Abstract:
An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system has a user control by which a user positions the user's selection of a heart chamber border in relation to two machine-drawn heart chamber tracings. The user's border is positioned by a single degree of freedom control which positions the border as a function of a single user-determined value. This overcomes the vagaries of machine-drawn borders and their mixed acceptance by clinicians, who can now create repeatably-drawn borders and exchange the control value for use by others to obtain the same results.
Abstract:
An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system is gated to acquire images at different phases of a physiological cycle such as the heartbeat. At each successive heart cycle a trigger actuates the acquisition of a continuous sequence of images, starting at a particular phase of the heart cycle and ending when the next heart cycle begins. Multiple triggers are used, each starting at a different phase of the heart cycle and each acquiring images at uniform temporal spacing. After the first trigger is used a sequence of images has been captured which are temporally evenly spaced over the heart cycle, and as successive triggers are used uniform temporal spacing is maintained as the heart cycle is filled in with additional images for replay of an image loop of phase re-ordered images at a high frame rate of display.
Abstract:
An ultrasound imaging system includes a processor circuit in communication with an ultrasound probe. The processor circuit receives, from the ultrasound probe, ultrasound data representative of an ultrasound beam imaging an anatomical structure. The processor circuit determines, based on the ultrasound data, a measured boundary of the anatomical structure. The measured boundary includes multiple locations. The processor circuit determines correction vectors corresponding to the locations of the measured boundary. A magnitude of a respective correction vector is based on a depth of a corresponding location relative to the ultrasound probe and/or an orientation of the measured boundary at the corresponding location relative to the ultrasound beam. The processor circuit applies the correction vectors to the locations of the measured boundary to determine a corrected boundary. The processor circuit outputs, to a display, an ultrasound image based on the ultrasound data. The ultrasound image includes the corrected boundary.
Abstract:
An ultrasonic imaging system produces more diagnostic cardiac images of the left ventricle by plotting the longitudinal medial axis of the chamber between the apex and mitral valve plane as a curved line evenly spaced between the opposite walls of the myocardium. Transverse image planes are positioned orthogonal to the curved medial axis with control points positioned in the short axis view on lines evenly spaced around and emanating from the medial axis. If the short axis view is of an oval shaped chamber the transverse image is stretched to give the heart a more rounded appearance resulting in better positioning of editing control points.
Abstract:
An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system has a user control by which a user positions the user's selection of a heart chamber border in relation to two myocardial boundaries identified by a deformable heart model. The user's border is positioned by a single degree of freedom control which positions the border as a function of a single user- determined value. This overcomes the vagaries of machine-drawn borders and their mixed acceptance by clinicians, who can now create repeatably-drawn borders and exchange the control value for use by others to obtain the same results.
Abstract:
A method is provided for determining one or more tissue boundaries within ultrasound image data of anatomical region. The method is based on generating two separate images from the same input ultrasound data, acquired in a single acquisition event. One image is generated with contrast enhancement, so that boundaries surrounding a fluid-containing region are especially well visible and, the second image is generated without this enhancement, or with a different enhancement so that boundaries surrounding tissue regions are especially well visible. An image segmentation procedure is then applied which uses a combination of both images as input and uses both to determine the boundaries within the imaged regions.
Abstract:
An ultrasound imaging system has an improved dynamic range control which enables a user to reduce image haze with substantially no effect on bright tissue in the image and without increasing speckle variance. A dynamic range processor processes an input image to produce an approximation image which is a spatially low pass filtered version of the input image. The dynamic range of the approximation image is compressed, and image detail, unaffected by the compression, is added back to produce a dynamically compressed image for display.
Abstract:
A method is provided for adapting a 3D field of view (FOV) in ultrasound data acquisition so as to minimize the FOV volume in a manner that is controlled and precise. The method comprises defining a volumetric region across which 3D ultrasound data is desired, and then adapting the data acquisition field of view (FOV) in dependence upon the defined volumetric region, to encompass the region. This is achieved based on adapting a scan line length (or scan depth) of each individual scan line based on the defined volumetric region. In some embodiments, the volumetric region may be defined based on anatomical segmentation of a reference ultrasound dataset acquired in an initial step, and setting the volumetric region in dependence upon boundaries of an identified object of interest. The volumetric region may in a subset of embodiments be set as the region occupied by a detected anatomical object of interest.
Abstract:
An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system and method enable the automatic acquisition of standard view planes of the heart in real time, such as the AP4, AP3, and AP2 views. A 3D image of the heart is acquired and the processed in conjunction with a geometrical heart model. The heart model is fitted to the heart in its acquired pose to segment the desired image planes from the 3D image data. During successive image acquisition intervals the image planes are tracked through successive image data as multi-plane system to update a display of the multiple images. The successive image acquisitions can be volume image acquisitions or multi-plane acquisitions of just the tracked image planes during each acquisition interval.
Abstract:
An ultrasound imaging system performs real-time image analysis of the 3D ultrasound images to identify anatomical structure and landmarks in the 3D images, so that it can be determined if a region of interest of a target anatomical structure is present. If the region of interest is not present, the location of the region of interest outside the field of view volume is inferred from the anatomical structure and landmarks that are detected within the field of view. A relative displacement between the reference anatomical plane and a position and orientation of the 3D ultrasound imaging probe can then be derived so that ultrasound guidance information can be given.