231 results about "3D ultrasound" patented technology

A LUS robotic surgical system is trainable by a surgeon to automatically move a LUS probe in a desired fashion upon command so that the surgeon does not have to do so manually during a minimally invasive surgical procedure. A sequence of 2D ultrasound image slices captured by the LUS probe according to stored instructions are processable into a 3D ultrasound computer model of an anatomic structure, which may be displayed as a 3D or 2D overlay to a camera view or in a PIP as selected by the surgeon or programmed to assist the surgeon in inspecting an anatomic structure for abnormalities. Virtual fixtures are definable so as to assist the surgeon in accurately guiding a tool to a target on the displayed ultrasound image.

System and method for making incisions in eye tissue at different depths. The system and method focuses light, possibly in a pattern, at various focal points which are at various depths within the eye tissue. A segmented lens can be used to create multiple focal points simultaneously. Optimal incisions can be achieved by sequentially or simultaneously focusing lights at different depths, creating an expanded column of plasma, and creating a beam with an elongated waist.

Characterization of carotid atherosclerosis and classification of plaque into symptomatic or asymptomatic along with the risk score estimation are key steps necessary for allowing the vascular surgeons to decide if the patient has to definitely undergo risky treatment procedures that are needed to unblock the stenosis. This application describes a statistical (a) Computer Aided Diagnostic (CAD) technique for symptomatic versus asymptomatic plaque automated classification of carotid ultrasound images and (b) presents a cardiovascular stroke risk score computation. We demonstrate this for longitudinal Ultrasound, CT, MR modalities and extendable to 3D carotid Ultrasound. The on-line system consists of Atherosclerotic Wall Region estimation using AtheroEdge™ for longitudinal Ultrasound or Athero-CTView™ for CT or Athero-MRView from MR. This greyscale Wall Region is then fed to a feature extraction processor which computes: (a) Higher Order Spectra; (b) Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT); (c) Texture and (d) Wall Variability. The output of the Feature Processor is fed to the Classifier which is trained off-line from the Database of similar Atherosclerotic Wall Region images. The off-line Classifier is trained from the significant features from (a) Higher Order Spectra; (b) Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT); (c) Texture and (d) Wall Variability, selected using t-test. Symptomatic ground truth information about the training patients is drawn from cross modality imaging such as CT or MR or 3D ultrasound in the form of 0 or 1. Support Vector Machine (SVM) supervised classifier of varying kernel functions is used off-line for training. The Atheromatic™ system is also demonstrated for Radial Basis Probabilistic Neural Network (RBPNN), or Nearest Neighbor (KNN) classifier or Decision Trees (DT) Classifier for symptomatic versus asymptomatic plaque automated classification. The obtained training parameters are then used to evaluate the test set. The system also yields the cardiovascular stroke risk score value on the basis of the four set of wall features.

An ultrasound imaging probe for real time 3D ultrasound imaging from the tip of the probe that can be inserted into the body. The ultrasound beam is electronically scanned within a 2D azimuth plane with a linear array, and scanning in the elevation direction at right angle to the azimuth plane is obtained by mechanical movement of the array. The mechanical movement is either achieved by rotation of the array through a flexible wire, or through wobbling of the array, for example through hydraulic actuation. The probe can be made both flexible and stiff, where the flexible embodiment is particularly interesting for catheter imaging in the heart and vessels, and the stiff embodiment has applications in minimal invasive surgery and other procedures. The probe design allows for low cost manufacturing which allows factory sterilized probes to be disposed after use.

A diagnostic ultrasound system is provided for automatically displaying multiple planes from a 3-D ultrasound data set. The system comprises a user interface for designating a reference plane, wherein the user interface provides a safe view position option and a restore reference plane option. A processor module maps the reference plane into a 3D ultrasound data set and automatically calculates image planes based on the reference plane for a current view position and a prior view position. A display is provided to selectively display the image planes associated with the current and prior reference planes. Memory stores the prior reference plane in response to selection of the save reference plane option, while the display switches from display of the current reference plane to restore the prior reference plane in response to selection of the restore reference plane option. Optionally, the memory may store coordinates in connection with the current and prior reference planes.

