Apparatus and method for providing multiple ultrasonic sector image displays

• US 4,271,842 A
• Filed: 03/03/1978
• Issued: 06/09/1981
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/1978
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Elscint Limited (Elbit Imaging Limited), Elscint Imaging Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Smith Kline Instruments Incorporated
• Inventors: Goldberg, Paul R., Specht, Donald F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Michell, Robert W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jaworski, Francis J.
• Application Number:
  US05/883,171
• Time in Patent Office: 1,194 Days
• Field of Search: 128/2 V, 128/2.05 Z, 128/660-663, 73/602-603, 73/618-626, 250/363 S, 250/445 T, 358/111-113, 364/731, 364/576-577, 364/819-821
• US Class Current: 600/443
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/352 Detecting R peaks, e.g. for synchronising diagnostic apparatus; Estimating R-R interval
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/899 Combination of imaging systems with ancillary equipment

Abstract

The apparatus includes an input controller connected to receive input data representing ultrasonic sector images of a patient for digitizing selected ones of the images thereby representing those images in a digital format. A front panel interface is provided for specifying the selected ones of the sector images to be digitized. Storage means are provided for storing the digitized data and processor means are provided for controlling the digitizing and storing of the input sector data and for enhancing the digital images. Display means are provided for displaying the enhanced sector images.

Claims

1. Apparatus for providing multiple cardiac sector image displays comprising:

input controller means connected to receive input ultrasonic echo data representing cardiac sector images of a patient occurring during one or more cardiac cycles for digitizing in real time selected ones of said images thereby representing said images in a digital format,

front panel interface means for specifying said selected ones of said images occurring during one of said cardiac cycles,

storage means for storing in real time the digitized data,

microprocessor means for controlling in real time the digitizing and storing of said input data and for enhancing said digital images, said microprocessor means including memory means for storing a predetermined program of instructions, means responsive to a first portion of said stored program for digitizing and storing said input data, means responsive to a second portion of said stored program for enhancing said digital images, and means responsive to a third portion of said stored program for converting said enhanced data into a format corresponding to an analog format,

output controller means connected to receive the converted enhanced data for converting said enhanced data to an analog format for display, and

analog strip chart recorder means connected to receive the enhanced data in said analog format for displaying said multiple sector images thereby representing a cardiac image profile.

2. Apparatus for providing multiple cardiac sector image displays comprising:

input controller means connected to receive input ultrasonic echo data representing cardiac sector images of a patient occurring during one or more cardiac cycles for digitizing in real time selected ones of said images thereby representing said images in a digital format,

front panel interface means for specifying selected ones of said sector images occurring relative to a physiological event of the patent,

storage means for storing in real time the digitized data,

microprocessor means for controlling in real time the digitizing and storing of said input data and for enhancing said digital images, said microprocessor means including memory means for storing a predetermined program of instructions, means responsive to a first portion of said stored program for digitizing and storing said input data, means responsive to a second portion of said stored program for enhancing said digital images, and means responsive to a third portion of said stored program for converting said enhanced data into a format suitable for display, and

digital recorder means connected to receive the converted enhanced data for displaying said multiple sector images thereby representing a cardiac image profile.

3. Apparatus for providing multiple cardiac sector image displays together with a patient'"'"'s physiological parameters comprising:

input controller means connected to receive input ultrasonic echo data representing sector images having a number of scan lines where the images occur as elements on said scan lines and connected to receive other input data representing physiological parameters of a patient occurring during one or more cardiac cycles for digitizing in real time selected ones of said images thereby representing said images in a digital format,

front panel interface means for specifying said selected ones of said sector images occurring relative to a physiological event of the patient,

storage means for storing in real time the digitized data,

microprocessor means for controlling in real time the digitizing and storage of said input data and for enhancing the digitized images, said microprocessor means including memory means for storing a predetermined program of instructions, means responsive to a first portion of said stored program for digitizing and storing said selected ones of said images and said other input data, means responsive to a second portion of said stored program for enhancing said digitized images without said scan lines, and means responsive to a third portion of said stored program for converting said enhanced data into a format suitable for display,

monitor means connected to receive the converted enhanced images for displaying selected ones of said enhanced images thereby allowing previewing of said enhanced images,

means for specifying selected ones of said enhanced images on said monitor means, and

recorder means for displaying in hard copy form said selected enhanced images without said scan lines and for displaying said physiological parameters.

