Medical Image Metadata Sync for Real-Time Surgical Video
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medical imaging systems face inefficiencies and delays in transmitting frame-specific metadata with video data, leading to increased system complexity and reduced efficiency in real-time surgical image processing and post-processing procedures.
Innovation Solution
Generating and synchronously transmitting frame-specific metadata with medical image data using data structures like InfoFrames, ensuring temporal alignment without additional hardware, and enabling error diagnosis and quality scoring for improved surgical procedures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If frame-specific metadata is transmitted separately from video data, then metadata can be transmitted independently, but transmission delays and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges video data and frame-specific metadata into a single synchronized transmission stream using a protocol that multiplexes both data types together. This eliminates the need for separate transmission channels, reducing system complexity while maintaining reliable metadata delivery through the unified protocol's error handling and acknowledgment mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary data structure (such as an InfoFrame or timing marker) that carries both video data and associated metadata together. This intermediary structure acts as a container that synchronizes the two data types, allowing them to be transmitted as a cohesive unit without requiring complex separate channel coordination.
2Measurement precision
If additional hardware is added to synchronize metadata with video frames, then temporal alignment is achieved, but system complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical synchronization hardware (such as separate clocks, timing circuits, or hardware synchronizers) with a software-based protocol that embeds timing information and frame identifiers directly in the data stream. This software solution achieves precise temporal alignment without additional hardware components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates synchronization information and frame timing data into the transmission protocol beforehand, so that receiving devices can automatically align metadata with video frames without requiring additional hardware synchronization mechanisms. The timing information is prepared and embedded in advance during the transmission process.
3Productivity
If metadata transmission is optimized for speed, then real-time processing is enabled, but data accuracy and error diagnosis capability may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism in the transmission protocol where receiving devices send acknowledgments and error reports back to transmitting devices. This feedback loop enables real-time error detection and correction without significantly impacting transmission speed, as the protocol is designed to handle feedback efficiently in the data stream.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transmits slightly more data than strictly necessary by including redundant timing information, frame identifiers, and error check codes with each video frame and its metadata. This excessive action ensures that even if some data is lost or corrupted during high-speed transmission, the receiving device can reconstruct and verify the integrity of the transmitted information.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention generally relates to medical imaging, and more specifically to transmitting and tracking the transmission of medical image data and associated metadata. An exemplary method for transmitting and tracking the transmission of medical image data from a first device to a second device comprises receiving, at the first device, a video frame and frame-specific metadata; in response to receiving the video frame and the frame-specific metadata, generating, at the first device, device identification data of the first device; generating a set of one or more data structures in accordance with a predefined data specification, wherein the set of one or more data structures comprises the frame-specific metadata and the device identification data; and transmitting, by the first device, the set of one or more data structures along with the video frame to the second device.