Hardware configuration and interfacing in a component-based environment for a medical scanner
First Claim
1. A medical imaging system to execute applications written in a hardware independent programming language, the medical imaging system having:
- a system control with system control software independent from the applications and designed to communicate with the applications to facilitate application control of the medical imaging system, the system control having an architecture comprising;
a logical representation of hardware usable by the system;
a prescription block and a configuration block to determine the hardware needed for execution of the application;
a run-time control block to manage the hardware during execution of the application; and
a set of drivers to control the hardware based on commands received from the run-time control block.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for a hardware configuration and interfacing in a component-based environment for a medical imaging system is disclosed. Specifically, the invention directed to software architecture for the control of medical imaging system hardware is disclosed. The architecture can be logically divided into four elements: a system hardware control to provide system hardware availability information and control, a system configuration control to provide hardware constraint information, an application prescription control to identify hardware capabilities requested by a user-selected application and configure hardware settings for the system hardware, and an application hardware control to enable the application to exert control over the system hardware during execution. The architecture allows application software to be independent from hardware control software.
12 Citations
51 Claims
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1. A medical imaging system to execute applications written in a hardware independent programming language, the medical imaging system having:
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a system control with system control software independent from the applications and designed to communicate with the applications to facilitate application control of the medical imaging system, the system control having an architecture comprising;
a logical representation of hardware usable by the system;
a prescription block and a configuration block to determine the hardware needed for execution of the application;
a run-time control block to manage the hardware during execution of the application; and
a set of drivers to control the hardware based on commands received from the run-time control block. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A hardware control system comprising:
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a system hardware control to provide medical imaging system hardware availability information for detailed control of the medical imaging system hardware;
a system configuration control to receive the system hardware availability information and provide constraint information of the medical imaging system hardware;
an application prescription control to receive the constraint information of the medical imaging system hardware, identify hardware capabilities requested by the application and configure the application for the medical imaging system hardware; and
an application hardware control to bind a hardware object to allow the application to exert control over the hardware during execution of the application. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. An MRI apparatus comprising:
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a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system having a plurality of gradient coils positioned about a bore of a magnet to impress a polarizing magnetic field and an RF transceiver system and an RF switch controlled by a pulse module to transmit RF signals to an RF coil Assembly to acquire MR images; and
a group of hardware control elements for controlling the MRI apparatus, the group comprising;
a logical representation of hardware usable by the system;
a prescription block and configuration block to interface with an application to determine the hardware needed for execution of the application;
a run-time control block to manage the hardware during execution of the application;
a set of drivers to control the hardware based on commands received from the run-time control block. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one process, cause the at least one processor to:
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autodetect current medical imaging system hardware;
synchronize a representation of the medical imaging system hardware autodetected by a system hardware control with a system configuration control;
retrieve appropriate hardware objects usable by the current medical imaging system hardware from a repository of hardware objects;
optimize medical imaging system hardware settings according to attributes of the hardware objects selected;
download hardware components to an application hardware control;
bind the selected application to the hardware objects; and
run the application. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A method of hardware control comprising:
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autodetecting current medical imaging system hardware;
synchronizing a representation of the medical imaging system hardware autodetected by a system hardware control with a system configuration control;
retrieving appropriate hardware objects usable by a selected application from a repository of hardware objects;
optimizing medical imaging system hardware settings according to attributes of the hardware objects selected;
downloading hardware components to an application hardware control;
binding the selected application to the hardware objects; and
running the application. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51)
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Specification