Method of acquiring ultrasound images
First Claim
Patent Images
1. Method of acquiring medical ultrasound images using ultrasound equipment provided with a probe and a screen for displaying images produced in real time comprising the steps of:
- a) acquiring at a first date with said equipment during a first examination of a patient a first image of a region of the body of said patient to be examined with a particular angle of incidence and inclination of said probe, said first image comprising contours of vascular structures; and
b) acquiring at a second subsequent date with said equipment during a second further examination of said patient a second image of said region of the body of said patient by the following steps;
1) producing on the display screen an image of contours of vascular structures from the first image;
2) manipulating said probe until vascular structures of the image of said region of the body, visible in real time on said display screen, are superimposed on the displayed contours of vascular structures from the first image; and
3) acquiring as said second image said displayed image when said superimposition is obtained, whereby the second image has substantially the same angle of incidence and inclination of the probe as the first image.
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Abstract
Ultrasound images are rendered reproducible over long time periods by determining contours of a first image and superimposing them on a real time display screen during acquisition of a second image. The operator manipulates the probe so that the new image fits within the contours obtained from the first image. This avoids the need for signal processing requiring powerful computer resources. It also avoids the use of complicated ultrasound images. The method may be implemented in any ultrasound equipment currently available on the market.
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Citations
7 Claims
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1. Method of acquiring medical ultrasound images using ultrasound equipment provided with a probe and a screen for displaying images produced in real time comprising the steps of:
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a) acquiring at a first date with said equipment during a first examination of a patient a first image of a region of the body of said patient to be examined with a particular angle of incidence and inclination of said probe, said first image comprising contours of vascular structures; and b) acquiring at a second subsequent date with said equipment during a second further examination of said patient a second image of said region of the body of said patient by the following steps; 1) producing on the display screen an image of contours of vascular structures from the first image; 2) manipulating said probe until vascular structures of the image of said region of the body, visible in real time on said display screen, are superimposed on the displayed contours of vascular structures from the first image; and 3) acquiring as said second image said displayed image when said superimposition is obtained, whereby the second image has substantially the same angle of incidence and inclination of the probe as the first image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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Specification