Patent Application
20160354060
Embodiments described herein generally relate to display interfaces for diagnostic medical imaging, and more particularly to a controlling display interface for an ultrasound system.
Diagnostic medical imaging systems typically include a scan portion and a control portion having a display. For example, ultrasound imaging systems usually include ultrasound scanning devices, such as ultrasound probes having transducers that are connected to an ultrasound system to control the acquisition of ultrasound data during an examination (e.g., ultrasound scan) by a user to acquire one or more ultrasound images or videos (e.g., imaging the volume or body) of a patient.
During the examination, the user may select, activate, or switch repeatedly between different components displayed on a display. For example, the components may include patient report information, interface items such as pop-up windows or drop-down menus, and/or the like. The components on the display have predetermined default image display settings such as a different hue, brightness, contrast, or saturation settings. However, the display settings for display components are separate and distinct from the displays settings of the ultrasound images. For example, acquired ultrasound images or videos have image display settings that are based on the acquisition settings of the ultrasound probe. Consequently, the acquired ultrasound images or videos are displayed with display settings that constantly change and differ from the display settings of the display components. Exposure to repeated changes of the image display settings overtime causes eye fatigue for the user. For example, during one examination, the acquired ultrasound images may be darker relative to a drop-down menu and other components displayed on the display, while during another examination, the ultrasound images may be lighten relative to the menus and other components.
Conventional ultrasound image systems allow the user to manually adjust the display settings of the components. However, these adjustments are cumbersome and are applied to all users of the system. For these and other reasons, an improved display interface is needed for diagnostic medical imaging.
In one embodiment, a method for controlling an ultrasound interface is provided. The method may include receiving ultrasound image acquisition settings for an ultrasound probe, and acquiring ultrasound image data from the ultrasound probe based on the ultrasound image acquisition settings. The method may also include determining one or more image characteristics of the ultrasound image data, and adjusting one or more image display settings corresponding to a first interface component based on the one or more image characteristics. Further, the method may include displaying on a display an ultrasound image concurrently with the first interface component. The first interface component displayed based on the one or more images display settings from the adjusting operation. The ultrasound image is based on the ultrasound image data.
In another embodiment, an ultrasound imaging system is provided. The ultrasound imaging system may include an ultrasound probe configured to acquire ultrasound data from a region of interest, and a display. The ultrasound imaging system may also include a controller circuit that includes at least one processor operably coupled to the ultrasound probe and the display. The controller circuit may be configured to receive ultrasound image data from the ultrasound probe, determine one or more image characteristics of the ultrasound image data, and adjust one or more image display settings corresponding to a first interface component based on the one or more image characteristics. The controller circuit may also be configured to generate a display signal for the display corresponding to an ultrasound image shown concurrently with the first interface component. The first interface component displayed based on the one or more image display settings from the adjusting operation. The ultrasound image is based on the ultrasound image data.
In another embodiment, a tangible and non-transitory computer readable medium may include one or more computer software modules configured to direct one or more processors. The one or more computer software modules may be configured to direct the one or more processors to receive medical image data, determine one or more image characteristics of the ultrasound image data, and adjust one or more image display settings corresponding to a first interface component based on the one or more image characteristics. The one or more computer software modules may also be configured to direct the one or more processors to generate a display signal for the display corresponding to an ultrasound image shown concurrently with the first interface component. The first interface component displayed based on the one or more image display settings from the adjusting operation. The ultrasound image is based on the ultrasound image data.
The following detailed description of certain embodiments will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. To the extent that the figures illustrate diagrams of the functional modules 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 a block of 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 elements not having that property.
Various embodiments provide systems and methods for display interfaces for diagnostic medical imaging, and more particularly for an ultrasound interface that links the image display settings of one or more interface components (e.g., menus, pop-up windows) shown on the display to the image display settings of one or more ultrasound images selected by a user (e.g., clinician, doctor, sonographer). Prior to acquisition of the medical image data, the user may adjust the acquisition settings based on the region of interest (ROI) and/or type of examination being performed. For example, the user may select and/or adjust gain, power, time gain compensation, color map presets, and/or the like for an ultrasound probe prior to acquisition of ultrasound data or data. Based on the acquisition settings, one or more medical images are acquired with corresponding image display settings (e.g., hue, brightness, contrast, saturation).