4. Apparatus for continuously refreshing a strobed frame on a cathode ray tube display comprising:

input controller means connected to receive input ultrasonic echo data representing cardiac sector images occurring during one or more cardiac cycles for digitizing in real time selected frames of said sector images where each of said frames occurs as one of said sector images thereby representing said images in a digitized format,

means for specifying one of said frames each cardiac cycle as an operator-controlled variable time delay after an identifiable physiological event thereby forming a strobed frame,

storage means for storing in real time said strobed frame each cardiac cycle such that each strobed frame is stored in the section of memory containing the previously strobed frame,

monitor means for displaying the last stored strobed frame refreshed sufficiently often so as to avoid noticeable flicker, and

microprocessor means for controlling the digitizing, storing and refreshing of said strobed images, said microprocessor means inlcuding memory means for storing a predetermined program of instructions, means responsive to a first portion of said stored program for digitizing and storing said input data, means responsive to a second portion of said stored program for enhancing said strobed frames, and means responsive to a third portion of said stored program for refreshing said strobed images.

5. Apparatus for providing multiple sector image displays comprising:

input controller means connected to receive input ultrasonic echo data representing sector images of a patient occurring during one or more cardiac cycles for digitizing in real time selected frames of said sector images where each of said frames occurs as one of said sector images thereby representing said images in a digital format,

front panel interface means for specifying the storage of a cluster of said frames,

storage means for storing in real time a plurality of frames of data where each new frame is stored in the memory area previously holding the oldest form of data, thereby forming a cluster of stored frames,

microprocessor means for controlling in real time the digitizing and storing of said input data, and for enhancing said digital images, said microprocessor means including memory means for storing a predetermined program of instructions, means responsive to a first portion of said stored program for digitizing and storing said input data, means responsive to a second portion of said stored program for enhancing said digital images,

control means for stopping the storage of new frames thereby freezing a cluster of frames occurring within a predetermined interval of time,

monitor means for displaying one of the clustered frames,

and means for selecting one or more of said stored and enhanced frames displayed on said monitor means to be output in hard copy form.

6. Apparatus for providing multiple sector image displays comprising:

input controller means connected to receive input ultrasonic echo data representing a patient'"'"'s cardiac sector images occurring during one or more cardiac cycles for digitizing in real time selected frames of said sector images where each of said frames occurs as one of said sector images thereby representing said images in a digital format,

means for strobing selected ones of said frames during said cardiac cycles based on a variable delay after an identifiable physiological event,

storage means for storing in real time each strobed frame and for storing in real time a cluster of frames around said strobed frame,

microprocessor means for controlling in real time the digitizing and storing of said input data and for enhancing said digital images, said microprocessor means including memory means for storing a predetermined program of instructions, means responsive to a first portion of said stored program for digitizing and storing said input data, means responsive to a second portion of said stored program for controlling the strobing of said selected ones of said frames, means responsive to a third portion of said stored program for controlling the stopping of the storage of said new clusters, and means responsive to a fourth portion of said stored program for enhancing said digital images,

control means for stopping the storage of new clusters thereby freezing a cluster of frames ocurring within a period of time including the occurrence of the strobed frame,

monitor means for displaying selected ones of said cluster of frames in soft copy form, and

recorder means for recording selected ones of said enhanced frames in hard copy form.

7. Apparatus for providing multiple cardiac sector image displays comprising:

input controller means connected to receive input ultrasonic echo data representing cardiac sector images of a patient occurring during one or more cardiac cycles for digitizing in real time selected ones of said images thereby representing said images in a digital format,

front panel interface means for specifying said selected ones of said images,

means for strobing in real time selected ones of said frames during said cardiac cycles based on a variable delay after the R-wave of an electrocardiogram,

storage means for storing in real time each strobed frame once each cardiac cycle such that each new strobed frame is stored in the section of memory previously containing the oldest strobed frame,

control means for stopping the storage of new sectors, thereby freezing the last several strobed frames in memory,

microprocessor means for controlling in real time the digitizing and storing of said input data and enhancing said digital images, said microprocessor means including memory means for storing a predetermined program of instructions, means responsive to a first portion of said stored program for digitizing and storing said input data, means responsive to a second portion of said stored program for controlling the strobing of said selected ones of said frames, means responsive to a third portion of said stored program for controlling the displaying of said images, and means responsive to a fourth portion of said stored program for controlling the display of said selected enhanced images,

monitor means connected to receive said input data for displaying said images in soft copy form thereby permitting previewing of said images, and

means for displaying the selected enhanced images in hard copy form.

