METHOD AND COMPUTING DEVICE FOR WINDOW LEVELING BASED UPON A GAZE LOCATION

• US 20150277554A1
• Filed: 03/28/2014
• Published: 10/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Change Healthcare Holdings, LLC (UnitedHealth Group Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: McKesson Financial Holdings (IP3) (McKesson Corp.)
• Inventors: Rezaee, Mahmoud Ramze, Edwards, Clifford
• Granted Patent: US 9,933,849 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/013 Eye tracking input arrangements G06F3/015 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/14 Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/25 Determination of region of interest [ROI] or a volume of interest [VOI]
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/193 Preprocessing; Feature extraction
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0261 in the context of movement of objects on the screen or movement of the observer relative to the screen
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0271 Adjustment of the gradation levels within the range of the gradation scale, e.g. by redistribution or clipping
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0686 with two or more screen areas displaying information with different brightness or colours
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2380/08 Biomedical applications
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/10 Intensity circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation

Abstract

A method, a computing device and a computer program product are provided in order to automatically apply window leveling to an image, such as a medical image. In the context of a method, a gaze location within an image is determined based upon a determination that a user is staring at the gaze location. The method also determines a region of interest within the image based upon the gaze location and determines pixel values for pixels within the region of interest. The method also establishes window level values based upon the pixel values for pixels within the region of interest and applies window leveling based upon the window level values established based upon the pixel values for pixels within the region of interest.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining a gaze location within an image based upon a determination that a user is staring at the gaze location;

determining a region of interest within the image based upon the gaze location;

determining pixel values for pixels within the region of interest;

establishing, with processing circuitry, window and level values based upon the pixel values for pixels within the region of interest; and

applying window leveling based upon the window and level values established based upon the pixel values for pixels within the region of interest.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein determining the gaze location comprises determining that the user has stared at the gaze location for at least a predefined period of time.

3. A method according to claim 1 wherein determining the region of interest comprises determining the region of interest to be centered about the gaze location and to have a predefined shape and a predetermined size.

4. A method according to claim 1 wherein applying window leveling comprises applying the window leveling for only those pixels within the region of interest.

5. A method according to claim 1 further comprising setting an input device sensitivity based upon the pixel values for pixels within the region of interest.

6. A method according to claim 1 wherein applying window leveling comprises:

constructing a look up table based upon the window and level values and a predefined function; and

determining output intensities corresponding to the pixel values for pixels within the region of interest based upon the look up table.

7. A method according to claim 1 further comprising determining that the gaze location within the image has changed, wherein determining the region of interest, determining pixel values, establishing window and level values and applying window leveling are performed again for the gaze location following its change.

8. A computing device comprising processing circuitry configured to:

determine a gaze location within an image based upon a determination that a user is staring at the gaze location;

determine a region of interest within the image based upon the gaze location;

determine pixel values for pixels within the region of interest;

establish window and level values based upon the pixel values for pixels within the region of interest; and

apply window leveling based upon the window and level values established based upon the pixel values for pixels within the region of interest.

9. A computing device according to claim 8 wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine the gaze location by determining that the user has stared at the gaze location for at least a predefined period of time.

10. A computing device according to claim 8 wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine the region of interest by determining the region of interest to be centered about the gaze location and to have a predefined shape and a predetermined size.

11. A computing device according to claim 8 wherein the processing circuitry is configured to apply window leveling by applying the window leveling for only those pixels within the region of interest.

12. A computing device according to claim 8 wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to set an input device sensitivity based upon the pixel values for pixels within the region of interest.

13. A computing device according to claim 8 wherein the processing circuitry is configured to apply window leveling by:

constructing a look up table based upon the window and level values and a predefined function; and

determining output intensities corresponding to the pixel values for pixels within the region of interest based upon the look up table.

14. A computing device according to claim 8 wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to determine that the gaze location within the image has changed, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to again determine the region of interest, determine pixel values, establish window and level values and apply window leveling for the gaze location following its change.

15. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having program code stored thereon, the program code comprising program code instructions configured, upon execution, to:

determine a gaze location within an image based upon a determination that a user is staring at the gaze location;

determine a region of interest within the image based upon the gaze location;

determine pixel values for pixels within the region of interest;

establish window and level values based upon the pixel values for pixels within the region of interest; and

apply window leveling based upon the window and level values established based upon the pixel values for pixels within the region of interest.

16. A computer program product according to claim 15 wherein the program code instructions configured to determine the gaze location comprise program code instructions configured to determine that the user has stared at the gaze location for at least a predefined period of time.

17. A computer program product according to claim 15 wherein the program code instructions configured to determine the region of interest comprise program code instructions configured to determine the region of interest to be centered about the gaze location and to have a predefined shape and a predetermined size.

18. A computer program product according to claim 15 wherein the program code instructions configured to apply window leveling comprise program code instructions configured to apply the window leveling for only those pixels within the region of interest.

19. A computer program product according to claim 15 wherein the program code further comprises program code instructions configured to set a mouse sensitivity based upon the pixel values for pixels within the region of interest.

20. A computer program product according to claim 15 wherein the program code instructions configured to apply window leveling comprise program code instructions configured to:

construct a look up table based upon the window and level values and a predefined function; and

determining output intensities corresponding to the pixel values for pixels within the region of interest based upon the look up table.