner that can detect radiation counts responsive to administration of radioactive compound to a patient. Further, the system may include an image detection module that can access image data responsive to the detected radiation counts by the scanner. The image detection module can programmatically identify a first region of interest corresponding to a liver of the patient from the image data. A parameter calculator module can programmatically determine a first attribute associated with the first region of interest and calculate a first parameter indicating health of the liver of the patient based at least in part on the first attribute associated with the first region of interest.

1 .- 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A system for automating a determination of a risk of liver disease for a patient from functional image data generated from a functional scanner, the system comprising one or more hardware processors configured to programmatically:
 access the functional image data generated by the functional scanner;   determine a first shape of a first anatomical feature in the functional image data corresponding to a liver of the patient;   determine a location of a first center point of the first anatomical feature;   revise the first center point of the first anatomical feature based on the determined location of the first center point;   identify a first region of interest corresponding to the liver of the patient based on the identified first shape and revised first center point;   determine a risk of liver disease based on the identified first region of interest; and   generate a user interface for display, the user interface comprising:
 the first shape corresponding to the liver; 
 the first region of interest corresponding to the liver; and 
 the determined risk of liver disease. 
   
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the one or more hardware processors are further configured to:
 calculate a ratio based on functional activity within the identified first region of interest corresponding to the liver and parameters stored in picture archiving and communication system (PACS) repository, wherein the risk of liver disease is further determined based on the calculated ratio.   
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the determination of the risk of liver disease further comprises using patient data stored in a PACS repository. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the liver disease is a presence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the determination of risk further comprises:
 accessing CT or MRI obtained liver region of interest associated with the patient; and   comparing the first region of interest with the CT or MRI obtained liver region of interest.   
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the determination of risk comprises determining a total count ratio from the functional image data based at least on the first region of interest corresponding to the liver. 
     
     
         27 . An electronic method for automating a determination of a risk of liver disease for a patient from functional image data generated from a functional scanner, the method comprising:
 accessing the functional image data generated by the functional scanner;   determining a first shape of a first anatomical feature in the functional image data corresponding to a liver of the patient;   determining a location of a first center point of the first anatomical feature;   revising the first center point of the first anatomical feature based on the determined location of the first center point;   identifying a first region of interest corresponding to the liver of the patient based on the identified first shape and revised first center point;   determining a risk of liver disease based on the identified first region of interest; and   generating a user interface for display, the user interface comprising:
 the first shape corresponding to the liver; 
 the first region of interest corresponding to the liver; and 
 the determined risk of liver disease. 
   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising:
 calculating a ratio based on functional activity within the identified first region of interest corresponding to the liver and parameters stored in picture archiving and communication system (PACS) repository, wherein the risk of liver disease is further determined based on the calculated ratio.   
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the determination of the risk of liver disease further comprises using patient data stored in a PACS repository. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the liver disease is a presence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the determination of risk further comprises:
 accessing CT or MRI obtained liver region of interest associated with the patient; and   comparing the first region of interest with the CT or MRI obtained liver region of interest.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the determination of risk comprises determining a total count ratio from the functional image data based at least on the first region of interest corresponding to the liver.