Image super enhancement
First Claim
1. A method for imaging a tool inside a portion of a body of a subject that undergoes motion, the tool having contours and the tool having one or more radiopaque markers coupled thereto, the method comprising:
- acquiring a plurality of image frames of the portion of the subject'"'"'s body, wherein the tool comprises an endoluminal tool such that the plurality of image frames include the endoluminal tool within the portion of the subject'"'"'s body; and
using at least one computer processor, generating at least one image frame in which the tool is enhanced, by;
identifying edge lines that correspond to contours of the tool in the image frames;
in response to identifying the edge lines that correspond to contours of the tool;
determining similarities between the edge lines within the image frames to one another; and
selecting a subset of the image frames that are based upon the acquired image frames, at least partially based upon a level of similarity between the edge lines in the selected image frames to one another, the selecting comprising rejecting from being included in the subset, at least one image frame in which edge lines corresponding to the contours of the tool appear, wherein the at least one image frame that is rejected is one of the plurality of image frames including the endoluminal tool within the portion of the subject'"'"'s body;
aligning the contours in a plurality of the selected image frames, andaveraging the plurality of aligned frames to generate an averaged image frame, such that only image frames belonging to the subset of image frames are included in the averaged image frame; and
displaying the averaged image frame.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus and methods are provided for imaging a tool inside a portion of a subject'"'"'s body that undergoes motion. A plurality of image frames of the portion are acquired. An image frame in which the tool is enhanced is generated by (a) identifying radiopaque markers in the image frames, (b) identifying edge lines in a vicinity of the markers within the image frames, the edge lines corresponding to contours of the tool, (c) in response to the identifying of the edge lines, selecting a subset of the image frames that are based upon the acquired image frames, based upon a level of similarity between the edge lines in the selected image frames to one another, (d) aligning the contours in a plurality of the selected image frames, and (e) averaging the plurality of aligned frames to generate an averaged image frame. Other applications are also described.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method for imaging a tool inside a portion of a body of a subject that undergoes motion, the tool having contours and the tool having one or more radiopaque markers coupled thereto, the method comprising:
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acquiring a plurality of image frames of the portion of the subject'"'"'s body, wherein the tool comprises an endoluminal tool such that the plurality of image frames include the endoluminal tool within the portion of the subject'"'"'s body; and using at least one computer processor, generating at least one image frame in which the tool is enhanced, by; identifying edge lines that correspond to contours of the tool in the image frames;
in response to identifying the edge lines that correspond to contours of the tool;determining similarities between the edge lines within the image frames to one another; and selecting a subset of the image frames that are based upon the acquired image frames, at least partially based upon a level of similarity between the edge lines in the selected image frames to one another, the selecting comprising rejecting from being included in the subset, at least one image frame in which edge lines corresponding to the contours of the tool appear, wherein the at least one image frame that is rejected is one of the plurality of image frames including the endoluminal tool within the portion of the subject'"'"'s body; aligning the contours in a plurality of the selected image frames, and averaging the plurality of aligned frames to generate an averaged image frame, such that only image frames belonging to the subset of image frames are included in the averaged image frame; and displaying the averaged image frame. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. Apparatus for use with a tool configured to be placed inside a portion of a body of a subject that undergoes motion, the tool having contours and the tool having one or more radiopaque markers coupled thereto, the apparatus comprising:
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an image-acquisition device configured to acquire a plurality of image frames of the portion of subject'"'"'s body, wherein the tool comprises an endoluminal tool such that the plurality of image frames include the endoluminal tool within the portion of the subject'"'"'s body; a display; and at least one computer processor configured to generate at least one image frame in which the tool lanced by; receiving the plurality of image frames into the processor, identifying edge lines that correspond to contours of the tool, in response to identifying the edge lines that correspond to contours of the tool; determining similarities between the edge lines within the image frames to one another, and selecting a subset of the image frames that are based upon the acquired image frames, at least partially based upon a level of similarity between the edge lines in the selected image frames to one another, the selecting comprising rejecting from being included in the subset, at least one image frame in which edge lines corresponding to the contours of the tool appear, wherein the at least one image frame that is rejected is one of the plurality of image frames including the endoluminal tool within the portion of the subject'"'"'s body; aligning the edge lines in a plurality of the selected image frames, and generating an averaged image frame by averaging the plurality of aligned image frames, such that only image frames belonging to the subset of image frames are included in the averaged image frame; and driving the display to display the averaged image frame. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. Apparatus for use with a tool configured to be placed inside a portion of a body of a subject that undergoes motion, the tool having contours and the tool having one or more radiopaque markers coupled thereto, and an image-acquisition device configured to acquire a plurality of image frames of the portion of the subject'"'"'s body, wherein the tool comprises an endoluminal tool such that the plurality of image frames include the endoluminal tool within the portion of the subject'"'"'s body, the apparatus comprising:
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a display; and at least one computer processor configured to generate at least one image frame in which the tool is enhanced by; receiving the plurality of image frames into the processor, identifying edge lines that correspond to contours of the tool, in response to identifying the edge lines that correspond to contours of the tool; determining similarities between the edge lines within the image frames to one another, and selecting a subset of the image frames that are based upon the acquired image frames, at least partially based upon a level of similarity between the edge lines in the selected image frames to one another, the selecting comprising rejecting from being included in the subset, at least one image frame in which edge lines corresponding to the contours of the tool appear, wherein the at least one image frame that is rejected is one of the plurality of image frames including the endoluminal tool within the portion of the subject'"'"'s body; aligning the edge lines in a plurality of the selected image frames, and generating an averaged image frame by averaging the plurality of aligned image frames, such that only image frames belonging to the subset of image frames are included in the averaged image frame; and driving the display to display the averaged image frame.
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Specification