Classifications

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  • A61B8/467—Ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic devices with special arrangements for interfacing with the operator or the patient characterised by special input means
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  • A61B8/5223—Devices using data or image processing specially adapted for diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves involving processing of medical diagnostic data for extracting a diagnostic or physiological parameter from medical diagnostic data
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  • A61B8/523—Devices using data or image processing specially adapted for diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves involving processing of medical diagnostic data for generating planar views from image data in a user selectable plane not corresponding to the acquisition plane
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
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  • A61B8/5246—Devices using data or image processing specially adapted for diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves involving processing of medical diagnostic data for combining image data of patient, e.g. merging several images from different acquisition modes into one image combining images from the same or different imaging techniques, e.g. color Doppler and B-mode
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
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• • G—PHYSICS
  • G16—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR SPECIFIC APPLICATION FIELDS
  • G16H—HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE HANDLING OR PROCESSING OF MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE DATA
  • G16H50/00—ICT specially adapted for medical diagnosis, medical simulation or medical data mining; ICT specially adapted for detecting, monitoring or modelling epidemics or pandemics
  • G16H50/30—ICT specially adapted for medical diagnosis, medical simulation or medical data mining; ICT specially adapted for detecting, monitoring or modelling epidemics or pandemics for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment
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  • A61B8/4427—Device being portable or laptop-like
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
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• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
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  • A61B8/52—Devices using data or image processing specially adapted for diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
  • A61B8/5215—Devices using data or image processing specially adapted for diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves involving processing of medical diagnostic data
  • A61B8/5238—Devices using data or image processing specially adapted for diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves involving processing of medical diagnostic data for combining image data of patient, e.g. merging several images from different acquisition modes into one image
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
  • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
  • A61B8/52—Devices using data or image processing specially adapted for diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
  • A61B8/5269—Devices using data or image processing specially adapted for diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves involving detection or reduction of artifacts
  • A61B8/5276—Devices using data or image processing specially adapted for diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves involving detection or reduction of artifacts due to motion

Definitions

• This invention relates to medical diagnostic ultrasound systems and, in particular, to ultrasound systems and methods for performing measurements of the fetal nuchal fold and translucency .
• birth defects abnormalities , commonly referred to as birth defects .
• Down syndrome or trisomy 21 is the most common cause of severe learning disabilities and accounts for approximately one-half of all
• amniocentesis which involves sampling the amniotic fluid
• CVS chorionic villus sampling
• one or more noninvasive screening methods may be utilized to determine whether the likelihood of Down syndrome warrants the risk of undergoing an invasive diagnostic procedure . If the noninvasive diagnosis indicates the likelihood of an abnormality, the clinician usually moves to the next step of ordering an invasive procedure .
• nuchal translucency measurement performed by ultrasonic imaging, which does not expose the mother or fetus to hazardous radiation .
• Fluid between the fetal spine and the fetal skin at the level of the fetal neck is a normal phenomenon seen in early fetal development .
• This fluid is in a confined and well-circumscribed space called the nuchal fold . It is well documented that an excess of fluid in this space is associated with a significant risk of trisomy 21.
• the nuchal skin fold is increased in cases where skin edema is present . This condition occurs in Turner ' s syndrome, Down ' s syndrome and a number of chromosomal
• the spacing of the normal nuchal fold is less than 3 mm and after 16 weeks it should not exceed 6-7 mm.
• Measurements of the fetal nuchal translucency between weeks 11 and 14 are regularly used as a screening test in assessing the risk of trisomy 21.
• the fluid amount is estimated by an anterior-posterior diameter
• the fetus should be
• a diagnostic ultrasound system and method are described which aids a clinician by automating measurements of nuchal translucency .
• zoom box sizing is automatically selected for the clinician and the locus of the fetus in the zoom box is tracked in real time to continually position the nuchal fold region within the zoom box .
• FIGURE 1 is a screenshot of an ultrasound image of a fetus in the proper position for a nuchal translucency measurement .
• FIGURE 2 is a flowchart of the standard
• FIGURE 3 is a flowchart of a workflow for a nuchal translucency measurement in accordance with the principles of the present invention .
• FIGURE 4 is a graph of fetal crown-rump length development with gestational age.
• FIGURE 5 is a flowchart of an algorithm for fetal tracking in accordance with the principles of the present invention .
• FIGURE 6 is a flowchart of a correlation
• FIGURE 7 a, b, and c illustrate zoom box
• FIGURE 8 illustrates in block diagram form an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system constructed in accordance with the principles of the present
• FIGURE 1 a screenshot of an ultrasound image 62 of a fetus in the proper position for a nuchal translucency measurement is shown .
• This ultrasound image was made using a curved linear array transducer probe with the image plane positioned to capture the fetus in a sagittal cross-sectional view .
• This view intersects the nuchal translucent region 70 at the nape of the fetal neck .
• the fetal head 64 and thorax 66 are relaxed and not flexed, which would tend to compress the translucent region and distort the measurement .
• the fetus is also floating freely away from the uterine wall 68 with a region 72 of amniotic fluid between the fetus and the wall of the uterus .
• NT nuchal translucency
• the sonographer usually needs to read ust the size and position of the zoom box a number of times to have the zoom box filled with the fetal head and thorax and
• step 84 the sonographer will often have to wait for a moving fetus to assume the desired position inside the zoom box, in the sagittal orientation with the back of the neck facing downward and no flexure of the neck or thorax, as indicated by step 86.
• the sonographer may need to go back to step 84 or step 82 from step 86, and repeat those steps to obtain the correct image capture, as indicated by the return arrows in FIGURE 2.
• the sonographer will freeze the image and make the NT measurement in step 88.
• an implementation of the present invention includes automatic zoom box sizing and fetal position tracking to assist and expedite the NT measurement .
• a software program in the ultrasound system or diagnostic workstation will automatically calculate the magnification factor and zoom box size based on the gestational age of the fetus as shown in step 90 of FIGURE 3. In this way, the sonographer only needs to choose the zoom box position as shown in step 92 without the need to select the zoom box size.
• the software program automatically tracks the fetus translation motion as long as it is within the image plane .
• An automatic algorithm executed by the software helps the user obtain a good image for accurate NT measurement faster and easier, reducing workflow redundancy and reducing scanning time in NT scans compared with the standard practice .
• FIGURE 4 is a graph of nominal crown-rump length of a fetus as it relates to gestational age . As the line 96 of the graph shows , this is approximately a linear relationship . Once the gestational age is known, which may be input into the ultrasound system as part of the patient data entered at the outset of the exam or calculated from measurements made of fetal anatomy, the ultrasound system sets the size of the zoom box in accordance with this linear
• the size of the zoom box may be set to have a length and width which are 80% - 100% of the crown-rump length, for example , with a magnification factor that fills the box with the upper thorax and head region of the fetus .
• An appropriately sized zoom box is automatically set by the system, sparing the user from an otherwise manual and often
• the sonographer manipulates the ultrasound probe to acquire a sagittal image of the region of interest of the fetus , the head and upper thorax .
• the sonographer manipulates the single image plane of the probe to intersect the fetus in this desired view .
• the sonographer can acquire a volume of image data encompassing the region of the fetus , then select an MPR (multi-planar reformatted) image plane through the data which contains the desired sagittal view . This is done in live imaging mode .
• the NT diagnostic software includes a tracking algorithm to follow the region of interest as the fetus moves , thereby assisting the sonographer in scanning or waiting for the fetus to return to a position where the proper view can be acquired, a view of the mid-nasal
• the sonographer points to the region of interest with a graphic pointer such as by clicking on the region of interest with a mouse or trackball or touching the region of interest on a touch screen .
• the tracking algorithm then
• the fetus moves to a different position in the uterus as shown in FIGURE 7b. In this new position, most of the nuchal translucent region 70 is outside of the zoom box 100.
• the sonographer would have to make the ad ustments listed in steps 82 , 84 , and 86 of FIGURE 2 , acquiring a new fetal image, resizing and/or repositioning the zoom box 100, and/or realigning the scan plane within the zoom box . But with an automatic tracking algorithm, the zoom box 100 will follow the NT region in real time as shown in FIGURE 7c.
