CARDIAC MECHANICAL ASSESSMENT USING ULTRASOUND

• US 20080300487A1
• Filed: 05/23/2008
• Published: 12/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Biosense Webster Incorporated (Johnson & Johnson)
• Original Assignee: Biosense Webster Incorporated (Johnson & Johnson)
• Inventors: Govari, Assaf, Altmann, Andres Claudio, Levin, Alexander
• Granted Patent: US 9,173,638 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/443
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2034/2051 Electromagnetic tracking systems
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/364 Correlation of different images or relation of image positions in respect to the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/367 creating a 3D dataset from 2D images using position information
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/378 using ultrasound
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/20 Surgical navigation systems; Devices for tracking or guiding surgical instruments, e.g. for frameless stereotaxis
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/06 Devices, other than using radiation, for detecting or locating foreign bodies for removing same A61B17/50 ; determining position of probes within or on the body of the patient
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/061 Determining position of a probe within the body employing means separate from the probe, e.g. sensing internal probe position employing impedance electrodes on the surface of the body A61B1/00158 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/503 for diagnosis of the heart
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/08 Detecting organic movements or changes, e.g. tumours, cysts, swellings A61B8/02 - A61B8/06 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/0883 for diagnosis of the heart
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/12 in body cavities or body tracts, e.g. by using catheters catheters per se A61M25/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4254 using sensors mounted on the probe
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4488 the transducer being a phased array
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/463 characterised by displaying multiple images or images and diagnostic data on one display composite display in devices for short-range imaging with acoustic waves G01S7/52074
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/483 involving the acquisition of a 3D volume of data
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/485 involving measuring strain or elastic properties
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/543 involving acquisition triggered by a physiological signal
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8918 the array being linear
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8979 Combined Doppler and pulse-echo imaging systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52038 involving non-linear properties of the propagation medium or of the reflective target
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52071 : Multicolour displays; using colour coding; Optimising colour or information content in displays, e.g. parametric imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10076 : 4D tomography; Time-sequential 3D tomography
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30048 : Heart; Cardiac
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0016 : involving temporal comparison
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/12 : Edge-based segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/246 : using feature-based methods, e.g. the tracking of corners or segments

Abstract

A method for diagnosis includes capturing a sequence of two-dimensional ultrasound images of a moving organ within a body of a patient. At least one contour of the organ is identified in a succession of the images in the sequence and is processed to generate an output indicative of motion of the organ over time.

Claims

1. A method for diagnosis, comprising:

capturing a sequence of two-dimensional ultrasound images of a moving organ within a body of a patient;

identifying at least one contour of the organ in a succession of the images in the sequence; and

processing the at least one identified contour to generate an output indicative of motion of the organ over time.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein processing the at least one identified contour comprises computing a displacement of the contour over a period of cyclical movement of the organ.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein processing the at least one identified contour comprises computing a velocity vector of one or more segments of the contour.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein processing the at least one identified contour comprises computing a strain in the organ responsively to a change in length of the contour.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the moving organ is a heart of the patient, and wherein processing the at least one identified contour comprises analyzing the motion of a wall of at least one chamber of the heart over one or more cycles of the heart.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein capturing the sequence of the two-dimensional ultrasound images comprises inserting a catheter, comprising an acoustic transducer and a position sensor, into the heart, and capturing the two-dimensional ultrasound images using the transducer while tracking coordinates of the catheter using the position sensor.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein analyzing the motion of the wall comprises find a location of scar tissue in the wall responsively to the motion.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein analyzing the motion of the wall comprises comparing the motion of two or more chambers of the heart so as to detect improper synchronization of the motion of the chambers.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein capturing the sequence of the two-dimensional ultrasound images comprises capturing the images from multiple different positions of an acoustic transducer, and wherein the method comprises reconstructing a sequence of three-dimensional images showing the motion of the organ based on the two-dimensional ultrasound images.