A method and system for real-time ultrasound guided prostate needle biopsy based on a biomechanical model of the prostate from 3D planning image data, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, is disclosed. The prostate is segmented in the 3D ultrasound image. A reference patient-specific biomechanical model of the prostate extracted from planning image data is fused to a boundary of the segmented prostate in the 3D ultrasound image, resulting in a fused 3D biomechanical prostate model. In response to movement of an ultrasound probe to a new location, a current 2D ultrasound image is received. The fused 3D biomechanical prostate model is deformed based on the current 2D ultrasound image to match a current deformation of the prostate due to the movement of the ultrasound probe to the new location.

Methods and related systems are described for detection of breast cancer in 3D ultrasound imaging data. Volumetric ultrasound images are obtained by an automated breast ultrasound scanning (ABUS) device. In ABUS images breast cancers appear as dark lesions. When viewed in transversal and sagittal planes, lesions and normal tissue appear similar as in traditional 2D ultrasound. However, architectural distortion and spiculation are frequently seen in the coronal views, and these are strong indicators of the presence of cancer. The described computerized detection (CAD) system combines a dark lesion detector operating in 3D with a detector for spiculation and architectural distortion operating on 2D coronal slices. In this way a sensitive detection method is obtained. Techniques are also described for correlating regions of interest in ultrasound images from different scans such in different scans of the same breast, scans of a patient's right versus left breast, and scans taken at different times. Techniques are also described for correlating regions of interest in ultrasound images and mammography images. Interactive user interfaces are also described for displaying CAD results and for displaying corresponding locations on different images.

Computerized interpretation of medical images for quantitative analysis of multi-modality breast images including analysis of FFDM, 2D/3D ultrasound, MRI, or other breast imaging methods. Real-time characterization of tumors and background tissue, and calculation of image-based biomarkers is provided for breast cancer detection, diagnosis, prognosis, risk assessment, and therapy response. Analysis includes lesion segmentation, and extraction of relevant characteristics (textural/morphological/kinetic features) from lesion-based or voxel-based analyses. Combinations of characteristics in several classification tasks using artificial intelligence is provided. Output in terms of 1D, 2D or 3D distributions in which an unknown case is identified relative to calculations on known or unlabeled cases, which can go through a dimension-reduction technique. Output to 3D shows relationships of the unknown case to a cloud of known or unlabeled cases, in which the cloud demonstrates the structure of the population of patients with and without the disease.

A segmentation algorithm is optimized to robustly locate and measure the volume of fluid filled or non-fluid filled structures or organs from imaging systems derived from ultrasound, computer assisted tomography, magnetic resonance, and position emission tomography. A clinical specimen is measured with a plurality of 2D scan planes processed by the segmentation algorithm to estimate the 2D based area the 3D based volumes of fluid-filled and non-fluid filled organs or structures.

A system and method for aligning the position of a target within a body of a patient to a predetermined position used in the development of a radiation treatment plan can include an ultrasound probe used for generating live ultrasound images, a position sensing system for indicating the position of the ultrasound probe with respect to the radiation therapy device, and a computer system. The computer system is used to display the live ultrasound images of a target in association with representations of the radiation treatment plan, to align the displayed representations of the radiation treatment plan with the displayed live ultrasound images, to capture and store at least two two-dimensional ultrasound images of the target overlaid with the aligned representations of the treatment plan data, and to determine the difference between the location of the target in the ultrasound images and the location of the target in the representations of the radiation treatment plan.

The present invention relates to a method for assisting with percutaneous interventions, wherein 2D x-ray images of an object region are recorded before the intervention using a C-arm x-ray system or a robot-based x-ray system at different projection angles and 3D x-ray image data of the object region is reconstructed from the 2D x-ray recordings. One or more 2D or 3D ultrasound images are recorded before and/or during the intervention using an external ultrasound system and registered with the 3D image data. The 2D or 3D ultrasound images are then overlaid with the 3D image data record or a target region segmented therefrom or displayed next to one another in the same perspective. The method allows a puncture or biopsy to be monitored with a low level of radiation.

A probe for electronic volume data acquisition using ultrasound incorporates a plurality of transducer elements arranged in a two dimensional array having an azimuth direction and an elevation direction. The transducer elements have a first element size in the azimuth dimension and a second element size in the elevation dimension. At least one of the first and second element sizes is at least twice a characteristic wavelength of a waveform used to drive the array of transducer elements, where the characteristic wavelength is defined as the wavelength corresponding to a center frequency of the waveform. Image data is generated in a scanning process using a CAC-BF technique in an azimuth dimension and/or an elevation dimension, to form an ultrasound image line, image plane, or image data cube.

