Method and device for providing travel route of mobile medical diagnosis apparatus

• US 9,766,072 B2
• Filed: 12/18/2013
• Issued: 09/19/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kim, Myeong-je
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Khoi
• Assistant Examiner(s): PECHE, JORGE O
• Application Number:
  US14/133,015
• Publication Number:
  US 20140372037A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,371 Days
• Field of Search: 701 23, 701 28, 701301, 701302, 701400, 701410, 701541
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/0295 by overlaying a vehicle path based on present steering angle over an image without processing that image
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/005 with correlation of navigation data from several sources, e.g. map or contour matching G01C21/30 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/206 specially adapted for indoor navigation

Abstract

A method and device for providing a travel route of a portable medical diagnosis apparatus include acquiring a travel image obtained by capturing a space to move of the medical diagnosis apparatus; predicting the travel route of the medical diagnosis apparatus on the basis of a steering angle of the medical diagnosis apparatus; and displaying information regarding the travel route on the travel image.

Claims

1. A method of providing a travel route of a mobile medical diagnosis apparatus, the method comprising:

acquiring a travel image by capturing an image of a space in which the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus is to be moved;

predicting an original travel route of the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus based on a steering angle of the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus, the predicting of the original travel route comprising determining a width of the original travel route based on a cross-section of the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus and determining the original travel route as a straight-line route when the steering angle is within a threshold range, wherein the threshold range is determined by a user input;

displaying the original travel route on the travel image in an overlapping manner;

detecting a change in the steering angle;

generating an updated travel route by updating the original travel route based on the changed steering angle;

displaying the updated travel route on the travel image in an overlapping manner;

detecting an obstacle related to the original travel route; and

displaying, on the travel image, the obstacle by highlighting an edge of the obstacle as a line, by changing at least one of color, contrast, and brightness of pixels corresponding to the obstacle, or by flickering pixels corresponding to the obstacle.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying information regarding the obstacle on the travel image in an overlapping manner.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the detecting of the obstacle comprises detecting pixels in which a difference in color value between the adjacent pixels is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, in a plurality of pixels.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

measuring a distance between the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus and the obstacle; and

displaying information regarding the measured distance on the travel image.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the measuring of the distance comprises measuring the distance based on a number of pixels located between the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus and the obstacle, in the travel image.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the measuring of the distance comprises measuring the distance based on image capture angles of two cameras that capture the image of the space in which the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus is to move.

7. The method of claim 4, further comprising outputting a notification message indicating that the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus has approached the obstacle when a distance is less than the predetermined threshold value.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the steering angle is measured using at least one of a rotary encoder and a gyroscope sensor which are provided on a moving device of the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the predicting of the travel route comprises determining a width of the travel route based on a size of the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the updated travel route on the travel image comprises simultaneously displaying the updated travel route and the original travel route in a visually different manner.

11. A device for providing a travel route of a mobile medical diagnosis apparatus, the device comprising:

an image capturer to capture an image of a space in which the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus is to be moved;

an image processor to acquire a travel image obtained from the captured image;

an angle measurer to measure a steering angle of the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus;

a route predictor to predict an original travel route of the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus based on the steering angle, the route predictor predicting the original travel route by determining a width of the original travel route on the basis of a cross-section of the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus and by determining the original travel route as a straight-line route when the steering angle is within a threshold range, wherein the threshold range is determined by a user input;

an obstacle detector to detect an obstacle related to the travel route; and

an output to display the original travel route on the travel image in an overlapping manner;

wherein the route predictor is configured to generate an updated travel route by updating the original travel route based on a change in the steering angle measured by the angle measurer, and wherein the output is configured to display the updated travel route on the travel image in an overlapping manner, and

wherein the output displays, on the travel image, the obstacle by highlighting an edge of the obstacle as a line, by changing at least one of color, contrast and brightness of pixels corresponding to the obstacle, or by flickering pixels corresponding to the obstacle.

12. The device of claim 11, further

wherein the output displays information regarding the obstacle on the travel image.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the obstacle detector detects pixels in which a difference in color value between the adjacent pixels is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, in a plurality of pixels.

14. The device of claim 12, wherein the obstacle detector measures a distance between the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus and the obstacle, and the output displays information regarding the measured distance on the travel image.

15. The device of claim 11, wherein the angle measurer is provided on a moving device of the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus and comprises at least one of a rotary encoder and a gyroscope sensor.

16. The device of claim 11, wherein the route predictor determines a width of the travel route based on a size of the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus.

17. The device of claim 11, wherein the output is configured to simultaneously display the updated travel route and the original travel route in a visually different manner.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having embodied thereon a computer program to execute a method of providing a travel route of a mobile medical diagnosis apparatus, the method comprising:

acquiring a travel image by capturing an image of a space in which the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus is to be moved;

predicting an original travel route of the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus based on a steering angle of the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus, the predicting of the original travel route comprising determining a width of the original travel route based on a cross-section of the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus and determining the original travel route as a straight-line route when the steering angle is within a threshold range, wherein the threshold range is determined by a user input;

displaying the original travel route on the travel image in an overlapping manner;

detecting a change in the steering angle;

generating an updated travel route by updating the original travel route based on the changed steering angle;

displaying the updated travel route on the travel image in an overlapping manner;

detecting an obstacle related to the travel route;

and

displaying, on the travel image, the obstacle by highlighting an edge of the obstacle as a line, by changing at least one of color, contrast and brightness of pixels corresponding to the obstacle, or by flickering pixels corresponding to the obstacle.

19. A device for providing a travel route of a mobile medical diagnosis apparatus, the device comprising:

an angle measurer to measure a steering angle of the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus;

a route predictor to predict an original travel route of the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus based on the steering angle, the route predictor to predict the original travel route by determining a width of the original travel route on the basis of a cross-section of the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus and by determining the original travel route as a straight-line route when the steering angle is within a threshold range, wherein the threshold range is determined by a user input;

an obstacle detector to detect an obstacle related to the travel route; and

an output to display the original travel route on a travel image in an overlapping manner;

wherein the route predictor is configured to generate an updated travel route by updating the original travel route based on a change in the steering angle measured by the angle measurer, and wherein the output is configured to display the updated travel route on the travel image in an overlapping manner, and

wherein the output displays, on the travel image, the obstacle by highlighting an edge of the obstacle as a line, by changing at least one of color, contrast and brightness of pixels corresponding to the obstacle, or by flickering pixels corresponding to the obstacle.

20. The device of claim 19, further comprising:

an image capturer to capture an image of a space in which the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus is to move; and

an image processor to acquire the travel image obtained from the captured image,

wherein the output displays information regarding the original travel route and the obstacle on the travel image.

21. The device of claim 20, wherein the obstacle detector measures a distance between the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus and the obstacle, and the output displays information regarding the measured distance on the travel image in an overlapping manner.

22. The device of claim 21, wherein the output outputs a notification message indicating that the mobile medical diagnosis apparatus has approached the obstacle when the distance is less than a predetermined threshold value.