Patent Application
20090153548
This invention relates generally to diagnostic imaging systems, and more particularly, to methods for aligning slice planes, especially to multiple cardiac views, within volumetric data.
Medical imaging systems are used in different applications to image different regions or areas (e.g., different organs) of patients. For example, ultrasound systems are finding use in an increasing number of applications, such as to generate images of the heart. These images are then displayed for review and analysis by a user. The images also may be modified or adjusted to better view or visualize different regions or objects of interest, such as different views of the heart.
Navigation within a volumetric data set is often challenging for a user and results in a time consuming and tedious process when, for example, attempting to display different views of an organ of interest. A user is typically able to adjust slicing planes that cut into the imaged object within the volumetric data such that multiple views through the imaged object may be displayed.
In volume imaging, another important functionality is the ability to crop parts of the imaged object in order to look inside the object. The crop function can be performed in different ways. Cropping is commonly performed by defining a plane that cuts into the imaged object and the part of the object on one side of that plane is removed from the rendering.
When visualizing objects using volume imaging, such as when visualizing object within a volumetric ultrasound data set, challenges arise. For example, a challenge with visualization of the human heart using volume ultrasound is to navigate slicing planes within the volumetric data and identify anatomical structures in order to produce clinically relevant views. Typically, an operator manually defines single rendering views by cutting the volume at random locations with no relation to other previously defined views. For example, an operator generates one view of a heart by cropping the image to generate a single view and then rotating and/or translating the image to another view and then cropping the image again at another location to generate another view. This process is repeated until multiple different images defining different views are generated. For example, slicing planes may be rotated and translated within an ultrasound volume to generate standard views (e.g., standard apical views) for analysis. A user may often experience difficulty finding the different views to be displayed.
Thus, the process to generate different views of an imaged object is tedious and time consuming. Additionally, the views generated may not capture the correct region or regions of interest, thereby potentially resulting in excluding clinically relevant information and possible improper diagnosis. Further, the views generated may not be properly aligned to relevant anatomical structures, thereby resulting in difficulty in viewing and analysis.
In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, a method for slice alignment in a volumetric data set is provided. The method includes determining an adjustment of one of a plurality of image views to align an imaged object with at least one alignment marker. The method further includes updating the plurality of image views based on the adjustment. The updating includes at least one of rotating and translating the image views with respect to an intersection of the at least one alignment marker with another alignment marker.
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a method for slice alignment in a volumetric data set of an imaged heart is provided. The method includes displaying a plurality of apical views of the heart in combination with a plurality of alignment markers and displaying a plurality of short axis views of the heart. The method further includes updating the plurality of apical views and short axis views based on a user identified center point in at least two of the short axis apical views.
In accordance with yet another embodiment of the invention, a method for slice alignment in a volumetric data set of an imaged heart is provided. The method includes displaying a plurality of apical views of the heart in combination with a plurality of alignment markers and updating the plurality of apical views based on user identified landmarks.
In accordance with still another embodiment of the invention, an ultrasound system is provided that includes an ultrasound probe for acquiring a volumetric ultrasound data set of a heart. The ultrasound system further includes a processor having a slice alignment module configured to automatically align a plurality of views of the volumetric data set based on at least one of (i) a centerline alignment marker and a perpendicular intersection marker rotated about the intersection of the centerline marker and the perpendicular intersection marker in one of a 4-chamber apical view of the heart, a 2-chamber apical view of the heart and a long axis apical view of the heart, (ii) an identified center point in at least two short axis apical views of the heart, (iii) an identified left ventricular outlet tract in a short axis apical view of the heart, and (iv) a plurality of identified landmarks corresponding to a mitral annulus and an apex of a left ventricle of the heart.
The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of certain embodiments of the present invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. To the extent that the figures illustrate diagrams of the functional blocks of various embodiments, the functional blocks are not necessarily indicative of the division between hardware circuitry. Thus, for example, one or more of the functional blocks (e.g., processors or memories) may be implemented in a single piece of hardware (e.g., a general purpose signal processor or random access memory, hard disk, or the like). Similarly, the programs may be stand alone programs, may be incorporated as subroutines in an operating system, may be functions in an installed software package, and the like. It should be understood that the various embodiments are not limited to the arrangements and instrumentality shown in the drawings.
