Koninklijke Philips Corporation N.V.

Olivier Gerard

Antoine Collet-Billon

Marie Jacob

Pierre Henri Lelong

Sherif Makram-Ebeid

Pascal Allain

Milena Planells-Rodriguez

Raoul Florent

Mckee Dunn Poland

Jens Von Berg

Vladimir Pekar

Michael Kaus

William J Ossmann

Odile Bonnefous

Jean-Michel Rouet

Maxim Fradkin

Xiang-Ning Li

Thomas D Deschamps

Bert Leo Alfons Verdonck

Geert Gijsbers

Heinrich Beckermann

Karl Erhard Thiele

Eric Denis

Eric M G Jp Saloux

Cécile A M Marboeuf

Myriam Greff

An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system is described by which a first sequence of ultrasound images of an organ such as the heart is acquired at a first image acquisition rate. The first sequence preferably images a larger volume or area in which a region of interest is located. Then a second sequence of three-dimensional ultrasound images of a sub-volume covering a part of anatomy of interest in the first sequence is acquired at a second image acquisition rate which is greater than the first acquisition rate. A third sequence of three-dimensional ultrasound images of a reference sub-volume is acquired at the second image rate. The second and third sequences of three-dimensional images are compared, enabling a clinician to focus on synchronism defects in the anatomy of interest with more precision and with a faster acquisition time.

Ultrasound imaging system with image rate sequences

The present invention relates to a system for guiding a medical instrument in a patient body. Such a system comprises means for acquiring a 2D X-ray image of said medical instrument, means for acquiring a 3D ultrasound data set of said medical instrument using an ultrasound probe, means for localizing said ultrasound probe in a referential of said X-ray acquisition means, means for selecting a region of interest around said medical instrument within the 3D ultrasound data set and means for generating a bimodal representation of said medical instrument detection by combining said 2D X-ray image and said 3D ultrasound data set. A bimodal representation is generated on the basis of the 2D X-ray image by replacing the X-ray intensity value of points belonging to said region of interest by the ultrasound intensity value of the corresponding point in the 3D ultrasound data set.

System for guiding a medical instrument in a patient body

Image processing system for displaying information relating to the amplitude of displacements of wall regions of a deformable 3-D object under study, comprising acquisition means to acquire an image sequence of the simplified 3D object wall; and processing means to process the image data for defining region(s) of interest on the simplified 3D object wall, and computing the maximal amplitudes of displacement of said region(s) of interest over a period of time; constructing two 2D simplified representations (bull's eye representations) of the 3D simplified object wall with projection of the region(s) of interest in respective segments of said 2D simplified representations, respectively denoted by 2D simplified amplitude and phase representations; and further comprising display means to display color coded indications of the maximal amplitudes of displacements of the region(s) of interest over a period of time in the respective segments of the 2D simplified amplitude representation; and the display of color coded indications of the instants of time at which the maximum of amplitudes of displacements occur(s) in the region(s) of interest, over said period of time, in the respective segments of the 2D simplified phase representation. The 2D simplified amplitude and phase representations are preferably displayed together in a same image. The object under study can be the heart left ventricle. The image sequence can be provided and processed by an ultrasound system.

Image processing method for displaying information relating to parietal motions of a deformable 3-D object

A system and method are provided for determining at least one torsion angle of a left ventricle. The method includes the steps of collecting three-dimensional ultrasound data of the left ventricle () to obtain at least one first two-dimensional view and at least one second two-dimensional view thereof, wherein the first two-dimensional view is obtained at about the beginning of a cardiac phase and the second two-dimensional view is obtained at about the end of the cardiac phase, placing at least two tracking points () on the at least one first two-dimensional view to draw a first torsion line (), tracking the at least two tracking points to extrapolate the position thereof on the at least one second two-dimensional view and to draw a second torsion line (), and calculating the at least one torsion angle by measuring an angle (A) formed by the intersection of the first and second torsion lines ().

System and method for measuring left ventricular torsion

The present invention relates to an ultrasonic imaging system for evaluating and displaying a deformation of a body organ. A sequence of image data sets comprising at least a first image data set and a second image data set of echographic data is acquired. A motion vector field is calculated between image points of the second image data set and image points of the first image data set. A reference point is chosen within or outside the first and second image data sets. A first scanline is defined, which comprises said reference point. A motion vector of an image point is projected onto the defined first scanline, which provides a projected tissue velocity along the first scanline. The projected tissue velocity is used for evaluating a ID component of a deformation of the body organ at the image point along the direction of the first scanline. Such a ID component of a deformation of the body organ, for example a strain rate or a strain, is further rendered in a graphical representation of the sequence of image data sets.

