Method and system for facilitating selection of stored medical images

• US 20040001080A1
• Filed: 06/27/2002
• Published: 01/01/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Acuson Corporation (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Acuson Corporation (Siemens AG)
• Inventors: McCabe, Laurence S., Mack, David R., Leibig, Ruth E., Miller, Paul D., Fowkes, Kenneth M.
• Granted Patent: US 7,536,644 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/720
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/58 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS

Abstract

The preferred embodiments described herein provide a method and system for facilitating selection of stored medical images. In one preferred embodiment, a plurality of medical images are stored, and, for each medical image, the settings of at least one acquisition time control used to create the image are also stored. During image review, a user selects a set of acquisition time control settings, and a set of medical images is automatically selected from the stored images based on the selected set of acquisition time control settings. Other preferred embodiments are provided, and each of the preferred embodiments described herein can be used alone or in combination with one another.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating selection of stored medical images, the method comprising:

(a) storing a plurality of medical images;

(b) for each medical image, storing settings of at least one acquisition time control used to create the image;

(c) selecting a set of acquisition time control settings; and

(d) based on the set of acquisition time control settings selected in (c), automatically selecting a set of medical images from the stored plurality of medical images.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein (a) comprises storing the plurality of medical images in a medical image acquisition device that generated the plurality of medical images.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein (a) comprises storing the plurality of medical images in a server in communication with a medical image acquisition device that generated the plurality of medical images.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein (b) comprises storing the settings in a tag along with the image.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein (b) comprises storing the settings in a file separate from the image.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein (b) comprises storing the settings in a directory.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein (c) comprises selecting a set of acquisition time control settings via a user interface of a medical image acquisition device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein (c) comprises selecting a set of acquisition time control settings via a user interface of a medical image review station.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein (d) comprises comparing the settings stored in (b) with the set of acquisition time control settings selected in (c).

10. The method of claim 1, wherein (d) comprises automatically selecting a set of medical images whose stored settings exactly match the set of acquisition time control settings selected in (c).

11. The method of claim 1, wherein (d) comprises automatically selecting a set of medical images whose stored settings most closely match the set of acquisition time control settings selected in (c).

12. The method of claim 1, wherein (d) comprises automatically selecting a set of medical images using relational selection criteria.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

(e) providing a list of the set of medical images automatically selected in (d).

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

(e) displaying the set of medical images automatically selected in (d).

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

(e) in response to one of a next or previous image command, displaying an image from the set of medical images automatically selected in (d).

16. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

(e) sorting the set of medical images automatically selected in (d).

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the medical image comprises an ultrasound image.

18. A system for facilitating selection of stored medical images, the system comprising:

at least one storage device storing a plurality of medical images and, for each medical image, settings of at least one acquisition time control used to create the image;

a user interface comprising at least one acquisition time control; and

computer-usable media storing computer-readable program code for automatically selecting a set of medical images from the stored plurality of medical images based on a set of acquisition time control settings selected using the user interface.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the at least one storage device, the user interface, and the computer-usable media are all part of a medical image acquisition device.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the user interface and the computer-usable media are part of a medical image review station, and wherein the at least one storage device is part of a server in communication with the medical image review station.

21. The system of claim 18, wherein the medical image comprises an ultrasound image.

22. The system of claim 18, wherein the computer-usable media further stores computer-readable program code for providing a list of the automatically selected set of medical images.

23. The system of claim 18, wherein the computer-usable media further stores computer-readable program code for displaying the automatically selected set of medical images.

24. The system of claim 18, wherein the computer-usable media further stores computer-readable program code for displaying an image from the automatically selected set of medical images in response to one of a next or previous image command.

25. The system of claim 18, wherein the computer-usable media further stores computer-readable program code for sorting the automatically selected set of medical images.