UNIVERSAL IMAGE PROCESSING

• US 20080181471A1
• Filed: 01/30/2007
• Published: 07/31/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Siemens Healthineers AG (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kim, Moon J., Foster, Bruce A., Moulic, James R., Chung, William Hyun-Kee
• Granted Patent: US 7,876,940 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/128
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/463 characterised by displaying multiple images or images and diagnostic data on one display
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/464 involving a plurality of displays
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/5247 combining images from an ionising-radiation diagnostic technique and a non-ionising radiation diagnostic technique, e.g. X-ray and ultrasound
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/563 involving image data transmission via a network
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/00 General purpose image data processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/003 Reconstruction from projections, e.g. tomography
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/00 Image analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/40 for processing medical images, e.g. editing

Abstract

The present invention provides a universal and centralized image (e.g., medical, bio-molecular, etc.) processing system platform. The invention permits sharing both computation and visualization across a single universal platform, thus allowing for sharing of computing resources and visualization of images on a variety of imaging (client) devices without high-performance graphical display cards. In a typical embodiment a (e.g., medical) image 2D linear registration algorithm is implemented on a Cell Broadband Engine processor, which has nine processor cores on a chip and has a 4-way SIMD unit for each core.

Claims

1. A universal image processing method, comprising:

acquiring image data in a processing system from an imaging device, the imaging device being one of a plurality of imaging devices with which the processing system is configured to communicate; and

prefiltering the image data;

reconstructing an image from the image data;

analyzing the image;

providing feedback to the imaging device in response to at least one of the reconstructing and the analyzing; and

visualizing the image on a display device, the display device being one of a plurality of display devices with which the processing system is configured to communicate.

2. The method of claim 1, the acquiring, the prefiltering, the reconstructing, the analyzing, and the providing being performed by the processing system.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising temporarily storing the image data before the reconstructing.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising permanently storing the image data after the reconstructing.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising using the feedback to enhance at least one of the acquiring and the prefiltering.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising initializing and calibrating the imaging device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

previewing the image;

registering and mapping the image; and

preparing and tailoring the image data for specific display on the display device.

8. A universal image processing system, comprising:

a module for acquiring image data in a processing system from an imaging device, the imaging device being one of a plurality of imaging devices with which the processing system is configured to communicate; and

a module for prefiltering the image data;

a module for reconstructing an image from the image data;

a module for analyzing the image;

a module for providing feedback to the imaging device; and

a module for visualizing the image.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising a module for temporarily storing the image data before the reconstructing.

10. The system of claim 8, further comprising a module for permanently storing the image data after the reconstructing.

11. The system of claim 8, further comprising using the feedback to enhance at least one of the acquiring and the prefiltering.

12. The system of claim 8, further comprising a module for registering and mapping the image.

13. The system of claim 8, further comprising a module for previewing the image.

14. A program product stored on a computer readable medium for universally processing an image, the program product comprising program code for causing a computer system to:

acquire image data in a processing system from an imaging device, the imaging device being one of a plurality of imaging devices with which the processing system is configured to communicate; and

prefilter the image data;

reconstruct an image from the image data;

analyze the image;

provide feedback to the imaging device; and

visualize the image.

15. The program product of claim 14, the program product further comprising program code for causing the computer system to temporarily store the image data before the reconstructing.

17. The program product of claim 14, the program product further comprising program code for causing the computer system to permanently store the image data after the reconstructing.

18. The program product of claim 14, the program product further comprising program code for causing the computer system to use the feedback to enhance at least one of the acquiring and the prefiltering.

19. The program product of claim 14, the program product further comprising program code for causing the computer system to initialize and calibrate the imaging device.

20. The program product of claim 14, the program product further comprising program code for causing the computer system to:

preview the image; and

register and mapping the image.

21. A method for deploying a system for universally processing an image, comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure being operable to;

acquire image data in a processing system from an imaging device, the imaging device being one of a plurality of imaging devices with which the processing system is configured to communicate; and

prefilter the image data;

reconstruct an image from the image data;

analyze the image;

provide feedback to the imaging device; and

visualize the image.