Method of automatically measuring the volume of a tumor or of a gland, in particular the prostate, a measuring device, and a method and apparatus constituting and application thereof
First Claim
1. A method for measuring the volume of a tumor or of a gland, in particular, the prostate gland or a tumor located therein, the method comprising:
- disposing an endocavitary detector probe relative to the tumor or to the gland in a position suitable for detecting the tumor or the gland, said probe generating a signal representing an image of the tumor or gland detected thereby;
connecting said signal to an image-forming screen to provide an image of the tumor or of the gland on said image-forming screen;
moving the probe to a plurality of positions by step-by-step translation and rotation to obtain radial and/or longitudinal sections of the tumor or gland;
marking the outline of the tumor or of the gland on said image on said image-forming screen for at least a plurality of probe positions; and
calculating the volume of the tumor or of the gland on the basis of the marked outlines.
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Abstract
The invention relates to a measuring method for automatically measuring the volume of a tumor or of a gland, and also to a measuring device. The measuring device comprises an endocavitary detector probe, in particular a transrectal probe, display means, the display means including an image-forming screen forming images of the tumor or of the gland as provided by the probe, outline-marking means for marking the outline of the image of the tumor or of the gland on the image-forming screen, thereby enabling a marked outline to be obtained, computer means for calculating the volume of the tumor or of the gland on the basis of the marked outline, and optional means for storing the marked outline. The invention makes it very easy for a practitioner to determine the volume of a tumor or of a gland to be treated.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method for measuring the volume of a tumor or of a gland, in particular, the prostate gland or a tumor located therein, the method comprising:
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disposing an endocavitary detector probe relative to the tumor or to the gland in a position suitable for detecting the tumor or the gland, said probe generating a signal representing an image of the tumor or gland detected thereby; connecting said signal to an image-forming screen to provide an image of the tumor or of the gland on said image-forming screen; moving the probe to a plurality of positions by step-by-step translation and rotation to obtain radial and/or longitudinal sections of the tumor or gland; marking the outline of the tumor or of the gland on said image on said image-forming screen for at least a plurality of probe positions; and calculating the volume of the tumor or of the gland on the basis of the marked outlines. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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- 8. A device for measuring the volume of a tumor or of a gland, in particular a tumor of the prostate, or a gland constituted by the prostate, wherein the device comprises a detector probe generating a signal representing an image of the tumor or gland detected thereby, display means including an image-forming screen connected to said detector probe for forming images of said tumor or of said gland on said image forming screen, means for marking the outline of the tumor or of the gland on an image formed on said image forming screen, and computer means for calculating the volume of the tumor or of the gland from the dimensions of the outline thereof as marked on at least a plurality of said images of the marked outline, optionally together with means for recording the marked outline and/or the image.
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21. Apparatus for the therapeutic treatment of a tumor, comprising:
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a device for therapeutically treating said tumor; display means comprising; (i) exploratory probe means generating a signal corresponding to an image; (ii) an image-forming screen for forming images generated by said probe; means for displacing said probe to a plurality of positions by step-by-step translation and rotation to obtain radial and/or longitudinal sections of said tumor; means for marking the outline of the tumor on the images on said image-forming screen for at least a plurality of positions of said probe; computer means for calculating the volume of the tumor on the basis of the marked outlines and integrating the calculated volume measurements to define the treatment parameters of the tumor; and transmitting means for transmitting said parameters to said device for treating the tumor. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification