Multi-Modal Probe Registration for Medical Imaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional medical imaging tools face limitations in image resolution and frame rate, making it challenging to accurately analyze the interaction and cyclic movement of medical devices with artificial anatomies during in-vitro mechanical simulation, which is crucial for testing and validation of medical devices.
Innovation Solution
A system that combines high-resolution camera imagery with medical imaging devices like ultrasound scanners to create a four-dimensional model, aligning and overlaying the images using a common coordinate system, allowing for multi-source, multi-type image registration and enhancing data collection with higher resolution and finer frame rates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional medical imaging tools are used, then the device is simple to operate, but the image resolution and frame rate are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple imaging systems (ultrasound scanner, optical cameras, scanners) into a unified multi-modal imaging system. The ultrasound probe integrates both ultrasound transmission capabilities and optical reflection surfaces, allowing simultaneous acquisition of ultrasound images and optical imagery from multiple cameras. This merging resolves the contradiction by achieving high measurement precision through multiple imaging modalities while managing complexity through integrated hardware design and unified coordinate system registration.
Solution Approach 2:
The ultrasound probe serves multiple functions: it transmits ultrasound waves for medical imaging, reflects optical light for camera capture, and contains fiducial markers for registration. The probe handle acts as both a structural component and an optical reflector. This multi-functionality allows a single device to provide both conventional ultrasound imaging and high-resolution optical imaging, resolving the contradiction between measurement precision and device complexity.
2Productivity
If conventional medical imaging tools are used, then the device complexity is low, but the frame rate is limited to sixty frames per second
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges ultrasound imaging (capable of high frame rates) with optical imaging (capable of high resolution and high frame rates). The ultrasound scanner captures dynamic motion at high frame rates, while optical cameras capture detailed anatomical structures at similarly high frame rates. By combining these modalities and registering them through fiducial markers and coordinate transformation, the system achieves both high productivity (frame rate) and measurement precision (image resolution).
3Measurement precision
If high resolution scanners are used, then the image resolution is improved, but the frame rate may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The imaging system is segmented into multiple independent imaging modalities, each optimized for specific performance characteristics. Ultrasound scanners handle dynamic motion capture at high frame rates, while optical cameras handle high-resolution anatomical imaging. By segmenting the imaging functions across different modalities and then integrating them through registration, the system avoids the trade-off where improving one modality's resolution reduces its frame rate, as each modality operates independently at its optimal performance.
4Measurement precision
If multiple imaging devices are combined, then the measurement precision is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Fiducial markers serve as intermediaries between different imaging modalities. These markers are visible to both ultrasound and optical imaging systems, providing common reference points for registration. The markers enable accurate spatial alignment between ultrasound images and optical images without requiring complex direct calibration between all device pairs. This intermediary approach resolves the contradiction by simplifying the integration of multiple imaging devices through a shared reference framework.
Solution Approach 2:
The probe design incorporates composite structures combining ultrasound transmission materials with optical reflection surfaces and fiducial marker materials. This composite construction allows a single probe to interact with multiple imaging modalities simultaneously, reducing the number of separate devices needed and simplifying the overall system integration while maintaining high spatial registration accuracy through multi-modal visibility of fiducial markers.
Data Source
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AI summary
Multi-source, multi-type image registration is provided. Images are received from a plurality of image devices, and images are received from a medical imaging device. A pre-existing diagram of a probe of the medical imaging device is received. A four-dimensional model is determined based on the received images from the image devices. A pose of the probe of the medical imaging device is determined based on the pre-existing diagram of the probe and the received images from the image devices. The plurality of images from the medical imaging device are registered with the four-dimensional model based on a common coordinate system and the determined pose of the probe.