System and method for correcting fault conditions in soft-field tomography

• US 8,990,040 B2
• Filed: 12/22/2010
• Issued: 03/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Ross, Alexander Seth
• Primary Examiner(s): Breene, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): RIVERA VARGAS, MANUEL A
• Application Number:
  US12/976,656
• Publication Number:
  US 20120166127A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,553 Days
• Field of Search: 702/104, 702/40, 702/183, 702/185, 600/301, 600437-472, 600/425, 600/547
• US Class Current: 702/104
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0536 Impedance imaging, e.g. by tomography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6843 Monitoring or controlling sensor contact pressure
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7221 Determining signal validity, reliability or quality A61B5/7207 and A61B5/7217 take precedence

Abstract

A soft-field tomography system includes a plurality of transducers configured for positioning at a surface of an object. An excitation driver is configured to generate a precomputed default excitation pattern for the plurality of transducers. A processor stores the precomputed default excitation pattern and a corresponding predicted response for the precomputed excitation pattern. The processor further stores one or more precomputed fault excitation patterns and corresponding predicted response for the fault excitation patterns corresponding to one or more fault conditions of the plurality of transducers. A response measurement device is configured to measure a response at one or more of the transducers to determine if a fault condition exists. If a fault condition exists, the processor at least one of instructs the excitation driver to generate a precomputed fault excitation pattern or uses a predicted response that corresponds to the fault condition for a soft field tomography process.

Claims

1. A soft-field tomography system comprising:

a plurality of transducers configured for positioning at a surface of an object, wherein the plurality of transducers correspond to a plurality of channels;

an excitation driver coupled to the plurality of channels and configured to generate a precomputed default excitation pattern for the plurality of transducers;

a processor electrically coupled to the excitation driver, the processor storing the precomputed default excitation pattern and a corresponding predicted response for the precomputed default excitation pattern, the processor further storing at least one precomputed fault excitation pattern and corresponding predicted response for the precomputed fault excitation pattern corresponding to one or more fault conditions of the plurality of transducers; and

a response measurement device configured to measure a response at one or more of the transducers to determine if a fault condition exists, wherein, if a fault condition exists, the processor performs at least one of instructs the excitation driver to generate at least one of the precomputed fault excitation pattern or uses the predicted response that corresponds to one or more fault conditions for a soft field tomography process.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the precomputed fault excitation pattern and the corresponding predicted response for the precomputed fault excitation pattern are determined based on a position of the transducers, wherein the processor transforms at least one of the precomputed fault excitation pattern and the corresponding predicted response to match the fault condition.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the processor transforms at least one of the precomputed fault excitation patterns and the corresponding predicted response through at least one of a mathematical transformation, a coordinate transformation, a linear transformation, a non-linear transformation, or a geometric transformation.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the precomputed default excitation pattern or the corresponding predicted response is computed based on at least one of a number of transducers, a relative position of the transducers, or a geometry of the surface of the object.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the transducers are electrodes and the precomputed fault excitation pattern and the corresponding predicted response for the precomputed fault excitation pattern are computed for fault conditions wherein an electrode contact impedance above a predetermined threshold exists for at least one of the electrodes.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the precomputed fault excitation pattern and the corresponding predicted response are computed for fault conditions wherein at least one of the transducers becomes disconnected from the excitation driver.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the precomputed fault excitation pattern and the corresponding predicted response are computed for fault conditions wherein at least one of the transducers becomes decoupled from the surface of the object.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein a sum of the currents of the transducers operating in the precomputed default excitation pattern equals zero, and a sum of the currents of the transducers operating in a precomputed fault excitation pattern equals zero.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor selects a precomputed fault excitation pattern during a soft-field tomography process.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein a fault condition is determined to exist based on a detection of a non-zero sum of excitations on all or a subset of the plurality of transducers.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the response at the plurality of transducers includes at least one of an amplitude, a phase, or a frequency matching or exceeding a predetermined value.

12. A method for correcting a fault condition in a soft-field tomography system, the method comprising:

precomputing a default excitation pattern and a corresponding predicted response for a plurality of transducers arranged at a surface of an object;

precomputing at least one fault excitation pattern and corresponding predicted response for the fault excitation pattern that correspond to one or more fault conditions in the plurality of transducers;

applying the default excitation pattern to the object;

measuring a response at one or more of the plurality of transducers to determine if a fault condition exists; and

if a fault condition exists, at least one of selecting at least one fault excitation pattern or using the corresponding predicted response that corresponds to one or more fault conditions.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

computing the fault excitation pattern and the corresponding response based on a position of the transducers; and

transforming the fault excitation pattern and the corresponding response to match the fault condition.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising transforming the fault excitation pattern and the corresponding predicted response through at least one of a mathematical transformation, a coordinate transformation, a linear transformation, a non-linear transformation, or a geometric transformation.

15. The method of claim 12 further comprising computing the default excitation pattern and the corresponding predicted response based on at least one of a number of transducers, a relative position of the transducers, or a geometry of the object.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the transducers are electrodes, the method further comprising computing the fault excitation pattern and the corresponding predicted response for fault conditions wherein an electrode contact impedance above a predetermined threshold exists for at least one of the electrodes.

17. The method of claim 12 further comprising computing the fault excitation pattern and the corresponding predicted response for fault conditions wherein at least one of the transducers becomes disconnected from system hardware or decoupled from the surface of the object.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein the response at the plurality of transducers includes at least one of an amplitude, a phase, or a frequency matching or exceeding a predetermined value.

19. A processor for correcting a fault condition in a soft-field tomography system having a transducer fault module, the transducer fault module configured to:

precompute a default excitation pattern and a corresponding predicted response for a plurality of transducers arranged at a surface of an object;

precompute at least one fault excitation pattern and corresponding predicted response for the fault excitation pattern corresponding to one or more fault conditions in the plurality of transducers;

apply the default excitation pattern to the object;

measure a response at one or more of the plurality of transducers to determine if a fault condition exists; and

if a fault condition exists, at least one of select at least one fault excitation pattern or use the corresponding predicted response that corresponds to the fault condition.

20. The processor of claim 19, wherein the transducer fault module is further configured to:

compute the fault excitation pattern and the corresponding predicted response based on a position of the transducers; and

transform the fault excitation pattern and the corresponding predicted response to match the fault condition.

21. The processor of claim 20, wherein the transducer fault module is further configured to transform the fault excitation pattern and the corresponding predicted response through at least one of a mathematical transformation, a coordinate transformation, a linear transformation, a non-linear transformation, or a geometric transformation.

22. The processor of claim 19, wherein the transducer fault module is further configured to compute at least one of the excitation pattern and the corresponding predicted response based on at least one of a number of transducers, a relative position of the transducers, or a geometry of the surface of the object.

23. The processor of claim 19, wherein the transducers are electrodes and the transducer fault module is further configured to compute at least one of the fault excitation pattern and the corresponding predicted response for fault conditions wherein an electrode contact impedance above a predetermined threshold exists for at least one of the electrodes.

24. The processor of claim 19, wherein the transducer fault module is further configured to compute the fault excitation pattern and the corresponding predicted response for fault conditions wherein at least one of the transducers becomes disconnected from system hardware or decoupled from the surface of the object.

25. The processor of claim 19, wherein the response at the plurality of transducers includes at least one of an amplitude, a phase, or a frequency matching or exceeding a predetermined value.