Koninklijke Philips Corporation N.v.

Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique

King's College London

Ecole De Technologie Superieure

Polyvalor S.e.c.

Nicolas Francois Villain

Robert Randall Entrekin

Claire Levrier

Claude Cohen-Bacrie

Volker Rasche

Robert Manzke

Pascal Yves Francois Cathier

Pascal Allain

Nicolas Pierre Bruno Gogin

Jean-Michel LaGrange

Cecile Anne Marie Picard

Kawaldeep Singh Rhode

Sylvie Doré

Yves Goussard

Jérôme Idier

Cécile A M Picard

Nicolas P B Gogin

Patrick Etyngier

Jean-Michel Lagrange

Disclosed is a method () of visualizing a sequence of 3D ultrasound images of an object () in motion, wherein said motion is a complex motion composed of motion components from a plurality of origins, the method comprising acquiring () said sequence of 3D ultrasound images; providing () a motion tracking model modelling a contribution to the complex motion, said contribution originating from a subset of said motion components; determining () said complex motion from the first and second 3D ultrasound images; and visualizing () a contribution of the motion tracking model to the complex motion of said object in order to obtain a motion-decomposed visualization of said complex motion. A computer program product for implementing such a method on an ultrasound system and an ultrasound system including such a computer program product are also disclosed.

Method of visualizing a sequence of ultrasound images, computer program product and ultrasound system

The present invention relates to visualizing information of an object. In order to provide spatial information and in addition situation specific data to the user while ensuring an effective perceptibility, a method () is provided comprising the steps of: a) providing () pre-navigation data () of a region of interest of an object (); wherein the pre-navigation data comprises spatial geometrical data () and a functional parameter surface () in correspondence to the spatial geometrical data; b) acquiring () live image data () of the region of interest; c) detecting () an element () in the live image data; d) determining () spatial relation () of the pre-navigation data and the live image data; e) determining ()the position () of the detected element in the spatial geometrical data, which determining is based on the spatial relation, and computing () a predetermined related point of location () on the functional parameter surface; f) generating () a combination () of a simplified surface representation () of the region of interest, which simplified surface representation is based on a visualization of the functional parameter surface, and a marker () indicating the computed predetermined related point of location; and g) displaying () the combination as navigation guidance ().

Visualization for navigation guidance

The invention concerns a medical imaging system comprising means () of segmenting a region of interest around an object of interest within a volume of 3D data (DV). The system according to the invention comprises means () of calculating a sub-regions map (CSR) within the segmented region (RS) and correction means () intended to exclude sub-regions of the segmented region by means of said sub-regions map (CSR). The correction can be made automatically or manually by means of control means () enabling a user to select the sub-regions to be excluded. Display means () make it possible to display a 2D representation (DR) of the volume of 3D data (DV) and the segmented region (RS, RS') at various stages of the processing.

Medical imaging system and a method for segmenting an object of interest

The present invention relates to minimally invasive X-ray guided interventions, in particular to an image processing and rendering system and a method for improving visibility and supporting automatic detection and tracking of interventional tools that are used in electrophysiological procedures. According to the invention, this is accomplished by calculating differences between 2D projected image data of a preoperatively acquired 3D voxel volume showing a specific anatomical region of interest or a pathological abnormality (e.g. an intracranial arterial stenosis, an aneurysm of a cerebral, pulmonary or coronary artery branch, a gastric carcinoma or sarcoma, etc.) in a tissue of a patient's body and intraoperatively recorded 2D fluoroscopic images showing the aforementioned objects in the interior of said patient's body, wherein said 3D voxel volume has been generated in the scope of a computed tomography, magnet resonance imaging or 3D rotational angiography based image acquisition procedure and said 2D fluoroscopic images have been co-registered with the 2D projected image data. After registration of the projected 3D data with each of said X-ray images, comparison of the 2D projected image data with the 2D fluoroscopic images&#x2014;based on the resulting difference images&#x2014;allows removing common patterns and thus enhancing the visibility of interventional instruments which are inserted into a pathological tissue region, a blood vessel segment or any other region of interest in the interior of the patient's body. Automatic image processing methods to detect and track those instruments are also made easier and more robust by this invention. Once the 2D-3D registration is completed for a given view, all the changes in the system geometry of an X-ray system used for generating said fluoroscopic images can be applied to a registration matrix. Hence, use of said method as claimed is not limited to the same X-ray view during the whole procedure.

Detection and tracking of interventional tools

A device for localization of an object of interest in a subject includes a registration unit for registering a 3D-representation of the subject having a plurality of segments corresponding to a plurality of structural regions of the subject, with a 2D-image. The registration unit is configured to define a plurality of areas in the image such that at least one area of the plurality of areas is associated with a respective region of the plurality of regions. A localization unit is configured to localize the object, and extract an indication of the object from the image by processing the image. The processing is limited to an object area of the plurality of areas which is associated with a predetermined object region.

Device and method for localizing an object of interest in a subject

An ultrasonic imaging apparatus using a method for combining CMB images of the same object including a step of seeking representative contours CNT of an interface on the images to be combined IM,[I], IM[J] is disclosed. The step is intended to define interest areas IA[I], IA[J] in the vicinity of the representative contours. The method also includes analyzing the interest areas IA[I], IA[J] being intended to allocate weights W[I], W[J] to the points on the interest areas IA[I], IA[J] and to the points corresponding to the interest areas IA[I], IA[J] on the various images. The method also includes constructing a combination image IM, a point on the combination image IMcorresponding to a point on at least one interest area IA being obtained from a weighting of the corresponding points on the images to be combined IM[I], IM[J] according to the weights W[I], W[J] allocated in the analysis step ANA.

Ultrasonic imaging apparatus with adaptable spatial image combination

A method and apparatus is disclosed for modeling a body part with a high precision. Image data of a body part is collected from an imaging system with a first resolution. After processing the image data collected from the imaging system, a 3-dimensional description of the body part is generated, the 3-dimensional description of the body part having a second resolution higher than the first one. A 3-dimensional parametric description of the body part is then generated. The 3-dimensional parametric description may be used to create a replica of the body part or an implant tightly fitting the said body part.

High precision modeling of a body part using a 3D imaging system

A method of estimating the position of the field of view of an imaging device, such as a camera, relative to a board involves designating markings on the board as references and detecting the shift in these reference markings within the field of view of the camera compared to a known position therein. The reference markings are selected such that detection thereof involves analysis of only a subset of the image produced by the imaging device. The selection of a group of one or more markings to serve as a reference involves determination of the image region (error window) in which the reference marking(s) may appear, given the maximal positional error of the imaging device. It is also checked (step T) that the entire error window will be within the useable field of view of the imaging device and that, within the error window, no other group of markings will appear that could be confused with the selected group of markings (step T). Detection of the reference group of markings involves generation of an image profile along a line crossing the center of the error window and finding the best match between the markings along this profile and the markings in the reference group.

Choice of reference markings for enabling fast estimating of the position of an imaging device

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Rueil-Malmaison, France

Nicolas Francois Villain