Based on the image display settings of the one or more medical images, various embodiments may adjust one or more interface components of the user interface (e.g., menus, drop-down menus, pop-up windows, selectable icons, a toolbar, a menu bar, a title bar, a window). For example, a mean brightness and contrast of the one or more medical images is calculated by one or more processors. A contrast and brightness of the one or more interface components are adjusted to match the calculated mean brightness and contrast of the one or more medical images.
Additionally or alternatively, when the user changes to other display screens via selection of the user interface, one or more processors may continually adjust one or more interface components of the other display screens to match the calculated mean brightness and contrast of the one or more medical images.
Optionally, the adjustment to the one or more interface components may be based on the content of the one or more interface components. For example, a contrast of a text drop-down menu may be optimized based on the calculated mean brightness value of the one or more medical images and not the mean contrast.
A technical effect of at least one embodiment includes reduced eye fatigue of users relative to conventional diagnostic medical imaging systems. A technical effect of at least one embodiment includes a reduction in different image display settings between medical exams (e.g., ultrasound exams) and other menus of the user interface.
It should be noted that although the various embodiments may be described in connection with an ultrasound system, the methods and systems are not limited to ultrasound imaging or a particular configuration thereof. The various embodiments may be implemented in connection with different types of diagnostic medical imaging systems, including, for example, x-ray imaging systems, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, computed-tomography (CT) imaging systems, positron emission tomography (PET) imaging systems, or combined imaging systems, among others.
The acquisition settings may define an amplitude, pulse width, frequency, and/or the like of the ultrasonic pulses emitted by the transducer elements 124. The acquisition settings may be adjusted by the user by selecting a gain setting, power, time gain compensation (TGC), resolution, and/or the like from the user interface 142.
The transducer elements 124, for example piezoelectric crystals, emit pulsed ultrasonic signals into a body (e.g., patient) or volume corresponding to the acquisition settings. The ultrasonic signals may include, for example, one or more reference pulses, one or more pushing pulses (e.g., shear-waves), and/or one or more tracking pulses. At least a portion of the pulsed ultrasonic signals back-scatter from a region of interest (ROI) (e.g., breast tissues, liver tissues, cardiac tissues, prostate tissues, and the like) to produce echoes. The echoes are delayed in time according to a depth, and are received by the transducer elements 124 within the transducer array 112. The ultrasonic signals may be used for imaging, for generating and/or tracking shear-waves, for measuring differences in compression displacement of the tissue (e.g., strain), and/or for therapy, among other uses. For example, the probe 126 may deliver low energy pulses during imaging and tracking, medium to high energy pulses to generate shear-waves, and high energy pulses during therapy.
The transducer array 112 may have a variety of array geometries and configurations for the transducer elements 124 which may be provided as part of, for example, different types of ultrasound probes 126. The probe/SAP electronics 110 may be used to control the switching of the transducer elements 124. The probe/SAP electronics 110 may also be used to group the transducer elements 124 into one or more sub-apertures.
The transducer elements 124 convert the received echo signals into electrical signals which may be received by a receiver 128. The electrical signals representing the received echoes are passed through a receive beamformer 130, which performs beamforming on the received echoes and outputs a radio frequency (RF) signal. The RF signal is then provided to an RF processor 132 that processes the RF signal. The RF processor 132 may generate different ultrasound image data types, e.g. B-mode, color Doppler (velocity/power/variance), tissue Doppler (velocity), and Doppler energy, for multiple scan planes or different scanning patterns. For example, the RF processor 132 may generate tissue Doppler data for multi-scan planes. The RF processor 132 gathers the information (e.g. I/Q, B-mode, color Doppler, tissue Doppler, and Doppler energy information) related to multiple data slices and stores the data information, which may include time stamp and orientation/rotation information, on the memory 134.
