Device and method for determining actual tissue layer boundaries of a body
First Claim
1. A device for determining actual tissue layer boundaries of a body, from two or more ultrasound images acquired via a probe at adjacent positions of a surface of the body, the device comprising:
- a converter that separately converts said ultrasound images to depth signals, wherein a depth signal is obtained by summing intensities of a respective one of said ultrasound images along lines of substantially constant depth in the body;
a detector that separately detects a set of candidate tissue layer boundaries for a respective ultrasound image by thresholding the depth signal obtained for said respective ultrasound image;
a selector that separately selects from a set of candidate tissue layer boundaries for each respective ultrasound image a nearest candidate tissue layer boundary that is nearest to the surface of the body for the respective ultrasound image, wherein the selector further selects the nearest candidate tissue layer boundary only from among those candidate tissue layer boundaries that have a tissue boundary width exceeding a minimum tissue boundary width; and
a processor that determines an actual tissue layer boundary from the nearest candidate tissue layer boundaries selected for each respective ultrasound image of the two or more ultrasound images.
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a device (8) for determining tissue layer boundaries of a body (14), comprising a probe (10) for acquiring (S12) two or more ultrasound images (36) at adjacent positions of a surface (12) of the body (14), a converter (44) for converting (S14) said ultrasound images (36) separately to depth signals (46), wherein a depth signal (46) is obtained by summing intensities of one of said ultrasound images (36) along a line (66) of substantially constant depth in the body (14), a detector (48) for detecting (S16) a set of candidate tissue layer boundaries (50) for an ultrasound image (36) by thresholding the depth signal (46) obtained for said ultrasound image (36), a selection means (52) for selecting (S18) from a set of candidate tissue layer boundaries (50) a nearest candidate tissue layer boundary (54) that is nearest to the surface (12) of the body (14), and a processing means (56) for determining (S20) an actual tissue layer boundary (58) from the nearest candidate tissue layer boundaries (54) obtained for various ultrasound images (36).
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A device for determining actual tissue layer boundaries of a body, from two or more ultrasound images acquired via a probe at adjacent positions of a surface of the body, the device comprising:
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a converter that separately converts said ultrasound images to depth signals, wherein a depth signal is obtained by summing intensities of a respective one of said ultrasound images along lines of substantially constant depth in the body; a detector that separately detects a set of candidate tissue layer boundaries for a respective ultrasound image by thresholding the depth signal obtained for said respective ultrasound image; a selector that separately selects from a set of candidate tissue layer boundaries for each respective ultrasound image a nearest candidate tissue layer boundary that is nearest to the surface of the body for the respective ultrasound image, wherein the selector further selects the nearest candidate tissue layer boundary only from among those candidate tissue layer boundaries that have a tissue boundary width exceeding a minimum tissue boundary width; and a processor that determines an actual tissue layer boundary from the nearest candidate tissue layer boundaries selected for each respective ultrasound image of the two or more ultrasound images. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for determining actual tissue layer boundaries of a body from two or more ultrasound images acquired via a probe at adjacent positions of a surface of the body, the method comprising the steps of:
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converting said ultrasound images separately to depth signals, wherein a depth signal is obtained by summing intensities of a respective one of said ultrasound images along lines of substantially equal depth in the body; detecting a set of candidate tissue layer boundaries separately for a respective ultrasound image by thresholding the depth signal obtained for said respective ultrasound image; selecting from a set of candidate tissue layer boundaries, separately for each respective ultrasound image, a nearest candidate tissue layer boundary that is nearest to the surface of the body, wherein selecting further comprises selecting the nearest candidate tissue layer boundary only from among those candidate tissue layer boundaries that have a tissue boundary width exceeding a minimum tissue boundary width; and determining an actual tissue layer boundary from the nearest candidate tissue layer boundaries selected for each respective ultrasound image of the two or more ultrasound images. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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Specification