A method for automatically assessing medical ultrasound (US) image usability, includes extracting one or more features from at least one part of a medical ultrasound image, calculating for each feature a feature score for each pixel of the at least one part of the ultrasound image, and classifying one or more image pixels of the at least one part as either usable or unusable, based on a combination of feature scores for each pixel, where usable pixels have intensity values substantially representative of one or more anatomical structures.

The present invention relates to a 3D ultrasound diagnostic forming a 3D ultrasound image only with volume data exiting within contour by automatically detecting the contour of a target object, comprising: a first unit for generating a region of interest (ROI) box on a 2D ultrasound image; a second unit for detecting a contour of a target object in the ROI box; and a third unit for forming a 3D ultrasound image by rendering volume data existing in the detected contour.

A hand-held 3D ultrasound instrument is disclosed which is used to non-invasively and automatically measure amniotic fluid volume in the uterus requiring a minimum of operator intervention. Using a 2D image-processing algorithm, the instrument gives automatic feedback to the user about where to acquire the 3D image set. The user acquires one or more 3D data sets covering all of the amniotic fluid in the uterus and this data is then processed using an optimized 3D algorithm to output the total amniotic fluid volume corrected for any fetal head brain volume contributions.

A method for treating atrial fibrillation in a heart of a patient includes placing an ultrasonic catheter in a first chamber of the heart; acquiring two-dimensional ultrasonic images of a second chamber of the heart and at least a portion of surrounding structures of the second chamber using the ultrasonic catheter placed in the first chamber; reconstructing a three-dimensional ultrasonic image based on the two-dimensional ultrasonic images; displaying the reconstructed three-dimensional ultrasonic image; identifying at least one key landmark on the reconstructed three-dimensional ultrasonic image; marking the least one key landmark on the reconstructed three-dimensional ultrasonic image; penetrating the septum for accessing the second chamber of the heart while using the marked at least one key landmark for guidance; positioning a sheath through the penetrated septum and within the second chamber of the heart; inserting an ablation catheter through the sheath and into the second chamber of the heart; and ablating a portion of the second chamber of the heart using the ablation catheter while under observation with the ultrasound catheter located in the first chamber of the heart.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for generating at least a 3D image responsive to moving cardiac structure and blood, and extracting clinically relevant information based on anatomical landmarks located within the heart. One embodiment of the present invention comprises at least a front end and at least one processor. The front-end is arranged to transmit ultrasound waves into the moving cardiac structure and blood of a heart and generate received signals in response to ultrasound waves backscattered from the said moving cardiac structure and blood. The at least one processor responsive to the received signals to acquire 3D ultrasound data containing at least one view of the heart, identify an AV-plane using the at least one acquired view, and generate a cardiac 3D image of at least a portion of the heart using at least one identified AV-plane. At least the 3D image may be displayed to a user.

A method for determining the volume of an irregularly shaped body part or body such as a fetus using a 3D ultrasonic image composed of light and dark pixels. A caliper is placed on a portion whose volume is to be determined and a computer having the image, automatically counts every pixel with the same echogenicity in every direction as long as it is continuous with the spot the caliper is in, and wherein the computer means stops counting in any direction where the pixels become significantly more echogenic (dark). The volume of the portion, is determined, based on the counted number of pixels and the magnification of the image; and the calculated volume is used to determine physiological characteristics based on known values such as fetal gestation age.

A hand-held 3D ultrasound instrument is disclosed which is used to non-invasively and automatically measure amniotic fluid volume in the uterus requiring a minimum of operator intervention. Using a 2D image-processing algorithm, the instrument gives automatic feedback to the user about where to acquire the 3D image set. The user acquires one or more 3D data sets covering all of the amniotic fluid in the uterus and this data is then processed using an optimized 3D algorithm to output the total amniotic fluid volume corrected for any fetal head brain volume contributions.

The present invention relates to a system for guiding a medical instrument in a patient body. Such a system comprises means for acquiring a 2D X-ray image of said medical instrument, means for acquiring a 3D ultrasound data set of said medical instrument using an ultrasound probe, means for localizing said ultrasound probe in a referential of said X-ray acquisition means, means for selecting a region of interest around said medical instrument within the 3D ultrasound data set and means for generating a bimodal representation of said medical instrument detection by combining said 2D X-ray image and said 3D ultrasound data set. A bimodal representation is generated on the basis of the 2D X-ray image by replacing the X-ray intensity value of points belonging to said region of interest by the ultrasound intensity value of the corresponding point in the 3D ultrasound data set.