Electronic Medical Image Enhancement Using Frame Subtraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Medical professionals face challenges in accurately identifying and tracking kidney stones or other obstructions during minimally-invasive surgeries due to obstructed, blurry, or difficult-to-evaluate images, which can increase procedure time and error rates.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for processing electronic medical images by subtracting frames to identify regions of interest, applying image processing to mitigate visual obstructions, and using template matching to track target objects, enhancing image clarity and object visibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional imaging methods are used during minimally-invasive surgery, then the surgical procedure can be performed with less invasiveness, but the images obtained are obstructed, blurry, and difficult to evaluate
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary image processing by capturing multiple pre-procedure images and creating a composite reference image before the actual surgical procedure begins. This reference image is then used during surgery to enhance real-time images, allowing surgeons to benefit from improved image quality without adding complexity to the minimally-invasive approach
Solution Approach 2:
A composite reference image acts as an intermediary between the raw obstructed images and the final enhanced images. The system captures multiple pre-procedure images, processes them to create a clear composite reference, and then uses this reference to enhance real-time surgical images through image subtraction and processing, effectively mediating the image quality issue
2Measurement precision
If multiple images are captured and processed to enhance clarity, then image quality improves, but processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs computationally intensive image processing operations before the surgical procedure begins. Multiple images are captured and processed to create a composite reference image during the pre-procedure phase, so that during actual surgery, only lighter processing (image subtraction and enhancement) is needed in real-time, reducing processing time during the critical surgical phase
Solution Approach 2:
The system captures more images than strictly necessary (excessive action during pre-procedure) to ensure sufficient material for creating a high-quality composite reference image. This excess pre-processing allows for faster, simpler processing during surgery, where only the essential enhancement operations are performed
Data Source
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AI summary
Systems and methods for processing electronic images from a medical device comprise receiving a first image frame and a second image frame from a medical device, and determining a region of interest by subtracting the first image frame from the second image frame, the region of interest corresponding to a visual obstruction in the first image frame and/or second image frame. Image processing may be applied to the first image frame and/or second image frame based on a comparison between a first area of the first image frame corresponding to the region of interest and a second area of the second image frame corresponding to the region of interest, and the first image frame and/or second image frame may be provided for display to a user.