Patent Application
20080086054
The subject matter of the invention is particularly pointed out in the concluding portion of the specification. The invention, however, both as to organization and method of operation, may be best understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures, in which like parts may be referred to by like numerals.
The present invention may be described herein in terms of various functional components and processing steps. It should be appreciated that such components and steps may be realized by any number of hardware components configured to perform the specified functions. For example, the present invention may employ various visual imaging and display devices used for medical treatment which may carry out a variety of functions under the control of one or more control systems or other control devices. In addition, the present invention may be practiced in any number of imaging and medical contexts and that the exemplary embodiments relating to an ultrasound system and method as described herein are merely indicative of exemplary applications for the invention. For example, the principles, features and methods discussed may be applied to any imaging or medical application. Further, various aspects of the present invention may be suitably applied to other applications that utilize imaging technology.
An exemplary system for ultrasonic imaging and/or measurement of displacement of moving tissue and fluid denoted throughout as system 10 is provided. The system of the present invention can be used in traditional gray-scale ultrasound imaging or for color-mapping imaging. In an exemplary embodiment, system 10 is an ultrasound treatment system and comprises a peripheral ultrasound system 12 for emitting and receiving energy that is connected to and in operative communication with a host computer 14. System 10 further comprises a graphics processing unit 16 that is dedicated to process data obtained by peripheral ultrasound system 12.
With reference to
Examples of exemplary ultrasound systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,440,071 entitled “Peripheral Ultrasound Imaging System”, U.S. patent application assigned Ser. No. 10/944,499 entitled “Method and System For Ultrasound Treatment With A Multi-Directional Transducer”, U.S. application assigned Ser. No. 10/944,500 entitled “System and Method For Variable Depth Ultrasound Treatment”, and U.S. application assigned Ser. No. 11/163,148 entitled “Method and System For Controlled Thermal Injury of Human Superficial Tissue.” All four of these patents and patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference.
In an exemplary embodiment, a conditioning circuit 22 or other similar conditioning device and a demodulator 24 are part of beamforming device 20. Demodulator 24 demodulates ultrasound energy received by probe 18 into data that is readable by host computer 14 and processed by graphics processing unit 16. Therefore, the ultrasound energy's conditioning and demodulation occurs within beamforming device 20.
An exemplary probe 18 can be configured in various manners and comprise a number of reusable or disposable components and parts in various embodiments to facilitate its operation. For example, probe 18 can be configured within any type of probe housing or arrangement for facilitating the contact of probe 18 to the patient's skin at region of interest 19, with such housing comprising various shapes, contours and configurations. Probe 18 may also comprise cables and connectors; motion mechanisms, motion sensors and encoders; thermal monitoring sensors; or user control and status related switches, and indicators such as LEDs.
In an exemplary embodiment, probe 18 includes a single transduction element mounted within probe 18. The transduction element can comprise a piezoelectrically active material, such as lead zirconante titanate (PZT), or any other piezoelectrically active material, such as a piezoelectric ceramic, crystal, plastic, or composite materials, as well as lithium niobate, lead titanate, barium titanate, or lead metaniobate. In addition to, or instead of, a piezoelectrically active material, probe 18 can comprise other materials configured for generating radiation or acoustical energy. In other exemplary embodiments, probe 18 includes a transducer array.
Lenses can also be used in the emission of ultrasound waves from probe 18. Lenses or other transduction elements can be configured to be concave, convex, or planar. For example, in one exemplary embodiment, the transduction element is configured to be concave in order to provide focused energy for treatment of region of interest 19. Additional embodiments are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/944,500, entitle “Variable Depth Transducer System and Method”, which is herein incorporated by reference.
An exemplary peripheral ultrasound system 12 is depicted in
Peripheral ultrasound system 12 is connected to host computer 14 by an interface 28 that is described in more detail below and depicted in. Host computer 14 enables the user of system 10 to view images obtained at region of interest 19, provide estimations of moving tissue and fluid displacement within region of interest 19, and to control and adjust system 10. Host computer 14 can be any type of computer system suitable for imaging applications. Exemplary computers include personal computers and laptop computers.
With additional reference to
As shown in
As noted above, host computer 14 is connected to peripheral ultrasound system 12 by interface 28. While any type of wired or wireless interface 28 can be used, a plug-and-play interface 28 is used in an exemplary embodiment. A plug-and-play interface 28 enables the user to quickly connect and disconnect peripheral ultrasound system 12 to host computer 14. An exemplary plug-and-play interface 28 is known as a “hot-plug capable” interface 28 in that it can enable the user of system 10 to plug peripheral ultrasound system 12 into host computer 14 without having to shut down and reboot host computer 14. These types of interfaces 28 include a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface 28. Exemplary USB interfaces include an A type and B type USB interface.
Unlike traditional ultrasound systems that rely on a microprocessor to process the data obtained by peripheral ultrasound system 12, system 10 utilizes a dedicated graphics processing unit 16 to process the data. This enables system 10 to have a dedicated processing device for processing the large amount of data collected at peripheral ultrasound system 12 and more efficiently displaying an image on output device 34 than a microprocessor. In an exemplary embodiment, graphics processing unit 16 is dedicated solely to the function of processing data obtained by peripheral ultrasound system 12. It should be noted that while the term “graphics processing unit” can comprise any dedicated processing device or combinations of devices that process data. An exemplary dedicated processing device is depicted in
In one exemplary embodiment, graphics processing unit 16 comprises graphics card 38. In another exemplary embodiment, graphics processing unit 16 comprises a physics processing unit (PPU).
