ULTRASOUND IMAGE APPARATUS AND METHOD OF OPERATING THE SAME

• US 20160151041A1
• Filed: 12/01/2015
• Published: 06/02/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Medison Company Limited (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Inventors: Lee, Kwang-Hee, JIN, Gil-ju
• Granted Patent: US 10,327,733 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/085 for locating body or organic structures, e.g. tumours, calculi, blood vessels, nodules
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/0866 involving foetal diagnosis; pre-natal or peri-natal diagnosis of the baby
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/14 Echo-tomography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4405 Device being mounted on a trolley
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4427 Device being portable or laptop-like
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4472 Wireless probes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/461 Displaying means of special interest
• 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 8/467 characterised by special input means
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/483 involving the acquisition of a 3D volume of data
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/488 involving Doppler signals
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/5207 involving processing of raw data to produce diagnostic data, e.g. for generating an image reconstruction G06T11/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/5223 for extracting a diagnostic or physiological parameter from medical diagnostic data for algorithms to analyse biomedical images G06T7/0012
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/30 for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment

Abstract

Provided is an ultrasound imaging apparatus including: a data acquisition unit configured to acquire ultrasound data for an object including a first region and a second region used to determine a shape of the first region; a controller configured to extract the second region of the object from the ultrasound data, set at least one guide line corresponding to the first region, and measure the at least one guide line corresponding to the first region; and a display configured to display measurement information regarding the at least one guide line.

Claims

1. An ultrasound imaging apparatus comprising:

a data acquisition unit configured to acquire ultrasound data for an object including a cervix;

a controller configured to measure at least one guide line corresponding to the cervix based on the acquired ultrasound data; and

a display configured to display measurement information regarding the at least one guide line.

2. The ultrasound imaging apparatus of claim 1, wherein the data acquisition unit acquires ultrasound data including a fetal head region of the object.

3. The ultrasound imaging apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least one guide line comprises at least one selected from a boundary line of the fetal head region, a boundary line corresponding to a funnel length of the cervix, and a boundary line corresponding to a cervical length of the cervix, all the boundary lines being indicated on an ultrasound image generated based on the ultrasound data.

4. The ultrasound imaging apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measurement information comprises at least one selected from information about a shape of the cervix, a funnel length of the cervix, a cervical length of the cervix, and a histogram corresponding to at least one position included in the cervix.

5. The ultrasound imaging apparatus of claim 3, wherein the controller extracts the fetal head region based on the at least one guide line, extracts a funneling region and the funnel length based on the fetal head region, extracts the cervical length based on at least one of the fetal head region and the funneling region, and determines a shape of the cervix based on at least one of the funnel length and the cervical length.

6. The ultrasound imaging apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller determines a shape of the cervix based on the at least one guide line, and

wherein the display displays a screen depicting the determined shape of the cervix.

7. The ultrasound imaging apparatus of claim 1, wherein the display displays an ultrasound image obtained using the ultrasound data.

8. The ultrasound imaging apparatus of claim 7, wherein the display displays a screen in which the at least one guide line is indicated on the ultrasound image.

9. The ultrasound imaging apparatus of claim 8, further comprising a user interface configured to receive an input for editing the at least one guide line indicated on the ultrasound image.

10. The ultrasound imaging apparatus of claim 6, wherein the display displays a schematic diagram corresponding to the determined shape of the cervix on the screen.

11. The ultrasound imaging apparatus of claim 10, wherein the display indicates at least one line corresponding to the at least one guide line on the schematic diagram.

12. The ultrasound imaging apparatus of claim 7, wherein the display displays a histogram corresponding to at least one position included in the first region and indicates the at least one position on the ultrasound image.

13. The ultrasound imaging apparatus of claim 6, wherein the controller determines the shape of the cervix to be a first shape among a plurality of predesignated shapes by using at least one guide line, and

wherein the display displays a screen showing the shape of the cervix determined to be the first shape.

14. A method of operating an ultrasound imaging apparatus, the method comprising:

acquiring ultrasound data for an object including a cervix;

measuring at least one guide line corresponding to the cervix based on the acquired ultrasound data; and

displaying measurement information regarding the at least one guide line.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising acquiring ultrasound data including a fetal head region of the object.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one guide line comprises at least one selected from a boundary line of the fetal head region, a boundary line corresponding to a funnel length of the cervix, and a boundary line corresponding to a cervical length of the cervix, all the boundary lines being indicated on an ultrasound image generated based on the ultrasound data.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the displaying of the measurement information, comprises displaying at least one selected from information about a shape of the cervix, a funnel length of the cervix, a cervical length of the cervix, and a histogram corresponding to at least one position included in the cervix.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

determining a shape of the cervix based on the at least one guide line, and

displaying a screen depicting the determined shape of the cervix.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the displaying of the screen depicting the determined shape of the cervix comprises displaying at least one selected from a schematic diagram corresponding to the shape of the cervix, an icon corresponding to the shape of the cervix, and a histogram corresponding to at least one position included in the cervix.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the displaying of the screen depicting the determined shape of the cervix comprises indicating at least one line corresponding to the at least one guide line on the schematic diagram.

21. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

displaying a histogram corresponding to at least one position included in the cervix; and

indicating the at least one position on an ultrasound image.

22. The method of claim 14, further comprising displaying an ultrasound image obtained using the ultrasound data.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the displaying of the ultrasound image comprises displaying a screen in which the at least one guide line is indicated on the ultrasound image.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising receiving an input for editing the at least one guide line indicated on the ultrasound image.

25. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing a method of operating an ultrasound imaging apparatus, the method comprising:

acquiring ultrasound data for an object including a cervix;

measuring at least one guide line corresponding to the cervix based on the acquired ultrasound data; and

displaying measurement information regarding the at least one guide line.