Control module and control method to determine perspective in the rendering of medical image data sets

• US 9,208,747 B2
• Filed: 08/06/2013
• Issued: 12/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Siemens Healthcare GMBH (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Guehring, Jens, Nufer, Stephan
• Primary Examiner(s): Harris, Dorothy
• Application Number:
  US13/959,960
• Publication Number:
  US 20140035811A1
• Time in Patent Office: 854 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/147 using display panels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/12 Overlay of images, i.e. displayed pixel being the result of switching between the corresponding input pixels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2354/00 Aspects of interface with display user
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2380/08 Biomedical applications
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/006 Details of the interface to the display terminal specific for a display terminal using a CRT G09G1/167; using a flat panel G09G3/2096; circuits for interfacing with colour displays G09G5/04
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS

Abstract

In a control method and a control unit for context-specific determination of at least one DESIRED perspective upon rendering of medical image data at a monitor, a graphical symbol is generated at a user interface dynamically and depending on an image status in order to detect a perspective control signal, and is used to control the rendering.

Claims

1. A control unit to determine perspectives upon rendering an image data set in a desired perspective for presentation at a display device, comprising:

a detection unit configured to acquire an image data set in which anatomy of a patient, obtained in an examination of the patient, are represented, and to detect, from the image data set, an image status that designates at least said anatomy and type of said examination;

a memory in which rules are stored that, when executed, determine a set of selectable perspectives of the anatomy represented in the image data set, dependent on the detected image status and, when present, also dependent on a real perspective of an already-rendered image of said anatomy;

a calculation unit configured to access said memory and to apply said rules to said image data set to calculate said set of selectable perspectives;

a user interface comprising a touchscreen;

a symbol unit configured to dynamically generate, from said image status, a central symbol, and to generate a plurality of interactive symbols that individually graphically represent selectable perspectives in said calculated set of selectable perspectives, and to show said interactive symbols on the touchscreen of the user interface clustered around the central symbol;

said symbol unit being configured to generate said central symbol as a pictogram dependent on said anatomy and said type of examination designated by said image status, said pictogram representing a plurality of different anatomical directions associated with said anatomy that are relevant for the type of examination represented in the pictogram of the central symbol;

said symbol unit being configured to show said interactive symbols clustered around said central symbol on said touchscreen at respective locations on said touchscreen that are anatomically correlated with the respective directions indicated by the pictogram of said central symbol;

said symbol unit being configured to detect at least one perspective control signal generated by a touch at a selected one of the interactive symbols, and to determine the desired perspective therefrom; and

a rendering unit comprising a rendering processor and a display in communication therewith, said rendering processor being configured to render the image data set in the desire perspective designated by said perspective control signal, and to cause the rendered image data set to be displayed at said display with said desired perspective.

2. A control unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein said detection unit, said calculation unit, said symbol unit and said rendering unit are configured as a graphic processor in a graphic card.

3. A control method to determine perspectives upon rendering an image data set in a desired perspective for presentation at a display device, comprising:

providing a processor, that is in communication with a user interface having a touchscreen and a display with an image data set in which anatomy of a patient, obtained in an examination of the patient, are represented and, in said processor, detecting, from the image data set, an image status that designates at least said anatomy and a type of said examination;

storing rules in a memory that, when executed, determine a set of selectable perspectives of the anatomy represented in the image data set, dependent on the detected image status and, when present, also dependent on a real perspective of an already-rendered image of said anatomy;

from said processor, accessing said memory and applying said rules to said image data set to calculate said set of selectable perspectives;

in said processor, dynamically generating, from said image status, a central symbol, and generating a plurality of interactive symbols that individually graphically represent selectable perspectives in said calculated set of selectable perspectives, and showing said interactive symbols on the touchscreen of the user interface clustered around the central symbol;

in said processor, generating said central symbol as a pictogram dependent on said anatomy and said type of examination designated by said image status, said pictogram representing a plurality of different anatomical directions associated with said anatomy that are relevant for the type of examination represented in the pictogram of the central symbol;

in said processor, showing said interactive symbols clustered around said central symbol on said touchscreen at respective locations on said touchscreen that are anatomically correlated with the respective directions indicated by the pictogram of said central symbol;

in said processor, detecting at least one perspective control signal generated by a touch at a selected one of the interactive symbols, and determining the desired perspective therefrom; and

in said processor, rendering the image data set in the desired perspective designated by said perspective control signal, and causing the rendered image data set to be displayed at said display with said desired perspective.

4. A control method according to claim 3, comprising controlling and executing a perspective change in an image that is already presented at a display device, and providing the rendered image data set in a REAL perspective at the display device.

5. A control method according to claim 3, comprising showing the symbols at the user interface overlaid on an already shown image data set in the real perspective.

6. A control method according to claim 3, comprising detecting the image status automatically in said processor from at least one of metadata regarding the image data, data with regard to modality, type of examination, organ, finding, position and context of the image data, and automatically deriving which perspectives are meaningful from the image status data.

7. A control method according to claim 3, comprising generating the interactive, graphical symbols to include a selectable rendering mode that is taken into account in the rendering of the image data set in the desired perspective.

8. A non-transitory, computer-readable data storage medium encoded with programming instructions that, when the storage medium is loaded into a computerized processing system having a user interface comprising a touchscreen, and a display, cause the computerized processing system to:

acquire an image data set in which anatomy of a patient, obtained in an examination of the patient, are represented, and to detect, from the image data set, an image status that designates at least said anatomy and a type of said examination;

access a memory in which rules are stored that, when executed, determine a set of selectable perspectives of the anatomy represented in the image data set, dependent on the detected image status and, when present, also dependent on a real perspective of an already-rendered image of said anatomy;

apply said rules to said image data set to calculate said set of selectable perspectives;

dynamically generate, from said image status, a central symbol, and generate a plurality of interactive symbols that individually graphically represent selectable perspectives in said calculated set of selectable perspectives, and show said interactive symbols on the touchscreen of the user interface clustered around the central symbol;

generate said central symbol as a pictogram dependent on said anatomy and said type of examination designated by said image status, said pictogram representing a plurality of different anatomical directions associated with said anatomy that are relevant for the type of examination represented in the pictogram of the central symbol;

show said interactive symbols clustered around said central symbol on said touchscreen at respective locations on said touchscreen that are anatomically correlated with the respective directions indicated by the pictogram of said central symbol;

detect at least one perspective control signal generated by a touch at a selected one of the interactive symbols, and to determine the desired perspective therefrom; and

render the image data set in the desired perspective designated by said perspective control signal, and cause the rendered image data set to be displayed at said display with said desired perspective.