10. A method for diagnosis, comprising:

capturing multiple ultrasound input images of a moving organ within a body of a patient;

collecting data that are indicative of respective local values of a physiological parameter at locations on a surface of the moving organ; and

generating a sequence of three-dimensional images, responsively to the input images and the collected data, showing movement of the organ while superimposing an indication of changes in the local values on the surface in the three-dimensional images as the organ moves in the three-dimensional images in the sequence.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein capturing the multiple ultrasound input images comprises capturing two-dimensional ultrasound images from multiple different positions of an acoustic transducer, and recording location and orientation coordinates of the acoustic transducer in the multiple different positions, and wherein generating the sequence comprises combining the two-dimensional ultrasound images using the location and orientation coordinates to reconstruct the three-dimensional images.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein capturing the two-dimensional ultrasound images comprises recording respective times of capture of the two-dimensional ultrasound images relative to an annotation point in a cycle of motion of the organ, and wherein combining the two-dimensional ultrasound images comprises grouping the two-dimensional ultrasound images according to the respective times of capture in order to generate the three-dimensional images corresponding to the respective times in the cycle.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the moving organ is a heart of the patient, and wherein capturing the two-dimensional ultrasound images comprises inserting a catheter, comprising the acoustic transducer and a position sensor, into the heart, and capturing the two-dimensional ultrasound images using the transducer while tracking coordinates of the catheter using the position sensor.

14. The method according to claim 10, wherein generating the sequence comprises coloring the surface of the moving organ in the three-dimensional images responsively to the values of physiological parameter.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the moving organ is a heart of the patient, and wherein collecting the data comprises collecting electrical data, and wherein coloring the surface comprises displaying variations in electrical activity of the heart over an area of a chamber of the heart in the course of one or more heart cycles.

16. Diagnostic apparatus, comprising:

an acoustic transducer, which is configured to capture a sequence of two-dimensional ultrasound images of a moving organ within a body of a patient; and

an image processor, which is configured to identify at least one contour of the organ in a succession of the images in the sequence, and to process the at least one identified contour to generate an output indicative of motion of the organ over time.

17. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image processor is configured to compute at least one parameter, selected from a group of parameters consisting of a displacement of the contour over a period of cyclical movement of the organ, a velocity vector of one or more segments of the contour, and a strain in the organ responsively to a change in length of the contour.

18. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the moving organ is a heart of the patient, and wherein the image processor is configured to analyze the motion of a wall of at least one chamber of the heart over one or more cycles of the heart.

19. The apparatus according to claim 18, and comprising a catheter, which contains the acoustic transducer and a position sensor, and is configured to be inserted into the heart so as to capture the two-dimensional ultrasound images using the transducer while tracking coordinates of the catheter using the position sensor.

20. The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the image processor is configured to indicate a location of scar tissue in the wall responsively to the motion.

21. The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the image processor is configured to display the motion of two or more chambers of the heart so as to provide an indication of improper synchronization of the motion of the chambers.

22. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the acoustic transducer is operable to capture the images from multiple different positions of an acoustic transducer, and wherein the image processor is configured to reconstruct a sequence of three-dimensional images showing the motion of the organ based on the two-dimensional ultrasound images.

23. Diagnostic apparatus, comprising:

an acoustic transducer, which is configured to capture multiple ultrasound input images of a moving organ within a body of a patient;

an invasive probe, which is configured to collect data that are indicative of respective local values of a physiological parameter at locations on a surface of the moving organ; and

an image processor which is configured to generate, responsively to the input images and the collected data, a sequence of three-dimensional images showing movement of the organ while superimposing an indication of changes in the local values on the surface in the three-dimensional images as the organ moves in the three-dimensional images in the sequence.

24. The apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the ultrasound input images comprise two-dimensional ultrasound images, which are captured from multiple different positions of the acoustic transducer, and wherein the image processor is coupled to receive location and orientation coordinates of the acoustic transducer in the multiple different positions, and to combine the two-dimensional ultrasound images using the location and orientation coordinates in order to reconstruct the three-dimensional images.

25. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the image processor is configured to record respective times of capture of the two-dimensional ultrasound images relative to an annotation point in a cycle of motion of the organ, and to group the two-dimensional ultrasound images according to the respective times of capture in order to generate the three-dimensional images corresponding to the respective times in the cycle.

26. The apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the moving organ is a heart of the patient, and wherein the apparatus comprises a catheter, which comprises the acoustic transducer and a position sensor and is configured to be inserted into the heart so as to capture the two-dimensional ultrasound images using the transducer while tracking coordinates of the catheter using the position sensor.

27. The apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the catheter is the invasive probe and is configured to collect the data from an inner surface of the heart.

28. The apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the image processor is configured to color the surface of the moving organ in the three-dimensional images responsively to the values of physiological parameter.

29. The apparatus according to claim 28, wherein the moving organ is a heart of the patient, and wherein the data comprises electrical data, and wherein the image processor is configured to color the surface so as to display variations in electrical activity of the heart over an area of a chamber of the heart in the course of one or more heart cycles.