• FIGURE 5 A flowchart of a suitable tracking algorithm for an implementation of the present invention is shown in FIGURE 5.
• the sonographer finds the region of interest in the fetal image, such as the head-thorax region or the nape of the fetal neck .
• a 2D correlation core for tracking is defined as the region within the zoom box in step 104.
• the correlation core should include some easily tracked image
• step 106 a correlation algorithm, which is described further below, is executed on the image (pixel ) data of each temporally new image to find any motion-shifted distance of the correlation core coordinates ( ⁇ , Ay) .
• the most recent image frame is set to be the reference frame for the next iteration of the tracking algorithm and the process loops back to step 104.
• the position of the zoom box on the display is updated to the new zoom box center, thus repositioning the zoom box in an effort to keep the region of interest within the zoom box as the fetus moves .
• FIGURE 6 is a flowchart illustrating a suitable correlation algorithm for use in an implementation of the present invention .
• This algorithm employs a 2D transform of the coordinates of the reference image data (Al ) and the new image data (A2) to Fourier data sets Gl and G2 , respectively .
• step 202 the phase shift R in Fourier space caused by the frame-to-frame motion is calculated by :
• step 204 an inverse Fourier transform of R to r in Cartesian coordinates is performed by :
• An ultrasonic probe 12 includes an array 14 of
• the array may be a one dimensional linear or curved array for two
• the array may be a two dimensional matrix of transducer elements for electronic beam steering in three dimensions .
• the array may also be a one dimensional array that is mechanically swept back and forth by the probe to scan a three
• the ultrasonic transducers in the array 14 transmit ultrasonic energy and receive echoes returned in response to this transmission .
• a transmit/receive (“T/R") switch 22 is coupled to the ultrasonic transducers in the array 14 to selectively couple signals received from the transducer elements to A/D converters 30 during the receive phase of operation .
• the times at which the transducer array is activated to transmit signals may be synchronized to an internal system clock (not shown) , or may be synchronized to a bodily function such as the patient heart cycle, for which a heart cycle waveform is provided by an ECG device 26.
• heart cycle such as the patient heart cycle
• Echoes from the transmitted ultrasonic energy are received by the transducer elements of the array 14, which generate echo signals that are coupled through the T/R switch 22 and digitized by analog to digital ("A/D") converters 30 when the system uses a digital beamformer .
• Analog beamformers may
• the A/D converters 30 sample the received echo signals at a sampling frequency controlled by a signal f s generated by a central controller 28.
• the desired sampling rate dictated by sampling theory is at least twice the highest
• control of the ultrasound system and the setting of various parameters for imaging is effected by user manipulation of the controls of a control panel 20 which is coupled to and applies its control through the central controller 28.
• the echo signal samp1es from the individual transducers of the array 14 are delayed and summed by a beamformer 32 to form coherent echo signals .
• a beamformer 32 For 3D imaging with a two dimensional array, it is preferable to partition the beamforming process between a microbeamformer located in the probe and the main beamformer in the system mainframe as described in US Pat . 6, 013, 032 ( Savord) and US Pat . 6,375,617 (Fraser) .
• the digital coherent echo signals are then filtered by a digital filter 34.
• the digital filter 34 bandpass filters the signals , and can also shift the frequency band to a lower or baseband frequency range .
• the digital filter could be a filter of the type disclosed in U.S. Patent No . 6, 050 , 942 (Rust et al . ) , for example .
• Filtered echo signals from tissue are coupled from the digital filter 34 to a B mode processor 36 for conventional B mode processing by echo signal amplitude detection.
• Filtered echo signals of a contrast agent are coupled to a contrast signal processor 38.
• Contrast agents are often used to more clearly delineate blood vessels, or to perform perfusion studies of the microvasculature of tissue as described in US Pat . 6,692,438 ( Skyba et al . ) for example .
• the contrast signal processor 38 preferably separates echoes returned from harmonic contrast agents by the pulse inversion technique , in which echoes resulting from the transmission of multiple pulses to an image location are combined to cancel fundamental signal components and enhance harmonic components .
