Ultrasound imaging system and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11227392-B2
Application number	US-202016870633-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 8, 2020
Priority date	May 8, 2020
Publication date	Jan 18, 2022
Grant date	Jan 18, 2022

Abstract

An ultrasound imaging system and method includes acquiring ultrasound image data while moving an ultrasound probe, automatically identifying a plurality of segments of interest in the ultrasound image data, automatically applying temporal scaling to at least one of the plurality of segments of interest, and displaying the ultrasound image data as a panoramic view comprising a plurality of videos, where each of the plurality of videos is based on a different one of the plurality of the segments of interest, and where, based on the temporal scaling, each of the plurality of videos in the panoramic view takes the same amount of time to play.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of ultrasound imaging comprising:
acquiring ultrasound image data while moving an ultrasound probe;
automatically identifying a plurality of segments of interest in the ultrasound image data;
automatically applying temporal scaling to at least one of the plurality of segments of interest; and
displaying the ultrasound image data as a panoramic view comprising a plurality of videos, wherein each of the plurality of videos is based on a different one of the plurality of segments of interest, and wherein, based on the temporal scaling, each of the plurality of videos in the panoramic view takes the same amount of time to play.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the temporal scaling comprises at least one of: expanding one of the plurality of segments of interest; contracting one of the plurality of segments of interest; playing one of the plurality of videos more than one time to achieve a target video duration; performing a relative temporal scaling between two of the plurality of segments of interest; or generating a plurality of interpolated frames and inserting the plurality of interpolated frames into one of the plurality of videos to achieve the target video duration.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the temporal scaling comprises expanding one of the plurality of segments of interest.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the temporal scaling comprises contracting one of the plurality of segments of interest.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the temporal scaling comprises playing one of the plurality of videos more than one time to achieve a target video duration.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the temporal scaling comprises performing a relative temporal scaling between two of the plurality of segments of interest.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the temporal scaling comprises generating a plurality of interpolated frames and inserting the plurality of interpolated frames into one of the plurality of videos to achieve a target video duration.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ultrasound image data is acquired of a lung and includes both a plurality of rib shadows and a plurality of intercostal spaces, wherein each of the plurality of segments of interest represents one of the plurality of intercostal spaces.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein each of the plurality of intercostal spaces is determined by identifying one of the following: at least one of the plurality of rib shadows in the ultrasound image data; at least one of the plurality of intercostal spaces in the ultrasound image data; both at least one of the plurality of rib shadows and at least one of the plurality of intercostal spaces in the ultrasound image data.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein each of the plurality of intercostal spaces is identified in the ultrasound image data by using a center-of-mass calculation where image intensity is treated as an equivalent of mass.

11. An ultrasound imaging system comprising:
a display device;
an ultrasound probe configured to acquire ultrasound image data; and
a processor in electronic communication with the ultrasound probe and the display device, wherein the processor is configured to:
automatically identifying a plurality of segments of interest in the ultrasound image data;
automatically apply temporal scaling to at least one of the plurality of segments of interest; and
display, on the display device, the ultrasound image data as a panoramic view comprising a plurality of videos, wherein each of the plurality of videos is based on a different one of the plurality of segments of interest, and wherein, based on the temporal scaling, each of the plurality of videos in the panoramic view takes the same amount of time to play.

12. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 11 , wherein the temporal scaling comprises at least one of: expanding one of the plurality of segments of interest; contracting one of the plurality of segments of interest; playing one of the plurality of videos more than one time to achieve a target video duration; performing a relative temporal scaling between two of the plurality of segments of interest; or generating a plurality of interpolated frames and inserting the plurality of interpolated frames into one of the plurality of videos to achieve the target video duration.

13. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 11 , wherein the temporal scaling comprises expanding one of the plurality of segments of interest.

14. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 11 , wherein the temporal scaling comprises contracting one of the plurality of segments of interest.

15. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 11 , wherein the temporal scaling comprises playing one of the plurality of videos more than one time to achieve a target video duration.

16. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 11 , wherein the temporal scaling comprises performing a relative temporal scaling between two of the plurality of segments of interest.

17. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 11 , wherein the temporal scaling comprises generating a plurality of interpolated frames and inserting the plurality of interpolated frames into one of the plurality of videos to achieve a target video duration.

18. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 11 , wherein the ultrasound image data is acquired of a lung and includes both a plurality of rib shadows and a plurality of intercostal spaces, wherein each of the plurality of segments of interest represents one of the plurality of intercostal spaces.

19. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 11 , wherein each of the plurality of intercostal spaces is determined by identifying one of the following: at least one of the plurality of rib shadows in the ultrasound image data; at least one of the plurality of intercostal spaces in the ultrasound image data; both at least one of the plurality of rib shadows and at least one of the plurality of intercostal spaces in the ultrasound image data.

20. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 11 , wherein each of the plurality of intercostal spaces is identified in the ultrasound image data by using a center-of-mass calculation where image intensity is treated as an equivalent of mass.

Assignees

• Ge Prec Healthcare Llc

Inventors

• Halmann Menachem

Classifications

• A61B8/5207

  involving processing of raw data to produce diagnostic data, e.g. for generating an image · CPC title

• A61B8/461 Primary

  Displaying means of special interest · CPC title

• A61B8/5276

  due to motion · CPC title

• G06T3/4007 Primary

  based on interpolation, e.g. bilinear interpolation (image demosaicing G06T3/4015; edge-driven or edge-based scaling G06T3/403) · CPC title

• G06T2207/10132

  Ultrasound image · CPC title