As used herein, an element or step recited in the singular and proceeded with the word “a” or “an” should be understood as not excluding plural of said elements or steps, unless such exclusion is explicitly stated. Furthermore, references to “one embodiment” of the present invention are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. Moreover, unless explicitly stated to the contrary, embodiments “comprising” or “having” an element or a plurality of elements having a particular property may include additional such elements not having that property.
The ultrasound system 100 also includes a processor 116 to process the acquired ultrasound information (e.g., RF signal data or IQ data pairs) and prepare frames of ultrasound information for display on display 118. The processor 116 is adapted to perform one or more processing operations according to a plurality of selectable ultrasound modalities on the acquired ultrasound data. Acquired ultrasound data may be processed and displayed in real-time during a scanning session as the echo signals are received. Additionally or alternatively, the ultrasound data may be stored temporarily in memory 114 during a scanning session and then processed and displayed in an off-line operation.
The processor 116 is connected to a user interface 124 that may control operation of the processor 116 as explained below in more detail. The processor 116 also includes a slice alignment module 126 that aligns slicing planes within a volumetric data set based on received user inputs from the user interface 124. For example, the slice alignment module aligns slicing planes within the volumetric data set based on user adjustments and that may be used to align different views for display on the display 118, such as, standard two-dimensional (2D) views of the heart. The alignment information of the imaged object within the volumetric data set also may be input to other three-dimensional (3D) applications such as to perform volume measurements and to generate volume renderings with cropping planes aligned to standard views of the heart.
The display 118 includes one or more monitors that present patient information, including diagnostic ultrasound images to the user for diagnosis and analysis (e.g., standard apical views of the heart). One or both of memory 114 and memory 122 may store three-dimensional data sets of the ultrasound data, where such 3D data sets are accessed to present 2D and 3D images as described herein. The images may be modified and the display settings of the display 118 also manually adjusted using the user interface 124.
The generalized ultrasound system 100 of
The ultrasonic data may be sent to an external device 138 via a wired or wireless network 140 (or direct connection, for example, via a serial or parallel cable or USB port). In some embodiments, the external device 138 may be a computer or a workstation having a display. Alternatively, the external device 138 may be a separate external display or a printer capable of receiving image data from the hand carried ultrasound system 130 and of displaying or printing images that may have greater resolution than the integrated display 136.
Multi-function controls 184 may each be assigned functions in accordance with the mode of system operation (e.g., displaying different views). Therefore, each of the multi-function controls 184 may be configured to provide a plurality of different actions. Label display areas 186 associated with the multi-function controls 184 may be included as necessary on the display 118. The system 176 may also have additional keys and/or controls 188 for special purpose functions, which may include, but are not limited to “freeze,” “depth control,” “gain control,” “color-mode,” “print,” and “store.”
One or more of the label display areas 186 may include labels 192 to indicate the view being displayed or allow a user to select a different view of the imaged object to display. For example, the labels 192 may indicate an apical 4-chamber view (a4ch), an apical long axis view (alax) or an apical 2-chamber view (a2ch). The selection of different views also may be provided through the associated multi-function control 184. For example, the a4ch view may be selected using the multi-function control F5. The display 118 may also have a textual display area 194 for displaying information relating to the displayed image view (e.g., a label associated with the displayed image).
It should be noted that the various embodiments may be implemented in connection with miniaturized or small-sized ultrasound systems having different dimensions, weights, and power consumption. For example, the pocket-sized ultrasound imaging system 176 and the miniaturized ultrasound system 130 of
The user interface 124 also includes control buttons 152 that may be used to control the portable ultrasound imaging system 145 as desired or needed, and/or as typically provided. The user interface 124 provides multiple interface options that the user may physically manipulate to interact with ultrasound data and other data that may be displayed, as well as to input information and set and change scanning parameters and viewing angles, etc. For example, a keyboard 154, trackball 156 and/or multi-function controls 160 may be provided.
Various embodiments of the invention provide one or more methods for aligning slices to different views of an imaged object. It should be noted that although the various embodiments are described below in connection with displayed image views of a heart, the various embodiments may be used to align slices to views of different imaged objects, for example, of different organs. Also, although the various embodiments may be described herein in connection with an ultrasound imaging system, the various embodiments may be implemented in connection with different diagnostic imaging systems for imaging human and non-humans. For example, the various embodiments may be implemented in connection with a computed tomography (CT) system or a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system.