• a preferred pulse inversion technique is described in U.S. patent 6,186, 950 (Averkiou et al . ) , for instance .
• the filtered echo signals from the digital filter 34 are also coupled to a Doppler processor 40 for conventional Doppler processing to produce velocity and/or power Doppler signals from blood flow or tissue motion .
• the output signals from these processors may be converted into a desired image format by a scan converter and displayed as planar images , and are also coupled to a 3D image processor 42 for the rendering of three dimensional images , which are stored in a 3D image memory 44.
• Three dimensional rendering may be performed as described in U.S. patent 5,720,291 (Schwartz) , and in U.S.
• the two dimensional image signals from these three image processors , the contrast signal processor 38, the B mode processor 36 and the Doppler processor 40, and the three dimensional image signals from the 3D image memory 44, are coupled to a Cineloop® memory 48 , which stores temporally successive image data for each of a large number of ultrasonic images .
• the image data are preferably stored in the Cineloop memory 48 in sets , with each set of image data corresponding to an image obtained at a respective time .
• the image data in a group can be used to display a parametric image showing tissue perfusion at a respective time during the heartbeat .
• the groups of image data stored in the Cineloop memory 48 may also be stored in a permanent memory device such as a disk drive, solid state memory device, or digital video recorder for later analysis .
• the images are also coupled to a QLAB processor 50 , where the images are analyzed and measurements made of characteristics of the images including the nuchal translucency workflow and measurements described above .
• the QLAB processor is a software package stored on the ultrasound system disk drive or solid state memory that is commercially available with Philips Healthcare ultrasound systems for various image analysis and quantification
• the QLAB processor can be used to make quantified measurements of various aspects of the anatomy in the image such as the delineation of tissue boundaries and borders by automated border tracing as described in US patent publication no .
• the QLAB processor is controlled through user
• the data and images produced by the QLAB processor are displayed on a display 52 such as a flat panel display monitor where the user may manipulate, annotate and make measurements of the displayed images through operation of the controls of the control panel 20 as described above for a nuchal translucency exam.
• the QLAB processor thus
• the images acquired and diagnostic reports made on the ultrasound system can be stored on a PACS (picture archiving and communication system) 60 for storage and later retrieval .
• PACS picture archiving and communication system
• the ultrasound system components and processors of FIGURE 8 may be implemented utilizing any combination of
• the functionality and components of the system may be implemented utilizing an off-the- shelf PC with a single microprocessor or multiple microprocessors, with the functional operations distributed between the processors .
• the functionality of FIGURE 8 may be
• the various functions of the blocks shown in FIGURE 8 also may be implemented as software modules within a processing unit .
• the ultrasound system of FIGURE 8 may be embodied as a small-sized system, such as laptop computer or pocket sized system as well as in a larger console-type or cart-borne system. These different embodiments may be implemented in connection with miniaturi zed or small-sized ultrasound systems having different dimensions , weights , and power consumption .
• the a pocket-sized ultrasound imaging system implementation and a miniaturized laptop-like or tablet style ultrasound system implementation can provide the same scanning and processing
• the various embodiments described above and illustrated by the exemplary ultrasound system of FIGURE 8 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 microprocessors .
• the computer or processor may include a computing device, an input device, a display unit and an interface, for example, for accessing the Internet .
• processor may include a microprocessor .
• microprocessor may be connected to a communication bus , for example, to access a PACS system.
• 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, solid-state thumb 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 .
• computer or “module” may include any processor-based or microprocessor- based system including systems using
• microcontrollers reduced instruction set computers (RISC)
• ASICs ASICs
• logic circuits any other circuit or processor capable of executing the functions described herein .
• RISC reduced instruction set computers
• ASICs ASICs
• logic circuits 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
• 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 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 obj ect-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 .
• “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, non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) memory and electromagnetic or optical disk storage .
• RAM memory random access memory
• ROM memory read-only memory
• EPROM memory erasable programmable read-only memory
• EEPROM memory electrically erasable programmable read-only memory
• NVRAM non-volatile RAM

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