Alternatively, the RF processor 132 may include a complex demodulator (not shown) that demodulates the RF signal to form IQ data pairs representative of the echo signals. The RF or IQ signal data may then be provided directly to a memory 134 for storage (e.g., temporary storage). Optionally, the output of the beamformer 130 may be passed directly to a controller circuit 136.
The controller circuit 136 may be configured to process the acquired ultrasound data (e.g., RF signal data or IQ data pairs) and prepare frames of ultrasound image data for display on the display 138. The controller circuit 136 may include one or more processors. Optionally, the controller circuit 136 may include a central controller circuit (CPU), one or more microprocessors, a graphics controller circuit (GPU), or any other electronic component capable of processing inputted data according to specific logical instructions. Having the controller circuit 136 that includes a GPU may be advantageous for computation-intensive operations, such as volume-rendering. Additionally or alternatively, the controller circuit 136 may execute instructions stored on a tangible and non-transitory computer readable medium (e.g., the memory 140).
The controller circuit 136 is configured to perform one or more processing operations according to a plurality of selectable ultrasound modalities on the acquired ultrasound data, adjust or define the ultrasonic pulses emitted from the transducer elements 124, adjust one or more image display settings of components (e.g., ultrasound images, interface components) displayed on the display 138, and other operations as described herein. Acquired ultrasound data may be processed in real-time by the controller circuit 136 during a scanning or therapy session as the echo signals are received. Additionally or alternatively, the ultrasound data may be stored temporarily on the memory 134 during a scanning session and processed in less than real-time in a live or off-line operation.
The ultrasound imaging system 100 may include a memory 140 for storing processed frames of acquired ultrasound data that are not scheduled to be displayed immediately or to store post-processed images (e.g., shear-wave images, strain images), firmware or software corresponding to, for example, a graphical user interface, one or more default image display settings, and/or the like. The memory device 140 may be a tangible and non-transitory computer readable medium such as flash memory, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, and/or the like.
One or both of the memory 134 and 140 may store 3D ultrasound image data sets of the ultrasound data, where such 3D ultrasound image data sets are accessed to present 2D and 3D images. For example, a 3D ultrasound image data set may be mapped into the corresponding memory 134 or 140, as well as one or more reference planes. The processing of the ultrasound data, including the ultrasound image data sets, may be based in part on user inputs, for example, user selections received at the user interface 142.
The ultrasound imaging system 100 may include a position tracking circuit 148. The position tracking circuit 148 tracks a position of the probe 126 and communicates the position to the controller circuit 136 as described above.
The controller circuit 136 is operably coupled to a display 138 and a user interface 142. The display 138 may include one or more liquid crystal displays (e.g., light emitting diode (LED) backlight), organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays, plasma displays, CRT displays, and/or the like. The display 138 may display patient information, ultrasound images and/or videos, components of a display interface, one or more 2D, 3D, or 4D ultrasound image data sets from ultrasound data stored on the memory 134 or 140 or currently being acquired, measurements, diagnosis, treatment information, and/or the like received by the display 138 from the controller circuit 136.
The user interface 142 controls operations of the controller circuit 136 and is configured to receive inputs from the user. The user interface 142 may include a keyboard, a mouse, a touchpad, one or more physical buttons, and/or the like. Optionally, the display 138 may be a touch screen display, which includes at least a portion of the user interface 142. For example, the user may select one or more user selectable elements shown on the display by touching or making contact with the display 138.
The interface components correspond to user selectable elements shown visually on the display 138, and may be selected, manipulated, and/or activated by the user operating the user interface 142 (e.g., touch screen, keyboard, mouse). The interface components may be presented in varying shapes and colors, such as a graphical or selectable icon 211, slide bar 208, a cursor, and/or the like. Optionally, one or more interface components may include text or symbols, such as a drop-down menu 214, a toolbar 206, a menu bar 213, a title bar 204, a window (e.g., a pop-up window) and/or the like. Additionally or alternatively, one or more interface components may indicate areas within the display interface 200 for entering or editing information (e.g., patient information, user information, diagnostic information) within the display interface 200, such as a text box, a text field, and/or the like.
