Enriched Medical Image Merging Tactile Sensor Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical imaging methods lack integration of tactile data, which is crucial for accurate diagnosis and treatment planning, especially in situations where direct palpation is not possible, leading to potential errors and incomplete information for medical staff.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that merge image data from various medical imaging modalities with tactile data, acquired through sensors, to generate an enriched image, providing additional information on mechanical properties of a target object, enabling improved diagnostic and treatment planning by overlaying tactile data onto image data in a shared coordinate system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If tactile data is integrated with image data to generate enriched images, then diagnostic accuracy and treatment planning quality are improved, but device complexity and data processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines tactile data from force sensors with image data from medical imaging modalities to create enriched images that display both visual and mechanical property information simultaneously. This merging of data types enables comprehensive tissue characterization, allowing medical staff to assess both the appearance and mechanical properties (such as stiffness, elasticity, or resistance) of target objects like tumors or organs, thereby improving diagnostic accuracy without requiring separate evaluation processes
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces a data processing intermediary that acquires, processes, and integrates tactile sensor data with image data through coordinate system alignment and merging operations. This intermediary layer handles the complexity of multi-modal data fusion, transforming raw tactile measurements into meaningful visual overlays that enhance the image data while managing the computational burden through systematic processing pipelines
2Loss of information
If tactile data is acquired through direct contact with the target object, then mechanical property information is obtained, but the subjectivity of tactile assessment persists and limits accessibility to medical staff
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses force sensors to objectively measure and record tactile properties of the target object, creating a digital copy of the mechanical property data that can be stored, transmitted, and analyzed. This objective copying replaces subjective human tactile assessment with quantifiable sensor data, preserving the mechanical property information in a form that can be independently evaluated by any medical staff member without requiring direct physical contact with the patient
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical tactile assessment performed by human fingers with electronic force sensors that apply and measure mechanical forces systematically. This substitution transforms the subjective mechanical sense into objective electronic measurements, allowing tactile information to be captured, processed, and displayed in the enriched images for universal access by the medical team regardless of their physical proximity to the patient
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure relates to a method and a system for generating an enriched image of a target object and to a corresponding computer program and a computer-readable storage medium, on which the computer program is stored. In the method, image data of the target object is acquired. Furthermore, tactile data is acquired for the target object, which characterizes a mechanical resistance of at least one section of the target object against a force applied thereto. The enriched image is then generated by merging the image data and the tactile data and/or a classification of the respective section derived therefrom.