The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 25, 1998
Filed:
Dec. 19, 1996
Edward A Geiser, Gainesville, FL (US);
David C Wilson, Gainesville, FL (US);
University of Florida Research Foundation, Gainesville, FL (US);
Abstract
A method for quantitatively analyzing digital images of approximately elliptical body organs, and in particular, echocardiographic images. In a first preferred embodiment, the invention automatically determines the center-point of an elliptical organ and a search region for border discrimination by finding the maximum value produced by a series of circular arc filters applied to the image data. In a second preferred embodiment, a pair of elliptical arc filters are used to make a first approximation of the positions of the right and left epicardium so that matched elliptical filters can be used to estimate the anterior epicardial position. The estimated position of the anterior epicardial, together with the posterior epicardial position, determines the center-point of the left ventricle. The positions of the organ borders are then approximated by generating amplitude distributions along each of a number of circular segments based on the center-point. The approximated borders are then compared on a best-fit basis to a set of paired elliptical arcs used to model the borders. The image may then be displayed with the modeled border superimposed on the image. A method of automated video densitometry is also disclosed whereby a sequence of end diastolic images are obtained before and after injection of a contrast agent.