The menu bar 213 may correspond to a list of textual or graphical user selectable elements from which the user may select. For example, the menu bar 213 may include one or more drop-down menus 214 that correspond to one or more operations or functions that may be performed by the controller circuit 136 when selected by the user.
The toolbar 206 may correspond to an area of the display interface 200 that is subdivided into tabs or selectable icons 207 corresponding to select operation modes of the ultrasound imaging system 100. For example, the selectable icon 207a may correspond to a patient entry/access mode. When selected by the user, the controller circuit 136 may display one or more interface components relating to selecting and/or editing patient records, viewing a patient history list, entering new patient information, and/or the like. In another example, the selectable icon 207b may correspond to an imaging mode. When selected by the user, the controller circuit 136 may display one or more interface components relating to acquiring ultrasound image data, performing diagnostic on ultrasound images, setting acquisition settings for the ultrasound probe 126, and/or the like. In various embodiments, the toolbar 206 and/or selectable icons 207 may be static, for example, remaining in the same position relative to the display interface 200 for two more selected operation modes.
The title bar 204 may identify information of the patient, user information, data and/or time information, and/or the like during operation of the ultrasound imaging system 100.
The slide bar 208 may allow the user to adjust a viewable area of one or more interface components or the activity window 210 to make a different portion of the corresponding one or more interface components or the activity window 210 viewable. For example, not all of the drop-down menus 214 can be viewed within the menu bar 213. The user may adjust a position of the slide bar 208 to replace one or more of the currently viewable drop-down menus with the hidden one or more drop-down menus.
It should be noted various other embodiments may include additional or fewer interface components, differently sized interface components, and/or interface components having a different orientation or position relative to the interface components shown in
In various embodiments, the interface components may perform various functions when selected, such as measurement functions, editing functions, database access/search functions, diagnostic functions, controlling acquisition settings, and/or system settings for the ultrasound imaging system 100 performed by the controller circuit 136. For example, the drop-down menu 214a may correspond to a category of visual diagnostic selections generated by the controller circuit 136 that may be selected by the user. When the user selects the drop-down menu 214a using the user interface 142, one or more submenu components 215 may be displayed. Each submenu component 215 may correspond to a visual diagnostic (e.g., color flow, B-mode, electrography, spectral Doppler). When the user selects one of the submenu components 215 using the user interface 142, the controller circuit 136 may receive the request and generate and/or perform the selected operation.
The one or more interface components may have corresponding image display settings. The image display settings may be used by the controller circuit 136 to render or generate the one or more interface components to be displayed by the display 138. For example, the image display settings may define the color, size, and/or brightness of one or more pixels forming each of the interface components shown on the display interface 200. Optionally, the image display settings may include shape and/or position information of the one or more interface components. The image display settings may be stored on an image display settings table or database stored on the memory 140.
For example, the image display settings database may include a plurality of interface components with a corresponding image display setting(s) of the interface component. Each of the interface components may have a unique image display setting. The image display settings database may be used by the controller circuit 136 to render or generate the corresponding interface component. For example, the user may activate the drop-down menu 214a instructing the controller circuit 136 to generate the submenu components 215 on the display 138. The controller circuit 136 may locate the appropriate submenu components 215 on the image display settings database stored on the memory 140, and generate the submenu components 215 using the corresponding image display settings from the image display settings database.
In various embodiments, the image display settings may further include the luminance (e.g., brightness, relative luminance) and chromaticity values of the red green, and blue primaries (e.g., the color) of the one or more pixels forming each interface component. The chromaticity values may correspond to a hue and a saturation (e.g., colorfulness, chroma, intensity) of the one or more pixels. Based on the image display settings, the controller circuit 136 may generate a display signal, which is received by the display 138.