Specifically, and as shown in
In particular, in one embodiment, as shown in
Alternatively, a display 300 as shown in
The various views are displayed in connection with one or more alignment markers that may be predefined or user defined. For example, as shown in
A user defined marker also may be provided. For example, as shown in
Referring again to
Once the 4-chamber apical view 252 is adjusted, the other views, namely, the 2-chamber apical view 254, the long axis apical view 256 and the short axis view 258 are updated accordingly at 208, for example, translated or rotated to maintain orientation with respect to the 4-chamber apical view 252. For example, the various apical views may be adjusted to maintain the previously defined degrees difference between each of the apical views.
Once all of the views have been updated, a determination is made at 210, for example, by the user, as to whether additional alignment is needed or desired, such as whether additional views are to be adjusted. For example, if the 4-chamber apical view 252 has been adjusted, and in particular, aligned, a user may wish to align additional views, for example, the 2-chamber apical view 254 and the long axis apical view 256. If additional views are to be adjusted, the method 200 returns to 206 for adjustment of the additional views. The order in which the views are adjusted may be changed and the first view adjusted may be any of the views. Additionally, not all views have to be adjusted.
The user may also use short axis views to adjust the image views. For example, as shown in
It should be noted that optionally, a user may identify the aortic valve region as shown in
A user may also identify landmarks on each of the 4-chamber apical view 252, the 2-chamber apical view 254 and the long axis apical view 256 as shown in
The landmarks then may be identified in the 2-chamber view 254 as shown in
Referring again to
It should be noted that the slice alignment of the various embodiments may be used in connection with still images/frames or moving images/frames (e.g., cine loop images).
Thus, various embodiments of the invention provide slice alignment to different user-defined views of an imaged object within a volumetric data set, for example, an ultrasound volumetric data set. A technical effect of at least one embodiment is the efficient and robust definition of the left ventricular centerline and standard views of a heart by using markers in different views. The standard view positions then may be used, for example, to define volume renderings or special screen presentations (e.g., layouts) that are adjusted to specific clinical applications (e.g., wall motion analysis and assessment of a mitral morphology). Apical foreshortening is reduced or eliminated and measurements from automatic volume segmentation methods become more reproducible.
The various embodiments and/or components, for example, the modules, or components and controllers therein, also may be implemented as part of one or more computers or processors. The computer or processor may include a computing device, an input device, a display unit and an interface, for example, for accessing the Internet. The computer or processor may include a microprocessor. The microprocessor may be connected to a communication bus. The computer or processor may also include a memory. The memory may include Random Access Memory (RAM) and Read Only Memory (ROM). The computer or processor further may include a storage device, which may be a hard disk drive or a removable storage drive such as a floppy disk drive, optical disk drive, and the like. The storage device may also be other similar means for loading computer programs or other instructions into the computer or processor.
As used herein, the term “computer” may include any processor-based or microprocessor-based system including systems using microcontrollers, reduced instruction set computers (RISC), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), logic circuits, and any other circuit or processor capable of executing the functions described herein. The above examples are exemplary only, and are thus not intended to limit in any way the definition and/or meaning of the term “computer”.
The computer or processor executes a set of instructions that are stored in one or more storage elements, in order to process input data. The storage elements may also store data or other information as desired or needed. The storage element may be in the form of an information source or a physical memory element within a processing machine.
The set of instructions may include various commands that instruct the computer or processor as a processing machine to perform specific operations such as the methods and processes of the various embodiments of the invention. The set of instructions may be in the form of a software program. The software may be in various forms such as system software or application software. Further, the software may be in the form of a collection of separate programs, a program module within a larger program or a portion of a program module. The software also may include modular programming in the form of object-oriented programming. The processing of input data by the processing machine may be in response to user commands, or in response to results of previous processing, or in response to a request made by another processing machine.
As used herein, the terms “software” and “firmware” are interchangeable, and include any computer program stored in memory for execution by a computer, including RAM memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, and non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) memory. The above memory types are exemplary only, and are thus not limiting as to the types of memory usable for storage of a computer program.
It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. For example, the above-described embodiments (and/or aspects thereof) may be used in combination with each other. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from its scope. While the dimensions and types of materials described herein are intended to define the parameters of the invention, they are by no means limiting and are exemplary embodiments. Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. In the appended claims, the terms “including” and “in which” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and “wherein.” Moreover, in the following claims, the terms “first,” “second,” and “third,” etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects. Further, the limitations of the following claims are not written in means-plus-function format and are not intended to be interpreted based on 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph, unless and until such claim limitations expressly use the phrase “means for” followed by a statement of function void of further structure.
