Method and apparatus for displaying data in a medical imaging system

• US 5,803,914 A
• Filed: 10/03/1996
• Issued: 09/08/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 04/15/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Adam Laboratories Inc.
• Inventors: Hudson, Robert C., Ryals, Carl J., Goldberg, Edward M., Wong, Stanley H.
• Primary Examiner(s): CASLER, BRIAN L
• Application Number:
  US08/720,896
• Time in Patent Office: 705 Days
• Field of Search: 600/407, 600/436, 128/922, 378/901, 345/419, 345/418, 345/424, 345/427, 382/131, 250/370.08, 250/370.09
• US Class Current: 600/407
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0275 using tracers, e.g. dye dilution
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/463 characterised by displaying multiple images or images and diagnostic data on one display
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/543 involving acquisition triggered by a physiological signal
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/00 Manipulating 3D models or images for computer graphics
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2200/24 involving graphical user interfaces [GUIs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2210/41 Medical
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2219/028 Multiple view windows (top-side-front-sagittal-orthogonal)
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/922 including image analysis

Abstract

A system for acquisition, processing and display of gated SPECT imaging data for use in diagnosing Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) in nuclear medicine. The present invention provides a physician with two parameters for evaluating CAD: information relating to the distribution of blood flow within the myocardium (perfusion) and information relating to myocardium wall motion (function). One aspect of the present invention provides the physician with a display of functional images representing quantitative information relating to both perfusion and function with respect to selected regions of interest of the subject heart at end-diastole and end-systole segments of the cardiac cycle. The functional display consists of arcs of varied width depending on wall motion and color coded to illustrate degrees of myocardial perfusion for different pie shaped sections of a selected region of interest within a given short axis slice of reconstructed volume data. The present invention also provides a series of display images allowing facilitated access, display, and comparison of the numerous image frames of the heart that may be collected during gated SPECT sessions. The present invention also offers the ability to define and recall parameter files representative of data acquisition and processing parameters and protocol for use in gated SPECT studies. The invention also includes a semi-list processing mode to increased efficiency of data acquisition within a camera computer system.

Claims

1. In a computer system including a display device for displaying information, a method for presenting cardiac information, said method comprising:

storing individual frames of a reconstructed volume in a single data structure including a short-axis dataset of frames, a vertical long axis dataset of frames, and a horizontal long axis dataset of frames;

causing a plurality of frames of said short-axis dataset, said vertical long axis dataset and said horizontal long axis dataset to be displayed by said display device for each of at least two individual gated segments of a cardiac cycle;

causing a user positionable representation to be displayed by said display device in one frame of one of said datasets; and

updating frames of the other two of said datasets based on a repositioning of said representation.

2. A method as described in claim 1, wherein said updating frames of the other two of said datasets comprises updating frames of the other two of said datasets based on a repositioning by a user of said representation.

3. A method as described in claim 1, wherein said representation comprises a set of user positionable crosshairs.

4. A method as described in claim 1, wherein said updating frames of the other two of said datasets based on a repositioning of said representation comprises changing the frames of said other two of said data sets that are displayed by the display device based on said repositioning of said representation.

5. A method as described in claim 1, wherein said at least two individual gated segments of said cardiac cycle comprise an end-systole segment and an end-diastole segment of said cardiac cycle.