8. Apparatus for providing multiple sector image displays comprising:

input controller means connected to receive input ultrasonic echo data in polar coordinates representing sector images of a patient for digitizing in real time selected frames of said sector images thereby representing said images in a digital format,

front panel interface means for specifying said selected frames,

storage means for storing in real time said selected frames,

monitor means connected to display said input data representing sector images,

means for specifying selected ones of said displayed frames,

microprocessor means for controlling in real time the digitizing and storing of said input data, for enhancing said digital images, and for converting in real time said polar coordinates to rectangular coordinates, said microprocessor means including memory means for storing a predetermined program of instructions, means responsive to a first portion of said stored program for digitizing and storing of said input data, means responsive to a second portion of said stored program for enhancing said digital images, means responsive to a third portion of said stored program for converting said polar coordinates to rectangular coordinates, and

recorder means connected to receive the converted enhanced data for displaying said selected enhanced images in hard copy form.

9. Apparatus for providing multiple sector image displays comprising:

input controller means connected to receive input ultrasonic echo data in polar coordinates representing sector images of a patient for digitizing in real time selected frames of said sector images thereby representing said images in a digital format,

front panel interface means for specifying said selected frames,

storage means for storing in real time said selected frames,

monitor means connected to display said input data representing sector images,

means for specifying selected ones of said displayed frames,

microprocessor means for controlling in real time the digitizing and storing of said input data, for enhancing said digital images, and for converting in real time said polar coordinates to rectangular coordinates, said microprocessor means including memory means for storing a predetermined program of instructions, means responsive to a first portion of said stored program for digitizing and storing of said input data, means responsive to a second portion of said stored program for enhancing said digital images, and means responsive to a third portion of said stored program for converting said polar coordinates to rectangular coordinates, and means responsive to a fourth portion of said stored program for controlling the display of said enhanced data, and

M-mode video strip chart recorder means connected to receive the enhanced data for displaying said selected enhanced images in hard copy form on the same recorder means that is utilized for M-mode recordings.

10. Apparatus for providing one or more sector image displays comprising:

input controller means connected to receive input ultrasonic echo data in two dimensional format representing one or more sector images for digitizing in real time selected frames of said sector images where each of said frames occurs as one of said sector images thereby representing said images in a digitized format,

monitor means connected to receive said input data for displaying said sector images in soft copy form thereby allowing previewing of said images,

front panel interface means for specifying said selected frames,

storage means for storing in real time said selected frames by row and column corresponding to said two dimensional format thereby eliminating the need for processing time to compute addresses for a conventional one dimensional memory when processing two dimensional data,

microprocessor means for controlling in real time the digitizing of said input data, for storing and accessing in real time said input data by row and column and for enhancing said digital images, said microprocessor means including memory means for storing a predetermined program of instructions, means responsive to a first portion of said stored program for digitizing of said input data, means responsive to a second portion of said stored program for storing and accessing of said input data by row and column, means responsive to a third portion of said stored program for enhancing of said digitial images, means responsive to a fourth portion of said stored program for controlling the display of said sector images, and

display means connected to receive said selected frames for displaying said multiple sector images.

11. Apparatus for providing high-resolution abdominal sector image displays comprising:

input controller means connected to receive input ultrasonic echo data in polar coordinates representing sector images having a number of scan lines for digitizing selected images thereby representing said images in a digital format,

storage means for storing in real time at least one frame of the digitized data,

microprocessor means for controlling in real time the digitizing and storing of said input data and for improving the resolution of the data through deconvolution processing, and for converting in real time the data from said polar coordinates to rectangular coordinates, and for interpolating in real time between data points so that the original scan lines are not apparent in the output format, said microprocessor means including memory means for storing a predetermined program of instructions, means responsive to a first portion of said stored program for digitizing and storing of said input data, means responsive to a second portion of said stored program improving the resolution of said input data through deconvolution processing, means responsive to a third portion of said stored program for converting said polar coordinates to rectangular coordinates, means responsive to a fourth portion of said stored program for interpolating between data points so that the original scan lines are not apparent in the output format, and

recorder means connected to receive the processed data for displaying said processed data in hard copy form.