The display signal may be a video interface (e.g., Video Graphics Array, DisplayPort, High Definition Multimedia Interface, Digital Visual Interface, MHL, SDI, and/or the like) which is used by the display 138. The display signal may correspond to a series of pixel configurations from the controller circuit 136, and used by the display 138 for displaying the display interface 200 (e.g., the ultrasound image 216 shown concurrently with one or more interface components). For example, the display signal may be a series of packets along three channels corresponding to a red, green, and blue intensity value, respectively, of a pixel. The display 138 may adjust red, green, and blue intensity values of the pixels based on the received display signal.
In connection with
One or more methods may (i) receive ultrasound image acquisition settings for an ultrasound probe; (ii) acquire ultrasound image data from the ultrasound probe based on the ultrasound image acquisition settings; (iii) determine one or more image characteristics of the ultrasound image data; (iv) adjust one or more image display settings corresponding to a first interface component based on the one or more image characteristics; and (v) display on a display an ultrasound image concurrently with the first interface component having adjusted one or more image display settings.
Beginning at 302, ultrasound acquisition settings are received for the ultrasound probe 126. The ultrasound acquisition settings may be selected from the user via the user interface 142 (
Optionally, the acquisition settings may be selected to generate an ultrasound image having select one or more image characteristics. The one or more image characteristics may correspond to a color (e.g., hue, saturation), brightness (e.g., luminosity), contrast, and/or the like of the ultrasound image. For example, to increase the brightness of an ultrasound image the TGC may be increased. In another example, to decrease the amount of contrast and/or saturation of an ultrasound image the gain may be decreased.
At 304, ultrasound image data is acquired from the ultrasound probe 126 based on the ultrasound image acquisition settings. In reference to
Additionally or alternatively, in connection with
The circuits 450-466 (e.g., dedicated hardware, micro-processors, software modules) perform mid-processor operations representing one or more visual diagnostics, operations, data manipulation, and/or the like of the ultrasound imaging system 100. The circuits 450-466 may be controlled by a local central processing unit 448. The controller circuit 136 may receive ultrasound data 470 in one of several forms. In the embodiment of
Each of circuits 452-466 is configured to process the IQ data pairs in a corresponding manner to generate, respectively, color-flow data 473, ARFI data 474, B-mode data 476, spectral Doppler data 978, acoustic streaming data 480, tissue Doppler data 482, tracking data 484 (e.g., ROI data acquisition location), elastography data 486 (e.g., strain data, shear-wave data), among others, all of which may be stored in a memory 490 (or memory 134 or memory 140 shown in
A scan converter circuit 492 accesses and obtains from the memory 490, the vector data values associated with an image frame and converts the set of vector data values to Cartesian coordinates to generate an ultrasound image frame 493 formatted for display. The ultrasound image frames 493 generated by the scan converter circuit 492 may be provided back to the memory 490 for subsequent processing or may be provided to the memory 434 or the memory 440. Once the scan converter circuit 492 generates the ultrasound image frames 493 associated with the data, the ultrasound image frames 493 may be stored on the memory 490 or communicated over a bus 499 to a database (not shown), the memory 134, the memory 140, and/or to other processors (not shown).
Returning to
For example, the characterization circuit 450 may retrieve or access select ultrasound image data 488 (e.g., the ultrasound image 216 of
Additionally or alternatively, the characterization circuit 450 may determine an average contrast of the ultrasound image data 488 based from the average brightness 508. For example, the characterization circuit 450 may determine the average contrast from a ratio of the difference in brightness (e.g., subtracting a minimum brightness 512 from a maximum brightness 510) to the average brightness 508. In various other embodiments, the characterization circuit 450 may determine the average contrast of the ultrasound image data 488 by using an RMS contrast method, a Michelson contrast method, and/or the like.
At 308, one or more image display settings are adjusted corresponding to a first interface component based on the one or more image characteristics. The one or more image display settings may be adjusted by an interface adjustment circuit 451 of the controller circuit 136.
