Methods and systems for guiding the acquisition of ultrasound images
First Claim
1. A method of presenting a suggested path for an ultrasound probe to travel along a surface of a patient, the method comprising:
- obtaining a three-dimensional image of the patient from an imaging device, the three-dimensional image including image data corresponding to an anatomical portion of the patient;
defining, based on the three-dimensional image, a graphical representation of an external three-dimensional contour of the surface of the patient;
determining the suggested path for the ultrasound probe to travel along the external three-dimensional contour of the surface of the patient; and
generating, for presentation on a display, data that represents at least a portion of a previously acquired image of the anatomical portion and the suggested path in spatial relation along the external contour, wherein the suggested path includes a line displayed on the graphical representation of the external three-dimensional contour for the ultrasound probe to travel along and is configured to guide a movement of the ultrasound probe over the patient along the suggested path;
tracking a position of the ultrasound probe during acquisition of the ultrasound image; and
generating, for presentation on the display, data that represents a substantially real-time position of the ultrasound probe in spatial relation to the external contour and the suggested path.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of presenting a suggested path for an ultrasound probe along a patient'"'"'s surface includes obtaining a three-dimensional, non-ultrasound image of the patient and an ultrasound image of the patient. A treatment area is defined within the within the three-dimensional, non-ultrasound image, and using the images, defining a scanning site contour of an anatomical structure of interest within the patient and an external contour of the patient'"'"'s surface. A preferred path of the ultrasound scan is projected onto the external contour such that an operator can reproduce the ultrasound scan without knowledge of the anatomical structure of interest.
196 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method of presenting a suggested path for an ultrasound probe to travel along a surface of a patient, the method comprising:
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obtaining a three-dimensional image of the patient from an imaging device, the three-dimensional image including image data corresponding to an anatomical portion of the patient; defining, based on the three-dimensional image, a graphical representation of an external three-dimensional contour of the surface of the patient; determining the suggested path for the ultrasound probe to travel along the external three-dimensional contour of the surface of the patient; and generating, for presentation on a display, data that represents at least a portion of a previously acquired image of the anatomical portion and the suggested path in spatial relation along the external contour, wherein the suggested path includes a line displayed on the graphical representation of the external three-dimensional contour for the ultrasound probe to travel along and is configured to guide a movement of the ultrasound probe over the patient along the suggested path; tracking a position of the ultrasound probe during acquisition of the ultrasound image; and generating, for presentation on the display, data that represents a substantially real-time position of the ultrasound probe in spatial relation to the external contour and the suggested path. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of presenting a suggested path for an ultrasound probe to travel along an external surface of a patient, the method comprising:
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obtaining an external three-dimensional surface representation of the patient; determining the suggested path for the ultrasound probe to travel along the external three-dimensional surface representation of the patient based at least in part on a prior scan including a plurality of previously acquired ultrasound images of the anatomical portion; and generating, for presentation on a display, data that represents at least a portion of a previously acquired ultrasound image of the anatomical portion and the surface representation in spatial relation along the suggested path, the suggested path defining a line displayed on the surface representation for the ultrasound probe to travel along, wherein the data is configured to guide a movement of the ultrasound probe along the suggested path; tracking a position of the ultrasound probe during acquisition of the ultrasound image; and generating, for presentation on the display, data that represents a substantially real-time position of the ultrasound probe in spatial relation to the external contour and the suggested path. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. A system for presenting a suggested path for an ultrasound probe to travel along a surface of a patient, the system comprising:
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a register for storing a three-dimensional image of the patient, the three-dimensional image including image data corresponding to an anatomical portion of the patient; and a processor configured to; define, based on the three-dimensional image, a graphical representation of an external three-dimensional contour of the surface of the patient that reproduces at least a portion of a previously acquired image of the anatomical portion; determine the suggested path for the ultrasound probe to travel along the external three-dimensional contour of the surface of the patient; and generate, for presentation on a display, data that represents at least a portion of a previously acquired image of the anatomical portion and the suggested path in spatial relation along the external three-dimensional contour, wherein the suggested path includes a line displayed on the graphical representation of the external contour for the ultrasound probe to travel along along the suggested path; receive, from a tracking system, tracking data representing a position of the ultrasound probe during acquisition of the ultrasound image; and generate, for presentation on the display, data that represents a substantially real-time position of the ultrasound probe in spatial relation to the external contour and the suggested path. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification