RGB-D Camera-Based Clinical Workflow Optimization for Rotational Angiography

Abstract

High-speed Rotational Angiography scans are prone to potential collisions between the C-arm X-ray system and the patient. A key factor during rotational angiography clinical workflow is thus the initial patient positioning to ensure a collision-free scan. The current practice for this involves multiple manual iterations of a low speed safety-run prior to the actual scan. Several iterations are often required before a scan is collision-free leading to a suboptimal clinical workflow. This work proposes a RGB-D camera based safety system which automates the patient positioning process. The camera determines collisions between the C-arm and patient and a re-positioning algorithm determines the movement of the patient table required to ensure a collisoin-free scan. A unique feature of the solution is the ability to warn clinical staff when a collision-free scan is not possible. The efficacy of the proposed system is illustrated experimentally for two major RA scan types.