SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SELECTIVE ENHANCEMENT OF A REGION OF INTEREST IN AN IMAGE

• US 20150348247A1
• Filed: 05/30/2014
• Published: 12/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co., Ltd. (Excelsior Union Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Zonare Medical Systems Incorporated (Excelsior Union Ltd.)
• Inventors: McLaughlin, Glen W., Steffgen, Ludwig
• Granted Patent: US 9,460,499 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10132 Ultrasound image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20004 Adaptive image processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20012 Locally adaptive
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20072 Graph-based image processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20104 Interactive definition of region of interest [ROI]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20208 High dynamic range [HDR] image processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20221 Image fusion; Image merging
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30056 Liver; Hepatic
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30084 Kidney; Renal
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30101 Blood vessel; Artery; Vein; Vascular
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/40 Scaling of whole images or parts thereof, e.g. expanding or contracting
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/4092 Image resolution transcoding, e.g. by using client-server architectures
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/40 using histogram techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/50 using two or more images, e.g. averaging or subtraction
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/90 Dynamic range modification of images or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/92 based on global image properties
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/94 based on local image properties, e.g. for local contrast enhancement

Abstract

The present disclosure provides systems and methods for receiving ultrasound image data corresponding to an ultrasound image with a master dynamic range and displaying a globally tone-mapped version of the ultrasound image on an electronic display. A region of interest (ROI) within the ultrasound image may be regionally tone mapped to provide an enhanced, optimized, and/or otherwise improved image of the ROI. The regional tone mapping may allow for features within the ROI to be more easily distinguishable that are not or at least not easily distinguishable in the global tone mapping of the same region.

Claims

1. A method for enhancing a region of an ultrasound image, the method comprising:

receiving, via a processor, ultrasound image data corresponding to an ultrasound image with a master dynamic range;

generating a global tone mapping of the ultrasound image data to a displayable dynamic range that is less than the master dynamic range of the ultrasound image;

receiving, via an electronic input device, information identifying a selected region of the ultrasound image for enhanced tone mapping; and

generating a regional tone mapping of a subset of the ultrasound image data corresponding to the selected region to a displayable dynamic range,

wherein the regional tone mapping of the selected region of the ultrasound image is different from the global tone mapping of the selected region of the ultrasound image.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the ultrasound image comprises a grayscale image, wherein the global tone mapping comprises a global grayscale mapping, and wherein the regional tone mapping comprises a regional grayscale mapping.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying on an electronic display the global tone mapping of the ultrasound image within the displayable dynamic range; and

displaying on the electronic display the regional tone mapping of the selected region of the ultrasound image.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein displaying the regional tone mapping of the selected region of the ultrasound image comprises displaying the regional tone mapping of the selected region of the ultrasound image as an overlay on the displayed global tone mapping of the ultrasound image.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the overlaid regional tone mapping of the selected region is magnified on the electronic display with respect to the displayed global tone mapping of the selected region.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the dynamic range of the regional tone mapping of the selected region of the ultrasound image is larger than the dynamic range of the selected region in the global tone mapping.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the regional tone mapping and the global tone mapping both comprise linear tone mappings of the ultrasound image data;

and wherein, with respect to a grayscale spectrum of the ultrasound image data, the regional tone mapping of the selected region is shifted with respect to the global tone mapping of the same region.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the regional tone mapping of the ultrasound image comprises a function comprising one or more of:

a linear mapping function, a gamma compression algorithm, a gradient domain high dynamic range compression algorithm, a gamma algorithm, a logarithmic algorithm, a histogram equalization algorithm, a tone mapping algorithm that is different from the global tone mapping algorithm, a decomposition of the image, a gradient of the image, an inverse tone mapping algorithm, an inverse linearization algorithm, and an image color appearance model (iCAM).

9. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the regional tone mapping of the ultrasound image comprises disregarding luminance values of the ultrasound image data that are below a minimum threshold value and luminance values of the ultrasound image data that are above a maximum threshold value.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the information identifying the selected region comprises receiving an input from a user relative to a portion of the ultrasound image displayed on an electronic display.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the information identifying the selected region comprises receiving information identifying a region potentially associated with a vascular structure.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the information identifying the selected region comprises receiving information identifying a region potentially associated with a boundary of two or more dissimilar tissues.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the regional tone mapping of the selected region comprises a tone mapping based on one of a user-selected preset and a user-selected image adjustment.

14. A method for displaying an enhanced region of interest, the method comprising:

displaying, via an electronic display, a global tone mapping of an ultrasound image;

receiving, via an electronic input device, a selection of a region of interest within the displayed ultrasound image; and

displaying, via the electronic display, a regional tone mapping of the region of interest, wherein the regional tone mapping of the region of interest is different from the global tone mapping of the same region of interest.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein displaying the regional tone mapping of the region of interest comprises displaying the regional tone mapping of the region of interest as an overlay on the displayed global tone mapping of the ultrasound image.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving one or more tone mapping parameters from a user, and

wherein the regional tone mapping of the region of interest is based on the one or more received tone mapping parameters.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving a user selection of a tone mapping preset from a plurality of available tone mapping presets, and

wherein displaying the regional tone mapping of the region of interest comprises displaying the region of interest according to the selected tone mapping preset.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the plurality of available tone mapping presets comprises one or more tone mapping presets configured for viewing ultrasound images associated with at least one of a liver, a kidney, a breast, a testicle, a vascular structure, and junction of two or more tissue types.

19. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

adjusting one of the size and relative location of the region of interest; and

displaying a refreshed regional tone mapping of the region of interest based on the adjusted region of interest.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein displaying the refreshed regional tone mapping of the region of interest comprises gradually transitioning the displayed region of interested from an initial regional tone mapping to the refreshed regional tone mapping.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein displaying the regional tone mapping of the region of interest comprises displaying the regional tone mapping of the region of interest magnified with respect to the displayed global tone mapping of the same region of interest.

22. The method of claim 14, wherein the received region of interest is defined as an acoustic grid relative to the displayed global tone mapping of the ultrasound image.

23. The method of claim 14, wherein the received region of interest corresponds to a region determined to be associated with one of a vascular structure and dissimilar tissues.

24. The method of claim 14, wherein the regional tone mapping of the region of interest has a larger dynamic range than the global tone mapping of the same region of interest.

25. The method of claim 14, wherein regional tone mapping comprises one or more of:

a linear mapping function, a gamma compression algorithm, a gradient domain high dynamic range compression algorithm, a gamma algorithm, a logarithmic algorithm, a histogram equalization algorithm, a tone mapping algorithm different from the global tone mapping algorithm, a decomposition of the image, a gradient of the image, an inverse tone mapping algorithm, an inverse linearization algorithm, and an image color appearance model (iCAM).

26. The method of claim 14, wherein determining the regional tone mapping comprises:

setting luminance values of the ultrasound image data that are below a minimum threshold value to a black equivalence; and

setting luminance values of the ultrasound image data that are above a maximum threshold value to a white equivalence.