For example, the interface adjustment circuit 451 may retrieve or access the one or more image display settings corresponding to the first interface component from the memory 140, and one or more image characteristics (e.g., the average brightness 508) determined from the characterization circuit 450 stored on the memory 490. The first interface component may correspond to one of the interface components described in connection with
For example, the interface adjustment circuit 451 may determine a brightness difference 608 between the average brightness 508 and 606 of the ultrasound image data 488 and the drop-down menu 214, respectively. Based on the brightness difference 608, the interface adjustment circuit 451 may increase the brightness of the image display settings of the drop-down menu 214 to shift the average brightness 606 to be equal and/or approximate to the average brightness 508. For example, the interface adjustment circuit 451 may increase the brightness of the image display settings for all of the pixels equally by the brightness difference 608 to shift the average brightness 608 of the drop-down menu 214. Optionally, the interface adjustment circuit 451 may store the adjusted display settings on the memory 190. It should be noted, that in other embodiments the interface adjustment circuit 451 may adjust the display settings for more than one interface component.
Additionally or alternatively, the interface adjustment circuit 451 may adjust the image display settings of the first interface component different with respect to, for example, a second interface component based on the content of the first interface component. The content of the interface component may include text and/or symbols, which may be affected by changing the image display settings.
For example, the drop-down menu 214 (e.g., the first interface component) may include text, which indicates the function(s) or operations corresponding to a selection of the drop-down menu 214. The slide bar 208 (e.g., the second interface component) may include one or more colors without having any text. The interface adjustment circuit 451 may adjust the one or more image display settings corresponding to the slide bar 208 differently than the one or more image display settings corresponding to the drop-down menu 214.
For example, the interface adjustment circuit 451 may be configured to optimize and/or have the contrast of the drop-down menu 214 be above a minimum contrast due to the text content of the drop-down menu 214. Returning to
When the interface adjustment circuit 451 adjusts the image display settings of the drop-down menu 214, the interface adjustment circuit 451 may only adjust the brightness of the pixels corresponding to the peak 612 to shift the average brightness 606 while increasing the contrast and/or approximately keeping the contrast of the drop-down menu 214 the same. Alternatively, when the interface adjustment circuit 451 adjust the image display settings of the drop-down menu 214, the interface adjustment circuit 451 may adjust the brightness of all the pixels equally.
In various other embodiments, the interface adjustment circuit 451 may adjust the image display settings of one or more interface components based on one or more image characteristics determined by the characterization circuit 450 from the ultrasound image 216 and the interface components displayed with the ultrasound image 216 on the display 138. For example, the characterization circuit 450 may calculate an average (e.g., geometric mean, arithmetic mean, mode, median) of the one or more image characteristics of the ultrasound image 216 and the interface components that will be displayed with the ultrasound image 216. The interface adjustment circuit 451 may adjust the image display settings of the corresponding interface components to match the average of the one or more image characteristics determined by the characterization circuit 450.
Returning to
In connection with
The display circuit 498 of
The display circuit 498 may include a 3D processor circuit 496. The 3D processor circuit 496 may access the memory 190 to obtain spatially consecutive groups of ultrasound image frames and to generate three-dimensional image representations thereof, such as through volume rendering or surface rendering algorithms as are known. The three-dimensional images may be generated utilizing various imaging techniques, such as ray-casting, maximum intensity pixel projection and the like.
The display circuit 498 may include a graphics circuit 497. The graphics circuit 497 may access the memory 190 to obtain groups of ultrasound image frames and the ROI data acquisition locations that have been stored or that are currently being acquired. The graphics circuit 497 may generate images that include the images of the ROI, a graphical representation positioned (e.g., overlaid) onto the images of the ROI, and the display interface 200 having one or more interface components. The graphical representation may represent an outline of a treatment space, the focal point or region of the therapy beam, a path taken by the focal region within the treatment space, a probe used during the session, the ROI data acquisition location, and the like. Graphical representations may also be used to indicate the progress of the therapy session. The graphical representations may be generated using a saved graphical image or drawing (e.g., computer graphic generated drawing), or the graphical representation may be directly drawn by the user onto the image using the display interface 200 and the user interface 142.