In another exemplary embodiment, graphics processing unit 16 could be a combination of a graphics card 38 and a PPU. A PPU performs nearly identical functions as graphics processing unit 16 except that a PPU is capable of processing physics code and removing the load that calculating physics puts on the graphics processing unit 16 and allocate it to the PPU. Therefore, in an exemplary embodiment, graphics processing unit 16 would comprise two devices, one being the graphics card 38 and the other a PPU. Graphics card 38 in combination with the PPU increases the efficiency and accuracy of system 10.
Other exemplary processing devices include systems that are dedicated to process the graphics data obtained by ultrasound system 12. For example, a system of a card and processor chip could be an exemplary graphics processing unit 16. Alternatively, any other dedicated chip, processor, or combination thereof can be utilized as graphics processing unit 16.
In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, graphics processing unit 16 can comprise a graphics card 38 with a processor 40 and a memory 42. For example, exemplary graphics cards 38 can comprise those produced by the NVIDIA Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif. and/or ATI Technologies, Inc. of Ontario, Canada. In an exemplary embodiment, multiple graphics cards 38 can be used to process data. In one embodiment, the image is split into two portions and a single graphics card 38 is used to process each portion.
In an exemplary embodiment, graphics processing unit 16 processes the data obtained by peripheral ultrasound system 12 by utilizing software with algorithms that are programmed within memory 42. One exemplary algorithm is the Doppler shift algorithm; however, various other algorithms can also be used.
System 10 can utilize certain imaging techniques in addition to or instead of Doppler imaging. Certain exemplary techniques include various decorrelation of frames techniques. One exemplary technique is B-flow imaging. B-flow imaging can be used by itself by system 10 or it can be combined with other techniques such as Doppler imaging. In an exemplary embodiment, system 10 combines various Doppler techniques with B-flow techniques to increase the speed and accuracy of images produced by system 10. One advantage of this increase in speed and accuracy is the ability to use a single transduction element within probe 18.
Turning now to
When system 10 is used for Doppler color flow mapping, the user can determine the velocity of the moving tissue and fluid as well as obtain an image of region of interest 19. Specifically, graphics processing unit 16 processes the data obtained by peripheral ultrasound system 12 and produces an image displayed on output device 34 that includes the speed of the moving tissue and fluid. In certain exemplary embodiments, the image is shown in traditional gray-scale imaging.
In other exemplary embodiments, ultrasound system 12 produces a color map to show the direction of fluid and tissue movement. The directional movement either towards or away from probe is shown on output device 34 in contrasting colors. In an exemplary embodiment, tissue and fluid moving towards the probe could be shown in shades of blue and tissue and fluid moving away from probe 18 could be shown in shades of red.
If system 10 is used to generate an image and obtain and estimation of tissue displacement using power Doppler imaging an image detailing the presence or absence of blood flow is displayed on output device 34. By viewing that image, the user can determine the directional movement of the blood flow or other moving tissue using the power Doppler imaging technique. In an exemplary embodiment, B-Flow imaging is combined with power Doppler imaging to increase speed and efficiency.
An exemplary process of obtaining an image and measuring displacement of tissue movement begins with a user connecting peripheral ultrasound system 12 to host computer 14 with interface 28. In an exemplary embodiment, the user simply plugs one end of a USB connector provided on peripheral ultrasound system 12 into the corresponding USB connector located on host computer 14.
Probe 18 is placed on the patient's skin and the transduction element produces ultrasound energy which is conditioned by conditioning circuit 22 and focused by beamforming device 20 before being emitted from probe 18. The ultrasound energy waves enter region of interest 19 and are reflected and echoed back to probe 18. These reflected ultrasound waves are demodulated into computer readable data by demodulator 24 and sent to host computer 14 via interface 28.
Once the computer data has arrived at host computer 14, it is processed by graphics processing unit 16. Specifically, graphics processing unit 16 uses an algorithm to generate an image and measure displacement of the tissue or fluid movement, e.g., by producing a color flow map or gray-scale image and/or implementing a power Doppler technique. The image is displayed on output device 34 for the user's viewing. If multiple output devices 34 are used, the image is displayed on all of them. The user can then view the image and obtain an estimate of the moving tissue's displacement.
The present invention may be described herein in terms of various functional components and processing steps. It should be appreciated that such components and steps may be realized by any number of hardware components configured to perform the specified functions. For example, the present invention may employ various medical treatment devices, visual imaging and display devices, input terminals and the like, which may carry out a variety of functions under the control of one or more control systems or other control devices. In addition, the present invention may be practiced in any number of medical contexts and that the exemplary embodiments relating to a system as described herein are merely indicative of exemplary applications for the invention. For example, the principles, features and methods discussed may be applied to any medical application. Further, various aspects of the present invention may be suitably applied to other applications, such as other medical or industrial applications.
