Systems and Methods for Displaying Digitized Waveforms on Pixilated Screens

• US 20120075307A1
• Filed: 09/23/2010
• Published: 03/29/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Hill, Aaron James
• Granted Patent: US 8,723,868 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/440
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/318 Heart-related electrical modalities, e.g. electrocardiography [ECG]
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/37 Details of the operation on graphic patterns G09G5/38 takes precedence

Abstract

Systems and methods for displaying digitized waveform data on a pixilated screen are provided. Certain methods include retrieving waveform data that exists as a plurality of sequential samples in a buffer. A first sample is associated with a first point of a pixilated screen. A second sample that follows the first sample is associated with a second point of the screen. A boundary of a rectangular line segment connecting the points is determined. For each pixel of the pixilated screen that has any portion inside the boundary of the rectangular line segment, a number of subpixels within the pixel that have any portion inside the boundary of the rectangular line segment is determined and that number of subpixels is correlated with an intensity value that is then associated with the pixel. Waveform data is displayed by painting pixels of the screen with the associated intensity values.

Claims

1. A method for displaying digitized waveform data on a pixilated screen comprising:

retrieving waveform data that exists as a plurality of sequential samples in a buffer;

associating a first sample with a first point of a screen comprising a plurality of pixels;

associating a second sample that follows the first sample with a second point of the pixilated screen;

determining a boundary of a rectangular line segment connecting the first point and the second point;

for each pixel of the pixilated screen that has any portion inside the boundary of the rectangular line segment, determining a number of subpixels within the pixel that have any portion inside the boundary of the rectangular line segment;

for each pixel of the pixilated screen that has any portion inside the boundary of the rectangular line segment, correlating the number of subpixels within the pixel that have any portion inside the boundary of the rectangular line segment with an intensity value that is then associated with the pixel; and

displaying waveform data by painting pixels of the screen with the associated intensity values.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the boundary of the rectangular line segment is determined using a rise angle of the rectangular line segment in combination with horizontal and vertical line width setting values.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising using a user interface to manually adjust a horizontal line width setting value that is used to determine the boundary of the rectangular line segment.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising using a user interface to manually adjust a vertical line width setting value that is used to determine the boundary of the rectangular line segment.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising using a user interface to manually and simultaneously adjust a horizontal line width setting value and a vertical line width setting value that are used to determine the boundary of the rectangular line segment.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the intensity value that is associated with each pixel is correlated using an intensity value map.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining the waveform data using an electrocardiography device.

8. A system for displaying digitized waveform data on a pixilated screen comprising:

a computer processor configured to retrieve waveform data that exists as a plurality of sequential samples in a buffer,

the computer processor configured to associate a first sample with a first point of a screen comprising a plurality of pixels,

the computer processor configured to associate a second sample that follows the first sample with a second point of the pixilated screen,

the computer processor configured to determine a boundary of a rectangular line segment connecting the first point and the second point,

for each pixel of the pixilated screen that has any portion inside the boundary of the rectangular line segment, the computer processor configured to determine a number of subpixels within the pixel that have any portion inside the boundary of the rectangular line segment,

for each pixel of the pixilated screen that has any portion inside the boundary of the rectangular line segment, the computer processor configured to correlate the number of subpixels within the pixel that have any portion inside the boundary of the rectangular line segment with an intensity value that is then associated with the pixel; and

the screen configured to display waveform data by painting pixels with the associated intensity values.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the computer processor is configured to determine the boundary of the rectangular line segment using a rise angle of the rectangular line segment in combination with horizontal and vertical line width setting values.

10. The system of claim 8, further comprising a user interface configured to allow a user to manually adjust a horizontal line width setting value that is used to determine the boundary of the rectangular line segment.

11. The system of claim 8, further comprising a user interface configured to allow a user to manually adjust a vertical line width setting value that is used to determine the boundary of the rectangular line segment.

12. The system of claim 8, further comprising a user interface configured to allow a user to manually and simultaneously adjust a horizontal line width setting value and a vertical line width setting value that are used to determine the boundary of the rectangular line segment.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the computer processor is configured to use an intensity value map to correlate the intensity value with each pixel.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the computer processor is configured to obtain the waveform data using an electrocardiography device.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with a set of instructions for execution on a processing device and associated processing logic, wherein the set of instructions includes:

a first routine configured to retrieve waveform data that exists as a plurality of sequential samples in a buffer;

a second routine configured to associate a first sample with a first point of a screen comprising a plurality of pixels;

a third routine configured to associate a second sample that follows the first sample with a second point of the pixilated screen;

a fourth routine configured to determine a boundary of a rectangular line segment connecting the first point and the second point;

for each pixel of the pixilated screen that has any portion inside the boundary of the rectangular line segment, a fifth routine configured to determine a number of subpixels within the pixel that have any portion inside the boundary of the rectangular line segment;

for each pixel of the pixilated screen that has any portion inside the boundary of the rectangular line segment, a sixth routine configured to correlate the number of subpixels within the pixel that have any portion inside the boundary of the rectangular line segment with an intensity value that is then associated with the pixel; and

a seventh routine configured to display waveform data by painting pixels with the associated intensity values.

16. The medium and instructions of claim 15, wherein the fourth routine is configured to determine the boundary of the rectangular line segment using a rise angle of the rectangular line segment in combination with horizontal and vertical line width setting values.

17. The medium and instructions of claim 15, further comprising an eighth routine configured to allow a user to manually adjust a horizontal line width setting value that is used to determine the boundary of the rectangular line segment.

18. The medium and instructions of claim 15, further comprising an eighth routine configured to allow a user to manually adjust a vertical line width setting value that is used to determine the boundary of the rectangular line segment.

19. The medium and instructions of claim 15, further comprising an eighth routine configured to allow a user to manually and simultaneously adjust a horizontal line width setting value and a vertical line width setting value that are used to determine the boundary of the rectangular line segment.

20. The medium and instructions of claim 15, wherein the sixth routine is configured to use an intensity value map to correlate the intensity value with each pixel.