12. Apparatus for providing multiple sector image displays comprising:

input controller means connected to receive input ultrasonic echo data representing sector images having a number of scan lines where the images occur as elements on said scan lines for digitizing in real time selected ones of said images thereby representing said images in a digital format,

front panel interface means for specifying said selected ones of said sector images,

storage means for storing in real time the digitized elements,

microprocessor means for controlling in real time the digitizing and storage of said input data and for generating in real time a number of elements, greater then the number of the stored elements by interpolating between said stored elements thereby eliminating spaces between said scan lines and enhancing the digitized images, said microprocessor means including memory means for storing a predetermined program of instructions, means responsive to a first portion of said stored program for digitizing and storing of said input data, means responsive to a second portion of said stored program for controlling the generation of said number of elements, and means responsive to a third portion of said stored program for controlling the display of said selected enhanced images, and

recorder means for displaying in hard copy form said selected enhanced images.

13. Apparatus for providing one or more sector image displays comprising:

input controller means connected to receive input data representing ultrasonic echo sector images of a patient for digitizing in real dime selected frames of said sector images where each of said frames occurs as one of said sector images thereby representing said images in a digital format,

front panel interface means for specifying said selected ones of said sector frames,

storage means for storing in real time the digitized sector data in rows corresponding to echoes from a single direction where adjacent rows of sector data correspond to sector data from different directions with angular increments from row to row, thereby forming a number of columns of data representing all of the data from a single depth into the tissue,

microprocessor means for controlling in real time the digitizing and storing of said input data for selecting data from said columns where each column represents sector data from a single depth of scanning, for deconvolving each column of data thereby enhancing the data, and for writing the enhanced data into said storage means, said microprocessor means including memory means for storing a predetermined program of instructions, means responsive to a first portion of said stored program for digitizing and storing of said input data, means responsive to a second portion of said stored program for selecting data from said columns, means responsive to a third portion of said stored program for deconvolving each column, and means responsive to a fourth portion of said stored program for writing said enhanced data, and

recorder means connected to receive said selected frames for displaying said enhanced images.

14. Apparatus for providing one or more sector image displays comprising:

input controller means connected to receive input ultrasonic echo data representing sector frames having a first number of scan lines where the frames occur as elements on said scan lines for digitizing in real time selected ones of said frames thereby representing said frames in a digital format,

front panel interface means for specifying said selected ones of said sector frames,

storage means for storing in real time the digitized data,

microprocessor means for controlling in real time the digitizing and storage of said input data, for enhancing the digitized frames thereby forming an enhanced sector image for each of said sector frames, where each of said frames includes a number of scan lines corresponding to said first number, and for refreshing said scan lines on monitor means faster than in real time so that the entire frame of stored data can be written on the monitor means at least twice during the time taken to acquire the data in real time by interleaving successive refreshes of the frame of data on the monitor means thereby reducing spaces between the stored scan lines, said microprocessor means including memory means for storing a predetermined program of instructions, means responsive to a first portion of said stored program for digitizing and storing of said input data, means responsive to a second portion of said stored program for enhancing said digitized frames, means responsive to a third portion of said stored program for refreshing said scan lines on said monitor means faster than in real time, means responsive to a fourth portion of said stored program for controlling the display of said selected enhanced images, and

monitor means for displaying the selected enhanced images.

15. Apparatus for providing multiple cardiac sector image displays comprising:

input controller means connected to receive input ultrasonic echo data representing cardiac sector images of a patient occurring during one or more cardiac cycles for digitizing in real time selected frames of said sector images where each of said frames occurs as one of said sector images thereby representing said images in a digital format,

means for specifying said selected frames,

storage means for storing in real time said selected frames each cardiac cycle,

microprocessor means for controlling in real time the digitizing and storing of said input data and for enhancing said digital images, said microprocessor means including memory means for storing a predetermined program of instructions, means responsive to a first portion of said stored program for digitizing and storing of said selected frames, means responsive to a second portion of said stored program for enhancing said selected digital images, means responsive to a third portion of said stored program for controlling the display of said enhanced images, means responsive to a fourth portion of said stored program for controlling the cyclic display of said enhanced images,

monitor means for displaying said enhanced images, and

cycle switch means for cycling sequentially the stored enhanced images on said monitor means thereby representing a cardiac cycle.