Additionally or alternatively, the method 300 may display on a display the first interface component without the ultrasound image 216. For example, the user selects the selectable icon 207a illustrated in
The ultrasound system 100 of
The ultrasonic data may be sent to an external device 738 via a wired or wireless network 740 (or direct connection, for example, via a serial or parallel cable or USB port). In some embodiments, the external device 738 may be a computer or a workstation having a display. Alternatively, the external device 738 may be a separate external display or a printer capable of receiving image data from the hand carried ultrasound system 730 and of displaying or printing images that may have greater resolution than the integrated display 736.
Multi-function controls 884 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 884 may be configured to provide a plurality of different actions. One or more interface components, such as label display areas 886 associated with the multi-function controls 884 may be included as necessary on the display 852. The system 850 may also have additional keys and/or controls 888 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 886 may include labels 892 to indicate the view being displayed or allow a user to select a different view of the imaged object to display. The selection of different views also may be provided through the associated multi-function control 884. The display 852 may also have one or more interface components corresponding to a textual display area 894 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 850 and the miniaturized ultrasound system 830 may provide the same scanning and processing functionality as the system 100.
The user interface 906 also includes control buttons 908 that may be used to control the portable ultrasound imaging system 900 as desired or needed, and/or as typically provided. The user interface 906 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 910, trackball 912 and/or multi-function controls 914 may be provided.
It should be noted that although the various embodiments may be described in connection with an ultrasound system, the methods and systems are not limited to ultrasound imaging or a particular configuration thereof. The various embodiments may be implemented in connection with different types of diagnostic medical imaging systems, including, for example, x-ray imaging systems, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, computed-tomography (CT) imaging systems, positron emission tomography (PET) imaging systems, or combined imaging systems, among others.
For example, various embodiments may include a tangible and non-transitory computer readable medium comprising one or more computer software modules configured to direct one or more processors to receive medical image data acquired from a CT imaging system, an MRI system, a PET imaging system, and/or the like. The one or more computer software modules may further direct the one or more processors to determine one or more image characteristics of the medical image data as similarly described at 306 of
It should be noted that the various embodiments may be implemented in hardware, software or a combination thereof. 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 solid-state 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,” “subsystem” or “module” may include any processor-based or microprocessor-based system including systems using microcontrollers, reduced instruction set computers (RISC), 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. 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 and which may be embodied as a tangible and non-transitory computer readable medium. Further, the software may be in the form of a collection of separate programs or modules, 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 operator commands, or in response to results of previous processing, or in response to a request made by another processing machine.
As used herein, a structure, limitation, or element that is “configured to” perform a task or operation is particularly structurally formed, constructed, or adapted in a manner corresponding to the task or operation. For purposes of clarity and the avoidance of doubt, an object that is merely capable of being modified to perform the task or operation is not “configured to” perform the task or operation as used herein. Instead, the use of “configured to” as used herein denotes structural adaptations or characteristics, and denotes structural requirements of any structure, limitation, or element that is described as being “configured to” perform the task or operation. For example, a controller circuit, processor, or computer that is “configured to” perform a task or operation may be understood as being particularly structured to perform the task or operation (e.g., having one or more programs or instructions stored thereon or used in conjunction therewith tailored or intended to perform the task or operation, and/or having an arrangement of processing circuitry tailored or intended to perform the task or operation). For the purposes of clarity and the avoidance of doubt, a general purpose computer (which may become “configured to” perform the task or operation if appropriately programmed) is not “configured to” perform a task or operation unless or until specifically programmed or structurally modified to perform the task or operation.
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 various embodiments without departing from their scope. While the dimensions and types of materials described herein are intended to define the parameters of the various embodiments, they are by no means limiting and are merely exemplary. Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. The scope of the various embodiments 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(f) unless and until such claim limitations expressly use the phrase “means for” followed by a statement of function void of further structure.
This written description uses examples to disclose the various embodiments, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various embodiments, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the various embodiments is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if the examples have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or the examples include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal language of the claims.