Ultrasonic imaging system and method

An image processing method for processing a sequence of images of a distortable 3-D Object, each image being registered at a corresponding image instant within the interval of time of the sequence having steps to construct and display an image of said 3-D Object represented with regions, each region showing a quantified indication relating to its maximal contraction or relaxation within said interval of time. Each region of the constructed and displayed image is attributed a respective color of a color coded scale that is function of the calculated quantified indication relating to the maximum of contraction or relaxation of said region. The quantified indications may be the instant when a face or region has had its maximum of contraction or relaxation; or the phase value corresponding to said maximum; or the delay to attain said maximum.

Method for processing an image sequence of a distortable 3-D object to yield indications of the object wall deformations

The invention relates to a method for segmentation of a three-dimensional structure in a three-dimensional data set, especially a medical data set. The method uses a three-dimensional deformable model, wherein the surface of the model consists of a net of polygonal meshes. The meshes are split into groups, and a feature term is assigned to each group. After the model has been placed over the structure of interest, the deformable model is recalculated in consideration of the feature terms of each group.

Method of segmenting a three-dimensional structure

The invention relates to a method for segmenting an image [IM] by path extraction using minimization of at least a potential [POT], said potential being calculated [CAS] from a feature [FEA] of the image [IM] using a cost assignment function [CAF], said calculation [CAS] being realized using the definition of two groups of points [NP and PP] in a neighborhood of a drawn [DRW] contour: the ones that are considered to be relevant to a boundary, called positive points [PP] and the ones that are not considered to be relevant to said boundary, called negative points [NP]. A refined characterization of positive points is constructed by combining characterizations of positive and negative points and the cost assignment function [CAF] is modified [CAL] using this refined characterization. The invention proposes also a fully automatic simultaneous adaptation of the different cost assignment functions of the individual potentials in a total function of potentials, and their relative weightings.

Adaptation of potential terms in real-time optimal path extraction

A medical ultrasound viewing system for processing a sequence of three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound images far performing a quantitative estimation of a flow through a body organ comprising means for performing steps of acquiring a sequence of 3D color flow images, of said flow; assessing the flow velocity values in the 3D images, constructing isovelocity surfaces (6) by segmentation of the flow velocity values; computing the volume (Vol) delimited by the isovelocity surfaces; and using the flow velocity value (V) and the volume (Vol) computed from a segmented surface for computing the surface of an orifice (3) of the organ through which the flow propagates. The viewing system further comprises means for performing steps of measuring the peak velocity (V) of said flow through said orifice; computing the surface of the orifice (SOR) through which the flow propagates as a function of the flow velocity value (V) at an isovelocity surface upstream the flow propagation with respect to said orifice, the volume (Vol) computed from said segmented isovelocity surface, and the peak velocity of the flow through said orifice. The surface is given by the formula: SOR=Vol. V/V. The system can be applied to the assessment of the surface of regurgitation of the mitral jet.

Viewing system having means for processing a sequence of ultrasound images for performing a quantitative estimation of  flow in a body organ

A method for anatomical imaging includes acquiring image data representative of three-dimensional volume segments of an image volume of interest in a subject. The image data are acquired in synchronism with corresponding physiological cycles of the subject. Each volume segment contains image data distributed in three dimensions. Acquiring image data includes selecting a sequence of scan lines for each respective volume segment configured to minimize an occurrence of motion artifacts throughout the image volume. The image data representative of the volume segments is combined to produce a representation of a three-dimensional anatomical image of the image volume.

Artifact elimination in time-gated anatomical imaging

An image processing method for providing three-dimensional geometric modeling of the spine, using a biplanar image reconstruction, comprising steps of acquisition of a first view (F) of a part of the spine, and a second view (L) of the same part of the spine taken from a different angle around the longitudinal axis of the spine, matching the dimensions of the views (F,L) from two predetermined corresponding landmarks (PP) on each view and deriving three-dimensional coordinates (z, x, y) of corresponding points (P) along the spine. Application: X-ray medical 3-D imaging.

Processing method and system for 3-D geometric modeling of the spine

A method for extracting geometrical data from a 2-D digital image of the spine, comprising steps for determining spine outlines, endplates and corners wherein:

Method and system for extracting spine geometrical data

Image processing method for displaying an image sequence of a deformable 3-D object with indications of the object wall motions comprising steps of acquiring image data of an image sequence, segmenting the 3-D object in the images of the sequence for locating the wall of the 3-D object, and coloring voxels or parts of the wall in function of their displacement with respect to the wall of the 3-D object in one image of the sequence chosen as a reference. Color images of the 3-D object with color coded voxels or parts of the wall are displayed in a sequence for the user to estimate the object wall motion. This method is used in medical examination apparatus for studying ultrasound images of organs whose walls have motion.

Image processing method for displaying an image sequence of a deformable 3-D object with indications of the object wall motion

The invention relates to an image processing method of extracting geometrical data of the spine, for extracting the left and right pedicle landmarks of each spine vertebra, comprising steps of: The invention also relates to a system, a medical apparatus and a program product for carrying out the method. Application: Medical Imaging x-ray Medical System and apparatus; Program Product for Medical Imaging.

Growing community of inventors

Viroflay, France

Olivier Gerard