Body structure imaging

Abstract

A method of imaging nervous tissue, comprising acquiring functional imaging modality data from a functional imaging modality which images an intrabody volume of a patient having a body part, the patient having been injected with an imaging agent having a nervous tissue uptake by an autonomic nervous system (ANS); and locating the nervous tissue in the intrabody volume based on the functional imaging modality data.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of imaging nervous tissue, comprising:
 acquiring functional imaging modality data from a functional imaging modality which images an intrabody volume of a patient having a body part, the patient having been injected with an imaging agent having a nervous tissue uptake by an autonomic nervous system (ANS); and   locating the nervous tissue in the intrabody volume based on the functional imaging modality data.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising generating an image of the ANS based on the located nervous tissue with activity levels. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the image indicates activity levels of the located nerve tissue. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising setting up a system for treatment of the located nervous tissue to treat disease based on improper activity of the located nervous tissue. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising acquiring anatomical imaging modality data from an anatomical image modality which images an intrabody volume of the patient containing the body part, and wherein locating comprises locating the nervous tissue in the intrabody volume of the heart based on the functional imaging modality data and the anatomical imaging modality data. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising positioning the located nervous tissue on the anatomical imaging modality data. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the anatomical imaging modality data is acquired in real time during a treatment procedure, the locating is performed before and/or in real time during the treatment procedure, and the location of the nervous tissue is presented to an operator performing the treatment procedure. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein locating comprises locating at least one ganglionic plexus (GP) of the ANS, with a size of between 1 and 20 mm in maximal diameter. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein locating comprises locating at least two ganglionic plexus (GP) of the ANS, with a size of between 1 and 20 mm in maximal diameter. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising generating an ANS map comprising a distribution and/or activity of one or both of ANS synapses and GPs, and providing the ANS map for display. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising overlaying the ANS map with an image representation of an organ containing the nervous tissue. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising diagnosing the patient, the diagnosing comprising estimating an effect of the ANS on an organ based on one or both of activity and distribution of synapses and/or ganglions with respect to the organ. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising stimulating the ANS in conjunction with an imaging thereof and distinguishing between afferent and efferent activity based on the stimulation and the imaging. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising estimating an effect or change in effect and/or response of an autonomous nervous system and/or an organ based on one or both of activity and distribution of synapses and/or ganglions with respect to the organ, before, during and/or after the treatment. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising assigning the functional imaging modality data to spatial locations according to a model of a structure of an organ identifying the nervous tissue synapses and/or innervations based on data associated with the organ. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising providing a mapping function which maps for at least one region in the intrabody volume of a reference kinetic behavior, and applying the mapping function on the functional data to locate the nervous tissue in the intrabody volume. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising stimulating a nervous tissue in an intrabody volume of a patient to trigger a nervous response associated with a reference uptake value, acquiring, during the nervous response, functional data from the functional modality which images the intrabody volume, and localizing the nervous tissue in the intrabody volume according to the reference uptake value. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising acquiring anatomical data from an anatomical imaging modality which images the intrabody volume of the patient and localizing the target nervous tissue in the intrabody volume based on both the functional data and the anatomical data. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein localizing comprises identifying at least one region of interest (ROI) in an intrabody area according to a match with a reference value representing a reference uptake rate of an organ. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein localizing comprises filtering at least part of a representation of the intrabody volume in the functional data based on a match with a reference value.